24. Five Life-Changing Books for Moms on a Healing Journey

If you’re a mom doing the hard work of healing while raising little ones, these five books belong on your shelf! Whether you’re navigating motherhood without the support you needed, working to break generational cycles, or learning to remother yourself with compassion, these life-changing books can offer the guidance, validation, and hope you’ve been craving.

In this episode, Alyssa Carlene will briefly introduce you to five powerful reads that support your emotional growth and help you feel more grounded, empowered, and seen on your motherhood healing journey.

Listen to the episode to answer the following questions: 

• What are some powerful books that can support my emotional healing as a mom?
• How can I begin to remother myself when I didn’t have a nurturing mother?
• What books can help me feel more grounded and present in motherhood?
• How do I begin healing the past so I can parent more effectively?
• What tools or perspectives can help me grow into the mom I want to be?

1. Want to join a supportive, heartfelt community with other moms who are also navigating motherhood without their mothers? Join our Facebook Group today!

2. Are you ready to build confidence and emotional resilience as a mom, even without the support of your mother? Access the free video training now: Five Steps to Navigating Motherhood Without Your Mother!

3. Want to chat more about what it's like to mother without your mom and get personalized support? Send Alyssa Carlene a DM on Instagram!

Transcript

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think of a book that you have read that changed your life completely and you wanted to share it with every single person that you've ever met books are so powerful Books have been a game changer in my healing journey, and I am so excited because today on the episode, I am sharing with you five completely life-altering books that will help you on your motherhood healing journey. You're listening to Navigating Motherhood Without Your Mother. Welcome, amazing, beautiful mama on her healing journey, ready to heal and grow. I'm so grateful that you're here listening to the podcast today. And before we jump into these incredible books, I just want to say that my Facebook group needs you. If you are listening, this is your sign. You should join my Facebook group if you haven't already. It is a beautiful place. It's a safe place. And we need you. We need your light. We need your story. And we just want any mom who feels like she needs more of a village in her life, a support system, moms who understand. Please consider joining my Facebook group today. You can check the link in the show notes to join and join Just know that you are not navigating motherhood without your mother alone. So consider it your sign and I hope to see you inside. All right, let's talk about these books, you guys. Books seriously are incredible. And I know, trust me, I know that as a mom, especially a mom with young kids, reading a book, sitting down and reading a book is not always easy. something that can happen, okay? But thankfully, we have amazing technology, we have audiobooks, we have summaries of books, you can listen to this episode and that could be enough, but I just like to recommend it because I want to provide you with all of the resources that you need as you are healing. Healing in your journey, healing from mother loss, healing from a mother wound. I want to share with you things that have really helped me, that have sparked and changed something. They've put a fire inside of me that I felt like were divinely put into my life and I can't just not share them with you. So let's just jump right in. The Thank you so much. What mother hunger is, is it is a term to explain the grief and longing that many of us feel when we didn't get the kind of nurturing, protection, or guidance we needed growing up. It's called Mother Hunger because it feels like an ache, like the pangs inside of you that you feel when you're hungry and you go so long without food. That's what it feels like to have grown up with a mom who did not meet your specific needs. It's Mother Hunger. This book is I kid you not. I was shocked. I was so grateful. I was so sad. It was all of the emotions at the same time when I was reading this book because it felt like somebody turned a light on in this dark room that I have just been sitting in for so many years and said, hey, this is what you're experiencing. This is what you feel. You don't just have a mother wound. You have mother hunger. It really helped me understand that I wasn't just broken or too needy. I was just missing something foundational. And Kelly McDaniel, she is a therapist. She is just phenomenal. You can find her on Instagram and social media. She is truly amazing. I just, her work has changed so many lives. And her words gave me permission to finally acknowledge and grieve. And it showed me how to start remothering. So if you've ever felt like you were unseen, disconnected, or overwhelmed in your own motherhood journey because of the relationship you had with your mom growing up, and now you are maybe estranged from her, or the relationship is very bad and you can't talk to her or something is wrong or maybe you have a decent relationship but growing up it was not good whatever it may be this book is worth your time and I remember I actually I listened to the audio when I first found the book because you know I had a two-year-old at the time I did not have time to read I was in school and I listened to it probably within a week and then I bought the book because I thought okay I have to have this I have to have a hard copy of this book that changed my life forever it can never leave my side you know it needs to be in my home in my capacity so that I can turn back to it whenever I need so this book this is why I put it as number one but this book changed me forever this book is for you and I hope that if you do read it and it changes your life that you tell me about it and you tell Kelly McDaniel about it because it's truly such a phenomenal book and yeah that's all I've got to say about Mother Hunger just read it I promise it will change you forever. The second book coming close in second, because this is another one of my top books. I think I've talked about it in an episode before. I had a previous podcast where I've also had episodes about both of these books. If you want more information, you can go and literally listen to my old episodes from Uproot and Uplift, my previous podcasts. But that is beside the point and a little bit of a tangent here. But the second book is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. You guys, this book, it came to me during a time when I was just so anxious. I was constantly replaying the past. I was worried about the future. And I was just missing out on what was right here, right now, the present moment. The power of now reminded me that peace really only exists in the present moment and that the past and the future, they don't really exist. And I know that that's not necessarily true, but the reality is that we are right here, right now, and right now is all we have. And there's a line in the book that says, whatever the present moment contains, accept it as you had chosen it. As excruciating as it might be, as depressing, as blissful, as joyous, be here, be now. This idea helped me stop fighting reality and it started, I really started to ground myself in what is reality. helped me breathe again and it honestly has helped me become a better more calm more present mother book number three the untethered soul by michael a singer oh my gosh this is such a good book this book it really helped me get curious about the constant chatter in my mind And I didn't realize how much of my thoughts and emotions were really running the show until this book came into my life because it allowed me to just observe them and to let them pass through instead of me getting so swept up and carried away in them. If you've ever felt really overwhelmed by your inner critic or paralyzed by fear, this book will teach you how to create space between you and your thoughts. It's as if you are the observer of your thoughts. And really, for me, it was such a huge step toward more emotional freedom and toward finding calm in the chaos of motherhood. I love this book. Michael Singer also has a podcast. I'm sure that a lot of these other authors either have a podcast or been on a podcast. Podcasts are great. You truly reading this book really helped me realize that these are just thoughts and who am I? Who am I really observing what's going on? The way that he writes and his... I don't even know how to explain it. You'll see. It's very different and it's beautiful. It's beautiful because it really lets you take a step back and recognize that you are the observer of your thoughts and It's okay to just let them be and that you can heal and grow and change as you transform and observe and surrender. The fourth book is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. This is a book that's really short, very bite-sized. You could probably read it in one setting if you wanted to, but it really gave me a spiritual roadmap. It's very simple, but it's they're not always easy. And they've been like anchors for me when I start to spiral into feelings of guilt, self-doubt, frustration. Okay, but there's four, four agreements. And I think the one for me that really has helped me the most was to not take anything personally. And this is a big deal because I still struggle with this. But as a motherless mother, a mom who lacks support from her mom, I really did used to take everything personally and I would blame other people. And this book helped me create these inner boundaries and really reclaim my power. It's short, it's practical, and I really could come back to it again and again. It's amazing. Number five. The Sacred Tree by Phil Lane Jr. and a bunch of other authors. But this book is amazing. It is deeply spiritual and it is rooted in indigenous wisdom. This was my first time I was ever exposed to Native American spirituality. And I was blown away. It reminded me that healing isn't just about me. It's about community. It's about nature and about the connection to something greater. Okay, we're talking about the earth, mama earth. The sacred tree teaches that true healing includes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. And they call this the medicine wheel. And it is that balance matters and that if one thing is off, the whole wheel is off. is going to be out of place so reading it helped me reconnect to a sense of belonging and groundedness especially when I feel unrooted when I feel unsupported when I feel like who can I lean back on I'm leaning back into mama earth into my spirituality and nature and community and humanity and It's not as well known as these other books, but it's a hidden treasure, especially if you're looking for something more holistic and very heart-centered for your healing and your approach to your growth. So these are the five books that have changed my life, and I share them with you not as a to-do list, but simply an invitation because these books truly, I can't say it enough, have just been such inspiration. a such an anchor to me as I've been healing so even if one of these sparked curiosity then maybe that's one to start with because they're like companions on your journey they don't fix everything but they hold space for us to change And if you've read any of these or you decide to pick one up, I would love to hear from you. You could come share in my Facebook group that I mentioned at the beginning or join me over on Instagram. I want to keep this conversation going. And if you have a life-changing recommendation book for me, I am always open to hear it. Until next time, be so very gentle with yourself, mama. You are doing sacred healing work. I am so happy that you are here with me on on this journey and I want to support you thank you for listening read books let me know what you think you're amazing hang in there mama