10 books like Whole Brain Living

By Jill Bolte Taylor,

Here are 10 books that authors have personally recommended if you like Whole Brain Living. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Conscious Uncoupling

By Katherine Woodward Thomas,

Book cover of Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After

My friend Katherine is a master at helping couples uncouple in kind and caring ways, filled with integrity. I recommend this book to all my clients who are ending their relationships, and many of my clients tell me how very helpful this book was to them. Breakups and divorces don’t have to be contentious, and even if just one of you reads this book, it will be incredibly helpful to you.

Conscious Uncoupling

By Katherine Woodward Thomas,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Conscious Uncoupling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 2014 a media storm erupted when Gwyneth Paltrow announced her separation from Chris Martin, describing it as a harmonious and mutual 'conscious uncoupling' and the term entered the world's vocabulary overnight. Coined and created by relationship expert Katherine Woodward Thomas, the expression 'conscious uncoupling' has become synonymous with a divorce where both partners accept that they each played a role in the breakup and, in particular, are looking to co-parent in a functional and healthy way in the future.

The Conscious Uncoupling 5 Step Process is designed to support separating couples through the thorny terrain of a breakup, helping…


The Magic of Surrender

By Kute Blackson,

Book cover of The Magic of Surrender: Finding the Courage to Let Go

This book is deeply inspiring to me. I not only love Kute’s writing, but I love how he takes us on his personal journey to being able to let go of control. His stories are captivating and kept me glued to the book. I know Kute because he is a fellow member of the Transformational Leadership Council, and he lives what he teaches. Many of my clients have been inspired by this book.

The Magic of Surrender

By Kute Blackson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Magic of Surrender as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From one of the boldest voices in the world of personal growth and motivation, a guide to moving past inner struggle to discover the power of relinquishing control.

Too often we limit our lives by putting conditions on them. We think things should go a certain way, and when they don't, we hold on to what isn't working, reinforcing what is causing us pain and affirming our lack of trust in the universe. There is another way: We can harness the power of relinquishing control and discover more purpose and meaning in our lives.

After the passing of Kute Blackson's…


Deeper Dating

By Ken Page,

Book cover of Deeper Dating: How to Drop the Games of Seduction and Discover the Power of Intimacy

If you are tired of the game-playing that goes on with dating, and you are ready to find the love of your life, then don’t miss this book by my friend Ken Page. Ken’s book is a masterpiece for discovering how to attract the kind of person you want as a life partner, regardless of your sexual orientation. I recommend this book to all my clients who are dating. 

Deeper Dating

By Ken Page,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Deeper Dating as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With exercises, practical tools, and inspiring stories, Deeper Dating will guide you on a journey to find the love—and personal fulfillment—you long for

Lose weight. Be confident. Keep your partner guessing. At the end of the day, this soulless approach to dating doesn't lead to love but to insecurity and desperation. In Deeper Dating, Ken Page presents a new path to love. Out of his decades of work as a psychotherapist and his own personal struggle to  find love, Page teaches that the greatest magnet for real love lies in our "Core Gifts"—the places of our deepest sensitivity, longing, and…


The Four Sacred Gifts

By Anita L. Sanchez,

Book cover of The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times

Anita is a brilliant teacher of inclusion and diversity, and a fellow member of the Transformational Leadership Council. I couldn’t put her book down as she took me on her journey to claiming her personal power. The world needs this book now! Anita’s understanding of these four gifts and how important they currently are to our planet will deeply inspire you.  

The Four Sacred Gifts

By Anita L. Sanchez,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Four Sacred Gifts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Heal your past, discover your true purpose, and become a powerful source of inspiration and leadership with The Four Sacred Gifts, a collection of Aztec and global indigenous wisdom for modern life.

Given the ongoing changes in our economic, social, political, and physical environment, we are often left gulping for air as we ride the powerful waves of change. Modern life overloads us with information yet lacks the true wisdom we seek. In this book, a group of global indigenous elders pass down their four most essential, agreed upon tools to help you fulfill your truest desire for meaning, wisdom,…


Spark

By John J. Ratey, Eric Hagerman,

Book cover of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Discussing the negative impacts of screen time (and its close cousin, sedentariness) can feel overwhelming. In contrast, discovering ways to make the brain stronger is empowering. In this startling book, Dr. Ratey explores exercise’s dramatic impact on the brain and shows how it can not only improve cognitive functioning but actually make the brain bigger and more connected. While as a psychiatrist I have long-prescribed exercise to improve depression, anxiety, and sleep, after reading Spark I had a newfound respect and awe for not just the power of exercise but for the plasticity of the brain itself. This book gives new hope to those who have or work with kids with neuropsychiatric conditions or who are struggling, stuck, or otherwise disadvantaged.

Spark

By John J. Ratey, Eric Hagerman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Spark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Exercise is not only good for the body: it can transform your mind too. This new scientific revolution will teach you how to boost brain cells, protect yourself against mental illness and dementia, and ensure success in exams and the workplace.

We all know that exercise is good for the body. But did you know that it can transform your mind? This new scientific revolution will teach you how to boost brain cells, protect yourself against mental illness and dementia, and ensure success in exams and the workplace.

Follow the SPARK! training regimen and build your brain to its peak…


Neurocomic

By Hana Ros, Matteo Farinella (illustrator),

Book cover of Neurocomic

I came across this “comic” book while researching my own book, The Brain Defense, and was immediately seduced by the terrific graphics and simple storytelling that takes readers on a journey through the brain via dreamy neuro landscapes including forests and caves populated by various creatures, beasts, and a giant squid. I enjoyed reading this and marveling over the images with my young son.

Neurocomic

By Hana Ros, Matteo Farinella (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Neurocomic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Do you know what your brain is made of? How does memory function? What is a neuron and how does it work? For that matter what's a comic? And in the words of Lewis Carroll's famous caterpillar: "Who are you?"

Neurocomic is a journey through the human brain: a place of neuron forests, memory caves, and castles of deception. Along the way, you'll encounter Boschean beasts, giant squid, guitar-playing sea slugs, and the great pioneers of neuroscience. Hana Ro and Matteo Farinella provide an insight into the most complex thing in the universe.


The Tell-Tale Brain

By V.S. Ramachandran,

Book cover of The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human

This guy’s got genuine chops when it comes to thinking practically about the way the brain works. I love reading about the way various biological oddities affect how people perceive the world because of the insights it offers into the tricks all of our brains are playing. But I can never escape the suspicion that story tellers like to over-extraoplate from a small number of over-hyped cases. What I love about Ramachandran is that his work in the field means he’s considering stories he’s had first hand experience with.

The Tell-Tale Brain

By V.S. Ramachandran,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tell-Tale Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this landmark work, V. S. Ramachandran investigates strange, unforgettable cases-from patients who believe they are dead to sufferers of phantom limb syndrome. With a storyteller's eye for compelling case studies and a researcher's flair for new approaches to age-old questions, Ramachandran tackles the most exciting and controversial topics in brain science, including language, creativity, and consciousness.


Phantoms in the Brain

By V.S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee,

Book cover of Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind

Ramachandran is famous for studying some of the disorders that can be produced for the brain. One such is phantom limb pain. Some people who have had an arm amputated continue to feel that arm, and even to have pain in it. Ramachandran devised an ingenious experiment to try to abolish that feeling. This and other clever ideas are described in this book. Readers will quickly appreciate that science is like the humanities in requiring creativity.

Phantoms in the Brain

By V.S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Phantoms in the Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image,…


Brainwashed

By Sally Satel, Scott O. Lilienfeld,

Book cover of Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience

This was a much-needed cautionary examination of the increasing hype about neuroscience. Following a period in which neuroscience suddenly became a pop culture phenomenon, Brainwashed aims to tamp things down. The book takes issue with how mainstream media trumpeted studies that supposedly show how the brain “lights up” when we kiss, listen to music or engage in other activities. Satel and Lilienfied explain what brain scans and neuroscientific reports really reveal and don’t reveal.

Brainwashed

By Sally Satel, Scott O. Lilienfeld,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Brainwashed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What can't neuroscience tell us about ourselves? Since fMRI,functional magnetic resonance imaging,was introduced in the early 1990s, brain scans have been used to help politicians understand and manipulate voters, determine guilt in court cases, and make sense of everything from musical aptitude to romantic love. But although brain scans and other neurotechnologies have provided ground-breaking insights into the workings of the human brain, the increasingly fashionable idea that they are the most important means of answering the enduring mysteries of psychology is misguided,and potentially dangerous.In Brainwashed , psychiatrist and AEI scholar Sally Satel and psychologist Scott O. Lilienfeld reveal how…


The Neuroscience of You

By Chantel Prat,

Book cover of The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours

The other books on this list are mostly about generalized understandings of how our brains work. But there is also important research being done about how our brain chemistry is highly individualized, differing from one person to another. Ever wonder why your ability to focus, to manage stress, to engage in “big picture” thinking is different from someone else? Prat lays out the science of individual brain differences in lively, easy-to-understand prose. The book offers glimpses of a future where bespoke psychological treatments and participation in collaborative efforts can be calibrated to our own unique neurochemistries.

The Neuroscience of You

By Chantel Prat,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Neuroscience of You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From University of Washington professor Chantel Prat comes The Neuroscience of You, a rollicking adventure into the human brain that reveals the surprising truth about neuroscience, shifting our focus from what’s average to an understanding of how every brain is different, exactly why our quirks are important, and what this means for each of us.

With style and wit, Chantel Prat takes us on a tour of the meaningful ways that our brains are dissimilar from one another. Using real-world examples, along with take-them-yourself tests and quizzes, she shows you how to identify the strengths and weakness of your own…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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