Essential Books for Self-Improvement and Healing

My Top 5 Essential Books for Self-Improvement and Healing

I have read countless books on self-help, self-development, and healing. There are so many great self-help books out there—but it can be overwhelming to know which ones are worth your time and money. I have put together a list of my top 5 BEST self-improvement and healing books to help save you time. I can honestly say each of these books changed my life, challenged my assumptions, and shifted my way of thinking for the better. 

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

This Body Keeps the Score has become somewhat of the holy grail in trauma studies over the past few years. It helped me understand my own trauma, and I was relieved to learn some of the following lessons:

1. Trauma is universal. Trauma is not just something experienced by war veterans, but rather, a widespread phenomenon in society caused by many traumatic events, such as surviving natural disasters, or childhood abuse and neglect.
2. Trauma and the Brain: Van der kolk discusses the neuroscience behind trauma and the brain, and the impact of trauma on childhood development.
3. Trauma and the Body. He also discusses how trauma is physically manifested in the body through flashbacks, tension, pain, chronic illnesses, gastrointestinal issues, and other somatic symptoms.
4. The Power of Relational healing. Van Der Kolk explains the power of healing relationships, and the detriment of unhealthy relationships.

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3wO3izt

Book & Workbook Bundle https://amzn.to/3SMnRng

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents is a truly groundbreaking book if you struggle in your relationship to a parent who seems distant, uninterested, or is emotionally immature.

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/49qDg3z

Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself

Set Boundaries, Find Peace, is a book on how-to set healthy boundaries by therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab. The book shows how boundaries can improve our interpersonal relationships and provide standards and expectations for how others treat us. I have always struggled with boundaries and felt that I should do things “to be nice.” Unfortunately, that resulted in burnout because my constant giving of my time and energy did not give me adequate time to rest and recover. Tawwab helps us to explore the root causes of our lack of boundaries, and offers tactical solutions for understanding your needs, establishing your boundaries, and communicating them in real-life situations.

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3TbjBiF

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

This book changed my perspective on happiness significantly. Many of us chase happiness in the wrong places. We think we need the exclusive job or the fancy house, clothes, car, or gadgets, but that doesn't bring us happiness. Instead, the author’s research explains that happiness stems from having an "optimal experience" also known as the flow state. A flow state is an experience where you are totally immersed in an activity, focused, and engrossed in state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep satisfaction, creativity, and feel alive— present in the moment. The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how to live life more intentionally and improve the quality of our lives.

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/42PwOkr

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones 

You may have heard the quote: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” That is a quote by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation. The book discusses strategies to form positive habits, break negative ones, and develop the behaviors that lead to the best results.

In this book, Clear explains how to implement a system of habits that can unlock new levels of achievement. One of my favourite take-aways from this book was the notion that our habits follow the rules of compound interest. Therefore, if you focus on improving by 1% every day, at the end of one year, you’d be approximately 37.78 times better than you were before. Conversely, if we become 1% worse, we will be that much worse by the end of the year. Are your habits taking you where you want to go?

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3IrX4rL

Find the Audiobook here: https://amzn.to/3IbZEBT.

Conclusion: Knowledge is power. Reading is healing.

Thank you for reading. These books helped me and impacted my life. I hope that they help you, too! I receive a small commission on book sales, so I invite you to please use the links provided when you purchase any of my favourite books.

Get a free audiobook when you sign up for an Audible free trial or membership. The membership will give you access to thousands of audiobooks, for self-help and more, including the audio versions of my top books: https://amzn.to/3ItnXvg

Sending love, healing, and friendship,

Healing Vibes