A Mindful Perspective
Welcome to my podcast! I'm Nick Levesque, and I'm on a mission to help you navigate life's challenges with a mindful perspective. Join me every week as I dive deep into the realms of mindset, spirituality, and personal growth. Drawing from my own experiences, I want to provide you with tools, strategies, insights, and inspiring stories that will help you go from where you are now, to where you want to be.
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A Mindful Perspective
Reading for Healing: How Books Can Transform Our Healing Journey
What if you could unlock decades of wisdom and transform your personal healing journey simply by reading the right books? Join me, Nick Levesque, on a path of self-discovery as we explore the transformative power of literature. Through my own experiences with life-changing books like "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and "Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving" by Pete Walker, I share how the right stories can guide us toward mindfulness and healing. Discover how the art of bibliotherapy can be a powerful ally in your growth journey, offering therapeutic insights when paired with other healing modalities.
As we journey through the healing landscape of literature, I emphasize the significance of aligning your reading choices with your challenges, whether they be anxiety, trauma, or addiction. Reading can become an enjoyable and enriching habit by choosing books that resonate with your life's needs. We discuss practical tips for cultivating a reading habit, setting clear intentions, and approaching each book with an open mind and heart. From understanding when to pause a book that doesn't resonate, to revisiting favorites for deeper insight, the power of books is limitless when approached with curiosity and patience.
I share strategies for maximizing your reading experience, including the "100 pages minus your age" rule to decide when to move on from a book. The value of revisiting beloved books is underscored, encouraging note-taking to solidify learning and retention. Let this episode inspire you to harness the profound potential of books as gateways to new perspectives and personal growth.
Hello everyone and welcome to A Mindful Perspective. I'm your host, nick Levesque, certified Spiritual Life Coach, and I'm here to share insights into my journey of mindfulness and self-discovery. Each week, we'll explore mindset, spirituality and personal growth to help you navigate life's challenges, with practical strategies and inspiring stories. Let's dive in. Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of A Mindful Perspective. In this week's episode, I want us to talk about reading and healing and, more specifically, how books can transform our healing journey. And, for me personally, books have always been instrumental in my life. They've completely changed my life and I've talked about this in many episodes before. But I wanted to make an episode today really dedicated on how books are so healing, right, and the power they have in our healing journey. And, as you know, personally for me, okay, like the Power of Now I've got it here actually okay, the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. That was a transformative book for me because I think it found me in the time in my life that I really, really needed it. Okay, and I remember just reading one sentence out of that 224-page book and it changed my life forever. Right, I still kind of utilize that wisdom and that insight that he gave me in. You know, my own experience today, if you will right, it's really helped me see things differently and, you know, help me on my healing journey. And that's just one book, right, and there were many other nuggets of wisdom in that book, but that's only one book. So I'm a firm believer that if you take, you know, five to 10 or like five to 20 books and you immerse yourself in them and you study them depending on what it is that you're having issues with I truly believe that that can set you and propel you forward on your healing journey a lot. Okay, and I know sometimes like that can sound a lot like five to 10 books, like five to 20 books, and it's really not that much once you start reading and kind of developing that reading habit and we're going to talk about that today as well a little bit because I do want to share a few tips.
Speaker 1:But I think the other perspective about reading that's really helped to me is that when you're reading a book okay, you're reading a book and I'm just going to take this book here. It's called Complex PTSD from Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. It's a really good book resource for anyone with a child history of trauma as an example, okay, but what he says in the back, right, I just want to read this really quick to talk about my point here but he says he's been a therapist for 35 years, right, and practices, obviously and this was at the time of publishing the book, okay, but that's 35 years of practice, that's 35 years of knowledge, that's 35 years of client work. That is, you know, a master at his craft. As an example, right, and not only that, but his experiences, not only his experiences, but his perspective is shaped out of all the other other interaction he's had in his life, if that makes sense, right. So he's, you know, he he's had, obviously, mentors, he's had therapists himself. He talks about his, how his therapist helped him a lot in his journey, right, so he's pulling from so many different perspectives and wisdom and so many different minds, right, so when you're reading one book, you're not only reading from his mind, but every other mind that helped shape his perspective. Is what I'm trying to get at, right, and to me I found that to be so healing, because you're learning so much from just one book, right, and you're learning so many different tools and you're learning so many different things, right, and I think to me that's what it is right.
Speaker 1:Books when you're reading, depending on what you're reading on your healing journey, they're gateways to new ideas. They're gateways to new perspectives, right, new ways of thinking, new ways of seeing the world, as an example, and not only new ways to see the world but new ways to see yourself. If you know, that's really what I've kind of discovered in my own healing journey, and really good books will provide good tools and such, right, like this book, as an example, has a lot of different tools, um, and actually one of them he talks about a tool is reading, actually, okay, and there's actually a term for this. It's called a bibliotherapy, and it's the first time I've ever heard that until I read this book, and basically that's what it means. Right, it's the very real process of how books are healing and can be healing and help you on your healing journey. Okay, so this is what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:I think, when you're, like I just said earlier, right, when you're selecting a few really good books that you're reading and you know that maybe are specific to the issue that you're having, I really think you can help yourself. Right, paired with other modalities. Maybe you're also going to therapy or coaching or you've got some sort of group support. Okay, I think all those different things, you know, they integrate with each other, right, they work very well together. And it's like I tell my clients as well, like you know, it's also I want you to try different modalities and try different things that work for you as well. Okay, because I think that, obviously, what people do during a session, whether it's therapy or coaching, right, it's very important to go to that session and discuss. But also, I think it's equally, if you know, equally as important, if not more important, what you're doing after those sessions, right, the time that you have to yourself, right, to integrate what you've learned and to work on yourself as well.
Speaker 1:And books are really powerful way to do that, amongst other, amongst many other modalities is what I'm trying to say. But again, I think, to me personally, that's what it is. And the other good thing is, not only will a good book provide you a lot of good tools, but it will make you pause, it will make you pause and reflect, and it will make you pause and kind of absorb that material, kind of like the Power of Now did for me as well as many, many other books. Okay, it makes you pause and sometimes I feel like you know how other people are kind of like mirrors to us. Books also act in the same way.
Speaker 1:Okay, sometimes you'll read something and you see yourself in that kind of like that interaction or that example, and you're like, oh, my goodness, right. Then you stop for a second and you're like, wow, that was, you know that was something okay. Right, then you stop for a second, you're like, wow, that was, you know that was something, okay. Or maybe you read something and you're like, oh, my goodness, that makes sense, that all makes sense now. Right, and you're linking something maybe that was linked to your childhood trauma, right, or something that happened in your childhood, and you're like, wow, this is maybe why this specific thing is happening in me, or why I'm reacting or acting a certain way. Okay, maybe you learn different things, right. Or maybe you're like, hmm, okay, how can I apply this in my life? This is a really good teaching, a really good insight. How can I start applying this in my life? Right, because, as we all know, knowledge is not power. Applied knowledge is power, right. So reading is great, but you also have to apply the tools that they give you and for me another kind of motive for this episode, if you will, is because I really want to encourage people to start reading, just in general. I know how much it's changed my life. I know how much it's helped clients that I've worked with. I know how much it's helped other people like family members and such.
Speaker 1:When I started reading a lot, a lot of people started to come to me. They saw me reading a lot or sharing books on Instagram or all these different things. They're like hey to do you have book recommendations? Do you have anything right? And I know it's helped them. Depending on what it is that they're like going through what they were going through at the time, right, and I think that's also very important. It's like I didn't notice how just my reading habit also inspired other people to read and that to me was like cool, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:And you know he's more into finance and such, but he reads different types of things, but that's what he likes and that's what he wants to do, right. So just the fact that he's picking up a book and learning, right, and it's like I said earlier, when you're reading books you know there's so many like. The authors have so much wisdom and they provide so many other examples that even sometimes you're reading, like you know, a book on finance, but it will have other nuggets of wisdom about life as well. Okay, so books are just powerful in and of themselves, right. They're a gift that we give ourselves that we can read time and time again, and it's just, it's so powerful, right.
Speaker 1:And for me personally, I think again, I think why I had so much trouble reading and getting into reading is because I feel like we were never really taught how to read properly, right, and this is just kind of a tangent that I want to bring in today's episode. But for me personally, like you know, speaking subjectively, but like in high school, okay, there were a lot of book recommendations. We had to read a lot and all these different things, as I'm sure you know, many schools do. And for me personally, I just didn't really resonate with some of the books they had and such, but not only the books, right, and this is not the teacher's fault or anything, it really just was how the curriculum was kind of built upon. Okay, but for me, I always anyways, in my high school, I'll tell you that is oftentimes we'd read a book and then we'd have an assignment with it, right, we had to write like a book report or an essay or whatever.
Speaker 1:So I think, unconsciously, what started happening is I associated reading with homework, or I associated reading with assignments or a task or a chore. So I never actually really enjoyed reading until I really found what I enjoyed reading about and that, to me, was like healing in and of itself. I was like, wow, okay, this is awesome. This is a really good insight. So, to anyone who's not picked up a book in a while, or to anyone who's just, you know, debating reading like there are so many different books out there, right, whether you're on a healing journey, whether you just want to start reading for fun, like all I'm saying here is like, give yourself a chance to read, is what I'm saying, right, especially if you were kind, of, you know, conditioned, like I was in high school, where it's like it's always tied to a sign, right. That's just a little side tangent that I wanted to kind of talk about as well, because I feel like you know, I've had this discussion with other people as well and I feel, you know it resonated with other people as well where this is kind of where they stop reading after high school or you know, reading for like a leisure activity, not just book reports or not just books from college and all these things, but a continued reading, education, right, like I think reading for me is something I'm going to do as a lifelong thing, okay.
Speaker 1:And again, I think you know, I think we all know the benefits of reading, right, I'm not going to list off benefits here, there's no point. I think we all know the benefits of reading. But also I think it increases empathy, right. I know fiction books definitely do that. There's been multiple studies on fiction books showing how you know you get into the character's shoes and you can kind of feel the character's emotions as an example, right. But I also believe that other books will do that as well. There are other books that you know, authors you know, especially in the self-help book, and you know they share their stories as well, where it can help you empathize, right.
Speaker 1:So I think, think, personally, in my opinion, I think books in general help empathize, help get a better understanding of like, wow, people are going through all these things and then, as you're doing that, you also kind of get an understanding of your own inner world as well, right, because you're starting to notice like, oh my goodness right, like I've felt that way before. It's kind of like we talked about earlier, where it kind of prompts you to pause and just absorb and reflect. And there's a beautiful quote that I want to read I love quotes, by the way, so I'm just going to say that right now but from Mallory Blackman, and she said reading is an exercise in empathy and walking in someone else's shoes for a while, and I find that so important, I find that so, so powerful. And for me, I've noticed that in countless books that I've read, whether it's fiction, whether it's nonfiction and personally, for me I don't read a lot of fiction books or if I do read some fiction books and I actually have two here that I want to share Some fiction books that are really good, books that are, I guess, considered fiction, but in my personal opinion they have so much wisdom, right.
Speaker 1:So one of them is the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. I'm just going to hold that up here really quick. And the other book here that I have is the Famous Alchemist, right, I think a lot of people have read this book, such a powerful book. This is such a cool little book. It talks about chasing your own personal legend and actually I'm not even going to say anything more. If you want the book, read it. But it's definitely a really good book and so much wisdom, so much insight. And it's actually not a long book it's like 180 pages and it's definitely helped me a lot in my healing journey. And at the end of the episode, I'm actually just going to do a quick speed round of books that you know. If you're not sure where to start, I'm just going to do a quick speed round of books that have helped me personally.
Speaker 1:But, um, with that being said, I actually wanted to also give a few tips, right, a few insights on, maybe, how you can start a reading habit and and really start reading on your healing journey. Okay, so I think it's important because I think for a lot of us um, you know, like I said earlier, this is what kind of puts me here For a lot of us, reading isn't fun or it's more like a chore. I know for me that's how it started right, until I found books that I genuinely enjoyed reading, right, and especially in the healing journey, I think that sometimes, you know, some of the books will be a bit more challenging to read as well, right, and that's the other thing I wanted to say as well. Some of the books will kind of bring up emotions and such, right, but that's good, that's actually good, that's a good thing to have, right, and some books will be a bit more difficult to read, and that's completely okay, right, so they might be more challenging, but they're there for a purpose, right. They're there to help us in whatever it is that we're having issues with, right, and this is what, again, I think is very important to talk about really quick is that I truly believe that there's a book for anything that you're going on, like.
Speaker 1:Anything that's going on in your life is what I'm trying to say. So if, as an example, you're having issues with anxiety, there is, for sure, books about anxiety that you can help yourself with. That, you know. You can. You know Google books on anxiety and you'll find a bunch of books, right, if there's, you know, if you're going through a lot of trauma, as an example, okay, there's books on trauma. Okay, if you want to find, you know, more about yourself and discover more about yourself, there are so many different books as well, right, if you have, if you're struggling with addiction. There are books on addiction. There are many books that can help you, and this is what I'm saying, right, like, a lot of these books are very interesting and like interesting to read because you see yourself in them as well, right? So that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:If you're going through a specific issue, then there is definitely a book that you can find to help you navigate that issue that you're going through, right? And sometimes, if something you know and you know a quick thing as well here is sometimes if you're reading something and you're getting really emotionally charged, maybe it's okay to take a pause. Or if it's too much and it's too much emotions that are building up, too much is coming up for you, then maybe it's something you can discuss with your coach or therapist or friend or family member, or go into it a bit more with someone else, someone that you can be in a safe space with and just discuss those things. You know someone that you can be in a safe space with and just discuss those things, right? I think sometimes it's important because obviously those books are made to help us through our things, but it can be challenging, right? So that's just kind of the thing I want to say but I think that's what's so interesting and so fun about it is that we're learning about ourselves and, like I say in almost every episode, approach it with curiosity. Okay, curiosity is literally the key. It's not about shaming yourself, it's not about thinking like, oh, all these things are wrong about me, right? No, no, no, you're not broken, nothing is wrong with you. You are doing this so we can lead a better quality of life and that you're not unconsciously bleeding on other people and sabotaging your relationships and all these different things, right?
Speaker 1:So I want to give a few tips again on how to kind of start reading a bit, but a mix of two things, right, just really. How to start reading a bit if you're having issues reading or if you're not sure, as an example, how to start this habit. Right, because reading is a habit. Okay, and that's the thing as well. So tip number one that I want to share is really set an intention to start reading, okay.
Speaker 1:So I think, first and foremost, even before you dive into this whole journey of self-development and self-healing and such is that you know, you need to set intention for yourself. Okay, if you're having trouble with something and you want to go through it and you're like, you know what reading is something that I think I would really enjoy, that I think you know, or I think would really help me and set yourself an intention to read, be like, okay, you know, I want to start reading. This is why and I think having that why as well like why do you want to start reading? Right? Well, probably in your case, it's to help you go through whatever it is that you're going through, whether it's childhood trauma, whether that is, you know, anxiety, whether that is whatever it may be right, I think, for you, that intention, but setting yourself a clear intention to start, I think is a really good way to start and a really good place to start as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, and also start small. Okay, what I mean by that is start small, because here's the thing about reading. Okay, reading is a skill, okay, it's not something that you develop overnight and a lot of people don't read consistently, or a lot of people read here and there, or maybe some people haven't read for years. So if you're in that boat where you haven't read for years, okay, and you're starting to read, it might be a bit more difficult. Okay, it might be a bit more difficult to start reading. That is completely okay.
Speaker 1:Like, I've talked to many people who you know they start reading. They're like, oh, you know I'm so slow or like I'm so you know I'm not good at give yourself a chance, right, like, give yourself a chance to adapt. Reading is a skill. Okay, it's something that I've developed as well. When I started reading, like seriously reading, a few years ago, I wasn't as good as I am right now. Okay, I'm going through books better now and quicker now, but in a way, that's you know, a natural pace for me as an example, right.
Speaker 1:But the point as well is to not, you're not supposed to be rushing through books as well. Right, you're not supposed to be rushing through books, and that's the other thing that I wanted to say is that a lot of people like I've seen this before as well where it's kind of like these, these little hacks on how to speed read and how to read quicker and all these different things, Okay, and in my personal opinion, you shouldn't even worry about that at all. Reading is a skill that you develop over time and also, there are no hacks to reading. Personally, I think right, and I don't think that anyone should be reading where they want to get through a book fast. That's what I'm trying to say. Right, like, reading is something that, like I said, you're supposed to pause and reflect and, you know, absorb the material, especially when you're healing right, especially when you're reading. To heal the material is very important. So, to get through a book quickly, I don't think that's very beneficial to anyone.
Speaker 1:And I've seen these tips online and like in books and such as like how to read quicker, how to get through your books faster. You know and you know if you do that and that works for you, great. Personally, I'm not about that at all. I'm someone, like I said earlier, reading is a skill and you will get faster over time as you read. Okay, as you read, you will develop more speed in your reading. But to do all these different hacks and such and try to read faster and it's like no, no, no. Reading for me is not supposed to be anything about being fast. It's supposed to be about healing and absorbing that material right and really resonating and also seeing like where can I apply this in my life? Right, that is really what reading is to me, okay.
Speaker 1:So, again, tip number one is really to set an intention to read, start small, stay consistent, right. So, as an example, if you know how much time do you want to allocate per day, right, maybe you start with five pages, five minutes, right, something along those lines. And then, as you do that progressively over time, you know you'll be like okay, I'm already done. Okay, well, maybe I can do five more minutes, or maybe I can do five more pages. Right, but consistently showing up is how you will build that habit. And also something else that I've done personally is this is kind of just like a little mind hack, if you will, but, like, sometimes I feel like books can be a little intimidating, right, like they're very thick and they can be intimidating.
Speaker 1:If you're just starting out, you can start with a smaller book as well, like one that comes to mind really quick and is a book that's profoundly, profoundly powerful. Is the Four Agreements? Okay, and the Four Agreements is a really good book. It's a small book of wisdom and it's actually, you know, physically small, right. So when I mean start small, I mean start small, but also you can actually start small, right. That's what I'm trying to say here, which is also a really good way to do it.
Speaker 1:And also, if you're reading a lot of big books and you're like, you pick up, you buy another book, as an example, and you're like, oh, this one is pretty thick, or like a. You know you're hesitating a bit, as it happens, right, sometimes you look at a book and it's really demotivating because it's like huge, right. Um, you know, personally, what I do is like I have already got a few books in line that I want to read and you know, sometimes what I can do instead is like, okay, I'll read this brick after, but I'll start with one of the smaller ones in my pile, right, and then that motivates me. It's like, well, I know I can read this one and then I can get to the other one, right, but it's like it motivates me to get through it, right, not rush through it, of course, but just to get through it, right. So, again, that's really what I want to share for tip number one.
Speaker 1:Tip number two try to read at the spot, the same spot every day, okay, and what I mean by that is like when you start a habit, okay. So a lot of times when you're starting a habit, a lot of people will say it takes like 21 days to build a habit, which is pretty true, but at the same time, I think it really depends on the individual. For some people that can be 15 days, for some people that could be 39, as an example, right, I don't think 21 is, you know, a definitive guideline, but you know, it's kind of like that measure, if you will. But in order to build this reading it, like we talked about in step number one, for me personally what has helped and this is a tip that I got from Atomic Habits is to read at the same spot every day. So make yourself a cozy, comfortable reading spot that you can go to every day and that you can associate that spot specifically with reading. So that's what I've done personally. And it's like you know that's where I go to read, when I read, and sometimes you know I'll read elsewhere, but I try to read at that same spot every day because, like, my brain thinks like, okay, this is my reading spot. And like, sometimes, if I haven't read yet that day or something, and I walk by my reading spot, I'm like, oh, I need to read today, right, it's like it's almost like you're wiring your brain to remember that that's the spot that you need to read. So that is a tip number two that I want to share. Really, set yourself a same spot that you want to read every day. Tip number three that I want to share also is this one's really important Research books.
Speaker 1:And when I say research books, you know I don't mean well, you can go on a tangent of researching different books that you want, but when I say research books, I mean especially on your healing journey. Okay, like, take a moment, have a radically honest conversation with yourself. What do you need right now? Right, like, what do I need right now? What is it that I want to work on right now? Where am I in my life right now? Okay, what are the parts of me that I want to heal? What are the parts of me that I want to work on? You know, what obstacles do I wish that I could work through? Okay, this is just brainstorming questions, kind of firing rapid questions, but what books can help you right now? Or not only what books, but like what am I struggling with Right? What is it that you really really want to focus on? Right, what is it that you really want to focus on and that you want to work on? There are books, like we talked about earlier, for everything that you want to work on. There are books, like we talked about earlier, for everything that you're having trouble with in life and that you want to work through. Okay, so that's what I'm saying. So then, as an example, when you know, okay, like this is really what I want to work through, then it gets easier to search for books that you want to work through.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, let's say, you want to work through anxiety, well, okay, hmm, all right, then you get on Google books best books for anxieties, an example, right. And then you start a list. Obviously, right, you can go on Amazon as well, you can go anywhere, right. And then you start to check through those books and see, you know, read the reviews a bit, check whatever and don't, don't get too caught up in the reviews, obviously, just, you know, but just take a bit of time to do a bit of research on certain books about anxiety, right, and obviously, you know, just check a few things about that book as well. And when you read a book, oftentimes right at the end of the book, right, let's say you really enjoyed that book. Well, at the end of the book, sometimes the author will put recommendations, like in this book. He put other recommendations as well. As you know, there might be just a list of other books that you can kind of bounce on as well, right, and be like, oh, okay, well, you know, if you reference from these books, then maybe one of these books could really help me, right? So that's what I mean. And you know, researching your books can be done through different ways, but also, you're only going to know, you know, if I'm being honest, right, like, you can research a book all you want, but you're only going to know when you read the book is what I'm trying to say, right? So, again, don't spend too much time researching, but just, you know, do your due diligence to find something that is at least in line with what you want to work on.
Speaker 1:Tip number four is to eliminate the distractions when you're reading. Okay, so I think this is very, very important when you're sitting, especially when you're on a healing journey, right, when you're on a healing journey and you know you're immersing yourself in these books. Personally, for me it's like okay, like I really need to focus. I really need to concentrate on what I'm reading, because you're reading to help yourself heal, as an example, Okay. So what I mean by that is obviously, put the distractions away.
Speaker 1:This is what I'm saying Create a spot, right, a dedicated spot for reading, which to me does not have phones or anything like that. Right, I don't have my laptop there, I don't have my phone. I put my phone in another room because I know, I know I will check that thing, right, I know, unconsciously, I will reach for it. I know, if there's a little notification that pops up, even though it's on silent, sometimes I'll see something on my phone. But, okay, I'll reach for the phone and then I'm completely distracted, right? So it's like, no, it's like put the phone away and really focus on what you're reading.
Speaker 1:Okay, that to me is important and also to me personally, I kind of consider reading like meditation for me, right? So when I'm reading right, I've got this book, let's say, right, I'm reading, and then my mind goes elsewhere, okay, I bring it back, I try to bring it back to the present moment, and that's a way to, honestly, you know, reading increases your attention, right, like your focus of attention. So, when the mind wanders as it typically does, when you're starting to read and such, or maybe you're reading something and you. Just, you know, every it happens to everyone we read, our mind goes elsewhere. To me, it's like trying to challenge myself to bring it back. Okay, mine's gone, bring it back here. That to me, is almost like a form of meditation, if you will. So, bring it back.
Speaker 1:And some of you may ask, or some of you may be wondering well, do you recommend audiobooks? This is a question that I got a lot right. But what if I like audiobooks? But what if I want to listen to an audiobook instead? My personal opinion on audiobooks first and foremost, I don't think there's anything wrong with audio books whatsoever. Okay, I think everyone's got their own method to read and all these different things.
Speaker 1:Personally, for me, when I'm reading, I try to disconnect from everything, right, so, like, that's why, for me personally, like, I don't like a Kindle, even though a Kindle has many, many benefits, right, right, like, obviously, you can bring it everywhere you got more books stored and such, whatever, right, for me. Personally, I just love the texture of a book and sitting with a book and, like, I highlight my books and, yes, I am that person. I highlight my books and put notes in them. Right, because to me, a book is something that I keep, it's something that I will reread, it's something that I go back to time and time again. So this is why I like it. I find it's it just more. It's easier to study, right, and with an audio book.
Speaker 1:For me, personally, what I've noticed is like sometimes an audio book is like I'll be doing other things at the same time, so I'm not as focused as an example, right and to me, when I'm reading, especially again when we're on our healing journey and we're reading something to help ourselves right and to work through something, I don't think an audio book is as powerful. Unless you're actually listening to an audio book. You know, maybe you're driving somewhere and you're really, you know, taking it in, or you're listening to an audio book and taking notes at the same time, then absolutely, it can definitely be beneficial, right, but I think it really comes down to your preference. But, honestly, what I would encourage is to try with the book and, like I said, many reasons is you can take notes, you can, you know, highlight in them, you can put notes anywhere in the book and typically what I'll do is like in the cover of the book, right, like the cover page of the book, when there's pages that I find that are really resonating or have really good insights, I'll put the page number and like with whatever it is right. So let's say, as an example, page 100, shadow work, as an example, right, or like shadow work examples. Then I know that that page I had some really good insights. I'll go and I've got those sections highlighted right.
Speaker 1:So, again, this is why, personally, I prefer books, but to each their own. I can't tell you what's right or what's wrong. I think it's something that you need to try for yourself. But I just think, when it comes to healing work and such, it's so nice to sit down with a book and read through it. Right, but again, very subjective my personal opinion. And what works for you works for you. That's what's most important. And, again, I would rather you listen to an audio book and work through it your own way than to not do anything at all and to not listen to anything and to not read anything at all as an example, right. So that's pretty much it with that one.
Speaker 1:So tip number five is to quit bad books. Okay, so what I mean by this is sometimes, you know, maybe like you're. Again, let's stick with the anxiety topic that we were talking about. Okay, maybe you've bought a few books on anxiety, right? Maybe you're. You've read some reviews. Maybe you you're like, okay, I really want this book on anxiety.
Speaker 1:And then you're starting to read the book and you're not really resonating with the maybe on anxiety. And then you're starting to read the book and you're not really resonating with the maybe the examples that the author is using, or the language, or maybe it's too complicated for you, or there could be a bunch of different reasons, right, maybe you're just not into that book. Okay, now, personally, what I would recommend, okay, and this is a tip that I learned from Ryan Holiday and you read a hundred pages minus your age, okay, so, as an example, let's say, for me, a hundred pages minus 30 would be 70, right? So obviously, after 70 pages, if I don't like the book, then I'm okay to discontinue it for now. Okay, and there's a few reasons for this. One, personally, is like I don't think that you're going to be learning as much and you know, integrating what you're learning If you really are not enjoying the book.
Speaker 1:Right, because maybe there's another book in anxiety that you can find right. Because maybe there's another book in anxiety that you can find, right, that you can do a bit of research, find that is like has everything that you need more specifically to you, right, but that it doesn't mean that that book won't find you later on in your journey, right? Maybe in a year from now you'll pick it up and you'll be like, wow, okay, that book didn't resonate for me then, but now it's really hitting me now as an example, right, just because and again, just because you're disregarding a book for the moment doesn't mean that you have to throw it out or anything, but it's just that, okay, this book is not resonating with me right now, so let me find something else that works a bit better for me right now. And also, another thing you can do is like, if you're really not enjoying the book, maybe there's sections of the book that could be beneficial to you, right? So maybe you just go through the table of contents and check really quick, okay, oh well, okay, there is a section here that talks about anxiety. It's got a lot of. It seems to have a lot of examples. Let me check that out, right, and then maybe you just read that part and then you benefit from that part, right? But personally, I think that you know it's not worth spending so much time on a book that you're having trouble understanding, that you're not resonating with, while you can be learning and iterating something from other books that can really be beneficial on your healing journey.
Speaker 1:Okay, and last but not least, the final tip that I want to share with everyone is, if you really want to get more out of your books, obviously it's to reread your books. Okay, and the second time around you can also take notes if you want to. So for me personally, like the first time I read a book, I will read it, I will put highlights, I will do notes, like I talked to you about earlier, and then, especially the second time around, I will actually, you know, take notes like handwritten notes from the book or you can type on a laptop, whatever it is that you want. I just find, for me personally, it's a bit slower, but I do like to hand write my notes. But, especially as a coach, I feel like, for me personally, like I need to. You know I want to serve and help my clients the best way I can. So obviously I want to reread those books and get the most out of them.
Speaker 1:But even books like the Four Agreements, a very small book. I've read this book three times and it keeps getting better every time I read it, and I find that it's so true for a lot of books is what I'm trying to say the second and third time you read a book is so much more powerful. The same thing with the alchemist, right? I know someone who's read the book like 20 times, right, for a reason. I think you find different things from a book. Like I said earlier, it's a gift that you can open time and time again. And what you learn, like as an example, right, maybe you read the book this year and you learned a lot, right, and maybe in six months from now you read it again. But since that six months you've grown. So now you're, you know, you're reading the book from a whole different lens, from a whole different perspective, and maybe there's something you missed the first time. Maybe there's something that you know, now you're seeing very clearly, and you're like, wow, like this very much resonates with me. You're like, wow, okay, I can start applying this to my life. Or wow, I didn't understand this before, but now I truly do. As an example, okay.
Speaker 1:So again, last but not least, that's the final tip, but it's to reread your books and to spend more time with the books that really resonated with you, right? That's what I'm trying to say. Obviously, the bad books and the books that you really don't like, that happens, right. You don't need to reread those if you don't want to. Obviously you can give them a chance, but for the ones that really resonate with you, okay, I would highly recommend that you read them again.
Speaker 1:So, just to finish off the episode, I thought I wanted to do like a quick speed round of books. Okay, just, you know, if you're on a healing journey and you don't really know where to start, I wanted to just kind of do a really quick speed round of books that I've read, that have helped me and maybe that can help you as well. So I thought you know why not do this. I'll just take a quick minute to do it, okay. So if you are having issues, as an example, with your inner critic, I'm going to bring three books out right now and if you're listening to the podcast, you can pause me. And just you know, you can note these down if you want, or come back and pause me later.
Speaker 1:The first book that I'll recommend is the Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, a really, really powerful book that I really enjoyed. Second book, obviously, is the Power of Now, which you know I really enjoyed as well. It talks about being present, and you know the inner critic as well. Another really fascinating book that I read is Embracing your Inner Critic by Helen Sidra Stone, an exceptionally powerful book on the origin of the inner critic and all these different things, right. So if you're having issues and want to shrink that inner critic, those are really good books.
Speaker 1:Um, I would probably start with this one, to be quite honest, or untethered soul, um, but they are all good books to read. Okay, um, just another quick few books that I want to share If you are wanting to read something that's a bit more fiction, but you know life lessons as well. As an example, we talked about it earlier the alchemist. What a good book, what a good book, very good book, um, and this one, I want you to read it for yourself. I'm not even going to go into it. Um, and then another one here is the Celestine prophecy. Right, this is another book I would consider a bit similar to the alchemist, where it's more fiction, but it's got so much wisdom, so much lessons to learn from it and a very, very powerful read.
Speaker 1:Okay, um, other books if you're having, you know, if you want to work, uh, with the inner child. As an example, there is a book by, um, charles Whitfield which is basically healing the inner child. I actually have the workbook here right now. Um, the actual book is, uh, in my living room, but this is, uh, basically a workbook here right now. The actual book is in my living room, but this is basically a workbook to the book itself, but a very, very powerful book and one of the best books you can find on inner child work. And then, what else do I have here?
Speaker 1:Really quick, if you are someone that has issues with self-sabotage, so self-sabotaging okay, gay Hendricks, the Big Leap such a very, very powerful book. Very powerful book on understanding self-sabotage and why you do it right, and it talks about the upper limit problem and all these different things. A very powerful book If you are someone that likes to learn about yourself and all these different things and you like it, but you also want to have like journaling exercises within it. There is how to Meet Yourself by Dr Nicole Lepera, which is a very, very powerful book. It's a beautiful book as well. I don't know if you guys can see this, but like colorful, like one of the nicest books I've ever seen, and it's got so much journaling questions in them. So you're learning about a bit of everything about emotions, about shadow work, a little bit about the inner critic, all these different things, right, but you're also doing it in a way where there's a lot of journaling as well, so you're practicing too, which I find is so, so, so powerful.
Speaker 1:And one more book, if you're searching for meaning and a different perspective on life Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frank frankl. He talks about his um, amazing, incredible story about his time in oswich in the concentration camps, which is powerful. And I wanted to, um, also bring out one last book here. So, um, in an unspoken voice, by peter levine, which is basically, uh, how the body releases trauma and restores goodness, right, so, more, so, more of like a somatic therapy book. And I also wanted to. I'm going to bring out four books here really quick, or three books, rather, I would say so, these three books, right so, inner critic work, inner child work and Peter Levine's book here. These are all recommendations that I got from Jordan Thornton. I really recommend you check out his YouTube channel. You know he's got really good content and he's got books that you will not find anywhere else. To be quite honest, these are all recommendations that I got from him, and he's got a bunch more on his channel, but they're really good for anyone wanting to go on their healing journey, especially with books. So that's why I wanted to give credit where credit was due, because they are profound books.
Speaker 1:So, with that being said, that really is the end of the episode today. I hope the episode was good. I hope that you. I hope you enjoyed the episode today and, with that being said, thank you for tuning in if you've been listening this far, and we will see you next week. So, that being said, that's all I've got for you guys on today's episode. If you did like the episode, please feel free to leave a comment or review, share it. It really helps bring awareness to what I'm trying to do, which is really kind of, you know, spread this podcast on a broader scale to really help people just navigate everyday life challenges. So, again, with that being said, I hope you have a good week and I will catch you guys next week. You.
