Book Club

"Joy and sorrow are inseparable... together they come, and when one sits alone with you... remember that the other is asleep upon your bed."

I had never heard of Kahlil Gibran until 2022, when I traveled to Lebanon. One of the most memorable parts of that trip was a day visit to his home near the Sacred Valley in northern Lebanon. Walking through the spaces he once lived and created in—years after his passing—felt incredibly special and intimate.

It was a day filled with inspiration, peace, and profound connection. I even brought home a small reproduction of one of his paintings that now rests near my altar. Every time I see it, it moves something deep inside me, taking me right back to that joyful day.

Kahlil Gibran’s beginnings were humble. Born in 1883 in the mountain village of Bsharri, Lebanon, he was shaped by the beauty of nature, the…

This was required reading during my coaching training—and I’ll admit, a challenging book I’ve tackled. It confronted every layer of my social conditioning around sexuality. There were moments I felt triggered, moments I paused—but also moments I was completely fascinated by the evolutionary and cultural perspectives it presented.

The book challenged me to rethink what I thought I knew: that human sexuality was always governed by monogamy or religious morality. Instead, the authors propose that early humans in tribal communities lived with much more fluid, open, and intimate sexual connections—interwoven with natural rhythms, communal living, and body cycles synced to the earth.

Reading about how modern culture suppresses sexuality—often violently—made me reflect on how drastically disconnected we are from natural rhythms and our bodies today. It also pushed me to question who shaped modern sexual narratives—and why.

Even though the book didn’t address this directly, I found myself reflecting on the influence…

A Profound Exploration of Trauma and Healing.

Some books arrive in your life not just to be read, but to be lived through—and The Body Keeps the Score was exactly that for me.

Reading this book was not easy. In fact, it was one of the most emotionally challenging reads I’ve taken on. I had to go slowly, often putting it down to breathe, feel, reflect… and then gather the courage to keep going. But despite the difficulty—or maybe because of it—it was incredibly powerful and deeply transformative.

What I appreciate most about Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s work is the way he takes us through his own journey of discovery. The book begins by tracing the arc of his career—how he came to understand the hidden injuries of trauma, abuse, and neglect, and how neuroscience has given us tools to finally document their effects on the brain and body. That…