5 Books for Promoting Deep Work
Deep work can be a time when I am working on my craft, setting or reflecting on set intentions, creating something new, refining something existing, or forging new connections. This sacred time is for me. I am grateful for the literary texts that I have come in contact with along my journey to facilitate this process, and I wanted to share them with you here:
1. Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith
This book for me is the Chakra Bible. It breaks down each chakra (a center of organization that receives, assimilates, and expresses life force energy) into seven categories, such as “Growing the Lotus,” which chronicles the way each chakra can develop in each person. “Character Structure” illustrates how the chakra might manifest physically in your body structure. “Excess and deficiency” determine where you might have certain excesses or blockages in your chakra centers.
I love about this text that it provides many examples of patterns Judith has seen over the years, so you will inevitably find a piece of your story in one of theirs (validation is super regulating!). If you are looking for a deeper understanding of the way chakras work, and to uncover some of the deep programming you might have embodied in your mind, body, and spirit, I recommend starting here.
2. All About Love by bell hooks
In this powerful text, bell hooks begins by clarifying the messages we might receive about love beginning in childhood, and how our families teach us our culture’s ideas and beliefs about love. She describes that even though our parents might believe they are loving, those beliefs and models may have been confused.
It’s important to determine this distinction so we can create families and communities that actually show up as what it will take to bring healing and love. hooks defines love as: “The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”
Once we do this, we can extend a true, life-affirming thought pattern and behavior. She closes with a deep reminder that through connection we can begin to soften the feelings of isolation. She offers a radiant, joyful heart that manifests this radiance to the world.
3. Kintsugi Wellness: The Japanese Art of Nourishing Mind, Body and Spirit by Candice Kumai
I’m pretty sure I read this book on a two-hour plane ride — I couldn’t put it down. Learning about the resilience of the Japanese culture, and the ways they have historically and presently endure with patience, stillness, and intentionality, moved me deeply.
Kumai’s storytelling around community and knowing your circle of friends (yurajima), being fully present (ichigo ichie), and bringing love and gratitude into your work are filled with simple yet powerful ideas. She inspires you to apply ancient Japanese principles and daily wisdom to nourish yourself and others.
You’ll walk away from this book with new ways to approach the world, through how to cook and eat with harmony and grace.
4. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
This book is one of those texts you can read fifty times and learn something new each time. We are reminded that our relationships shape our lived systems, and that the level of authentic care and nurturing we received from our caregivers determines much of our own development, attitudes toward ourselves, and behavior.
You’ll learn the ways in which trauma, adversity, and negative emotions can become locked in the body, and how body-based interventions can reconnect and restore us.
Van der Kolk says that with mindfulness, we can survey our internal landscape with compassion and curiosity, and allow it to steer us in the direction towards self care. He offers meditation, yoga, rhythm, and theater as regulating and healing modalities that allow us to rediscover and return to our bodies.
5. The Ayurveda Way: 108 Practices from the World’s Oldest Healing System for Better Sleep, Less Stress, Optimal Digestion, and More by Ananta Ripa Ajmera
This was the first book I ever read on Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga. It introduces the three doshas — the forces that create the physical body. There are certain foods that will irritate our digestion, and others that will heal and create more ease.
Ajmera offers daily self-care rituals for reconnecting to the season, moon, and cycles of life. She provides clear explanations of the external nature, plants, and flowers to transform your personal sense of peace, incorporating meditation and sacred altar-making.
Her gentle reminders to honor your body and the Earth’s rhythms are timeless. If you’ve already read any of the other four books, this is a grounding one to end with.