In my own journey of healing and self-discovery, I’ve found immense value in a range of resources that support nervous system education, emotional well-being, and embodied connection. This page is a curated collection of my favorite tools—YouTube channels, websites, and books—that have deeply influenced my understanding of the mind-body connection, trauma and given me understanding and have impacted my perspective. Whether you’re seeking knowledge, inspiration, or simple practices to ground yourself, these resources offer diverse perspectives to support your unique path. I’ve included links for easy access, so feel free to explore at your own pace and see what resonates with you.
YouTube Channels:
Irene Lyon MSC. : Nervous system expert, teaches people around the world how to work with the nervous system to transform trauma, heal body and mind, and live full, creative lives.
https://www.youtube.com/@IreneLyon
You Make Sense Podcast: is a manual to understanding your human experience, so that you can navigate the world with freedom, ease, and empowerment. Using the latest neuroscience and trauma research, this podcast will equip you with powerful somatic tools to help you get unstuck and create the life you desire.
https://www.youtube.com/@youmakesense
Tanner Murtagh MSW, RSW: is a therapist and Qigong teacher making videos on chronic pain, chronic symptoms, and mind-body concerns. He provides information on chronic pain and chronic symptoms and how to treat them using psychological techniques.
https://www.youtube.com/@painpsychotherapy
Stop Chasing Pain: Self Care strategies for reducing stress, inflammation and chronic pain.
https://www.youtube.com/@stopchasingpain
Crappy Childhood Fairy: Anna Runkle is trauma survivor who teaches people how to recognize and heal the symptoms of Childhood PTSD.
https://www.youtube.com/@CrappyChildhoodFairy
Therapy In A Nut Shell: Emma McAdam, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, with a mission to make mental health resources easier to access. She takes therapy skills and psychological research and condenses them down into bite-sized nuggets of help to make these resources more accessible.
https://www.youtube.com/@TherapyinaNutshell
Websites:
Recommended Books:
(Please note: these are amazon links that I may receive a small commission on at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work!)
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – An essential read for understanding how trauma impacts the body and how healing can begin through somatic practices.
My Grandmother’s Hands – Resmaa Menakem – Examines how racialized trauma lives in the bodies of individuals and communities, emphasizing somatic practices for collective healing.
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine – A groundbreaking book that explores the role of the body in trauma healing, with an emphasis on how the nervous system holds and processes trauma.
Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana – A practical guide that brings Polyvagal Theory to life, offering techniques and strategies to regulate your nervous system. This book is perfect for those wanting to understand how the nervous system affects our emotional and physical well-being and how to use that understanding for trauma recovery and deeper self-awareness.
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture – Gabor Maté
Challenges conventional views of health and trauma, revealing how societal norms often perpetuate disconnection and chronic illness.
The Deepest Well – Nadine Burke Harris – Explores the long-term impact of childhood adversity on physical health and the transformative power of early intervention.
The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease – Mark Lewis – Challenges the disease model of addiction, presenting it instead as a result of learning and neuroplasticity shaped by personal experiences and habits.
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life – Marshall B. Rosenberg – Offers a transformative approach to communication rooted in empathy, authenticity, and the compassionate expression of needs.
It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle – Mark Wolynn – Explores how unresolved ancestral trauma can manifest in our lives and provides tools to break generational patterns through awareness and healing.
Owning Your Own Shadow – Robert A. Johnson – Delves into the concept of the shadow self, inviting readers to integrate their hidden parts for personal growth and balance.
Women Who Run With the Wolves – Clarissa Pinkola Estés – Uses myths, fairy tales, and storytelling to awaken the wild, instinctual nature within women, reclaiming lost aspects of the feminine psyche.
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover – Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette – Explores the four archetypes of mature masculinity, offering insights into personal development and balanced masculine energy.
The Heroine’s Journey – Maureen Murdock – Reimagines the traditional hero’s journey through a feminine lens, focusing on inner transformation, healing, and integration.
Meeting the Shadow – Edited by Connie Zweig & Jeremiah Abrams – A collection of essays exploring the hidden aspects of the psyche, emphasizing the power of confronting and embracing the shadow self.
The Language of Emotions – Karla McLaren – Reframes emotions as vital sources of wisdom, offering tools to understand, honor, and work with them rather than suppress them.
Radical Acceptance – Tara Brach – Combines mindfulness and self-compassion practices to help break free from self-judgment and embrace the fullness of one’s humanity.
Braving the Wilderness – Brené Brown – Explores the courage required to stand alone in one’s authenticity while fostering a deep sense of belonging to oneself.
Dare to Lead – Brené Brown – Focuses on vulnerability as the cornerstone of courageous leadership, promoting authenticity, empathy, and resilience in all areas of life.
Trauma and Recovery – Judith Herman – A seminal work that connects individual trauma to broader systems of oppression, offering a framework for understanding and healing.
The Drama of the Gifted Child – Alice Miller – Examines how emotionally neglected children often suppress their true selves to meet parental expectations, leading to hidden wounds in adulthood.
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert – Encourages a fearless, playful approach to creativity, embracing curiosity over perfectionism.
Art is a Way of Knowing – Pat B. Allen – Explores art-making as a process of self-discovery, healing, and spiritual connection beyond traditional artistic techniques.
The Creative Act – Rick Rubin – Offers philosophical reflections on the nature of creativity, emphasizing presence, intuition, and the art of noticing.
Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg – Blends writing techniques with Zen principles, encouraging raw, authentic expression without self-censorship.
Women & Madness – Phyllis Chesler – Critiques the historical pathologization of women’s emotions, revealing how societal expectations often distort female mental health narratives.
Eastern Body, Western Mind – Anodea Judith – Integrates Western psychology with Eastern chakra systems, offering a holistic view of personal growth and healing.
The Tao of Trauma – Alaine Duncan & Kathy Kain – Blends Chinese medicine principles with trauma therapy to address healing through the body’s natural rhythms.
Healing Trauma Through Yoga – Beth Shaw – Explores how yoga practices can support trauma recovery by fostering body awareness, safety, and emotional regulation.
Bodyfulness – Christine Caldwell – Introduces “bodyfulness” as a practice that deepens mindfulness by engaging the body’s wisdom for greater presence and empowerment.
The Origins of Totalitarianism – Hannah Arendt – Analyzes the roots of authoritarian regimes, examining how fear, propaganda, and conformity shape oppressive systems.
Disciplined Minds – Jeff Schmidt – Critiques how professional environments often suppress critical thinking and individuality to maintain systems of control.
Silencing the Past – Michel-Rolph Trouillot – Explores how power shapes historical narratives, revealing the ways in which voices are erased or distorted over time.
The Politics of Trauma – Staci K. Haines – Links personal trauma to systemic oppression, offering somatic practices for individual and collective transformation.
The Paradox of Choice – Barry Schwartz – Argues that while choice is often seen as liberating, an excess of options can lead to anxiety, dissatisfaction, and paralysis.
The Untethered Soul – Michael A. Singer – Explores the nature of consciousness and offers insights on how to release internal blockages for spiritual freedom.
The Wisdom of Insecurity – Alan Watts – Challenges the human tendency to seek control, advocating for the beauty of uncertainty and living fully in the present moment.
When Things Fall Apart – Pema Chödrön – Offers compassionate guidance on embracing life’s inevitable challenges as opportunities for growth and awakening.
Man and His Symbols – Carl Jung – Explores the language of symbols and dreams, illustrating how the unconscious mind communicates through archetypal imagery.
The Denial of Death – Ernest Becker – Examines how the fear of mortality drives human behavior, shaping cultures, belief systems, and personal identities.
Maps of Meaning – Jordan B. Peterson – Investigates how myths and belief systems structure human experience, linking psychological development with archetypal narratives.
Emotional Agility – Susan David – Explores how embracing emotions with curiosity and flexibility fosters resilience, growth, and authentic living.
The Body in Pain – Elaine Scarry – Analyzes the relationship between physical pain, language, and power, emphasizing how suffering often defies articulation.
The Courage to Be Disliked – Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga – Applies Adlerian psychology to explore the freedom found in releasing the need for approval and embracing personal responsibility.
The Myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus – Explores the absurdity of existence and the human struggle to find meaning in a seemingly indifferent universe.
Being and Nothingness – Jean-Paul Sartre – A foundational work of existential philosophy that delves into the nature of consciousness, freedom, and self-deception.
Meditations – Marcus Aurelius – A collection of Stoic reflections on virtue, resilience, and finding inner peace amidst life’s challenges.
The Ethics of Ambiguity – Simone de Beauvoir – Examines existential ethics, proposing that meaning arises through embracing life’s inherent ambiguity and freedom.
I and Thou – Martin Buber – Explores the profound difference between “I-It” relationships, which objectify, and “I-Thou” connections rooted in authentic presence.
The Rebel – Albert Camus – Investigates the philosophical roots of rebellion, examining how the quest for justice can both inspire and corrupt human action.
The Phenomenology of Spirit – G.W.F. Hegel – A dense exploration of consciousness, self-awareness, and the unfolding of human spirit through history and dialectical processes.
The Order of Things – Michel Foucault – Challenges traditional frameworks of knowledge, revealing how language, science, and culture shape human perception over time.
Discipline and Punish – Michel Foucault – Traces the evolution of social control, examining how power operates through institutions, surveillance, and the human body.
The Genealogy of Morals – Friedrich Nietzsche – Critiques the origins of Western moral values, proposing that guilt and resentment underpin traditional notions of “good” and “evil.”
The Stranger – Albert Camus – A philosophical novel that embodies existentialist themes of absurdity, detachment, and the indifference of the universe.
The Tao Te Ching – Laozi (Translated by Stephen Mitchell) – A foundational Taoist text offering poetic wisdom on the art of living in harmony with the natural flow of existence.
Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy – Whitney Goodman – Unpacks how the relentless pursuit of positivity can invalidate real emotions and offers tools for embracing the full spectrum of human experience.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson – Challenges the cultural obsession with constant happiness, advocating for the value of embracing struggle and meaningful discomfort.
It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand – Megan Devine – Critiques society’s discomfort with grief, offering validation for painful emotions and a new approach to supporting those in mourning.
The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living – Russ Harris – Reveals how the pursuit of happiness can create psychological suffering and introduces Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as an alternative.
Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole – Susan Cain – Explores the beauty and transformative power of melancholy, challenging the cultural bias toward relentless positivity.
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers – Debbie Ford – Delves into shadow work, showing how denying our darker emotions can fragment our psyche and hinder authentic self-expression.
Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy – Eric G. Wilson – Argues that melancholy is an essential part of the human condition, fueling creativity, reflection, and depth of character.
Permission to Feel – Marc Brackett – Explores the profound impact of emotional literacy, advocating for permission to feel all emotions as a path to well-being.
Braving the Wilderness – Brené Brown – Challenges the need for external validation, emphasizing authenticity, vulnerability, and the courage to stand in one’s truth.
No Bad Parts – Richard C. Schwartz – Reframes emotional “parts” often labeled as negative, showing how integration, rather than suppression, leads to inner harmony.
Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl – A Holocaust survivor’s reflections on finding purpose and meaning in life, even in the face of unimaginable suffering, based on his psychological theories of logotherapy.
The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck – A spiritual and psychological exploration of personal growth, love, and discipline, highlighting how the path of least resistance often leads to emotional and spiritual stagnation.
The Book of Awakening – Mark Nepo – A poetic exploration of mindfulness, presence, and awakening to the profound beauty of ordinary moments, guiding the reader toward deeper self-awareness and connection.
The Four-Chambered Heart – Anaïs Nin – A semi-autobiographical novel that examines love, identity, and the psychological intricacies of the human heart.
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