Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home

Yet I am an rebel outlaw. Definitely BELONGED SOULFULLY IN this book.

Once in a while an author comes along with an impeccable story that pushes you to the edges of life and leaves you wanting for more…enjoy the amazing journey…

What an incredibly transformational and soul connecting book. The most profound book I have ever read. I saw myself in your pages as if you knew my journey. I was so touched. You have given breath and pulse to my spirit to take life into its path. So incredibly grateful. Thank you for showing up to this life and for creating and dreaming this book into our consciousness. This book is a must read if you are in the path of soul awakening, alignment with spirit, in life with your dream world, and in higher purpose and connecting to the mystical side of our selves. Toko- pa is a truly magical writer!! In honor of your life. Your journey. Your existence. Your beingness. Your dream essence.

Author writes like a poet, so it's actually fun to read. But her insights are incredible. I was a licensed clinical counselor for years and she is so on target with bringing us back to our true selves (our home) from the fabricated selves we have created in our desire to belong.

Toko-pa’s journey sings to the soul in poetic wisdom. This book is a warm, folksy, delicious sharing of sweeping insight gained through pain and longing. I’m 60 and I have read so many spiritual books in my life, Belonging has joined the most influential. I recommended it to my spiritual book club and my heart is happy knowing the rich, soulful conversation we will share around this beautiful offering.

I think probably the most endearing thing about this book are the resonant poetic passages... that the author doesn't remember writing (as she has stated on podcast interviews). I first read this book when I was going through a heavy transition and found that it did feed some bits inside that needed the nourishment, and this made overlooking some issues easy. One of the biggest issues that should be a screaming red flag for people who are adrift from their original families is that the author is also adrift and voluntarily severed contact and continues to encourage other people to do so, as if this is a curative amputation that will magically heal all your wounds. As a former no-contact child, I totally understand the need to have very big defining spaces from the people we feel disempowered by; however, there's a very real new wound that occurs when/if you don't attempt to resolve those issues and find a healthy-for-you way to reconnect. This author not only has not gone through that process, and therefore cannot provide the guidance to reach the other side of this issue, but she attempts to create an authority around herself through Jungian, psychological and spiritual lineages that she hasn't recieved recognition for. This is an interesting, coming from a person who writes about false belonging (probably the most original and telling chapter in the book). Alas, the final straw came from witnessing the author publically berate a community member who was in conversation with someone else and was sharing some deeply personal stories that led her to a completely different, and challenging, perspective from this author. Not only was this outbreak bizarre, it followed a pattern that other people have witnessed when, in particular, mothers speak up about their experiences within this author's earshot. When I saw this, all the red flags came together: brought up in a cult, unresolved mother wounds, a profession based on interrpreting other people's dreams (without license or training), regurgitating myth analysis from people who lived 100 years ago, and a book designed to attract people in the midst of feeling vulnerable and isolated. Oh, dear, what have we here? And now, probably in an attempt to shore up a waning market share, she's trying to branch out into the trans-community with her "severe all ties" snake oil. Eek! Watch out! If you read this book, please beware. There's plenty here that can help but there are some areas where, I hope, you find outside advice. As always, select your healers, gurus, therapists, and guides with discernment.

I read another review state “if there was an edible version, I’d eat it”. And I could not possibly resonate more with this! This book is an absolute gem, and touches the reader to the depths of their soul. I’ve hugged this book in tears, grieved with its exposure of my wounds, taken long, thoughtful pauses to chew the dense and profound content, and laughed incredulously as Toko-Pa’s words weave a wondrous picture for the unseen, unknown, unacknowledged until now. I was engulfed in inspiration and awe as I drank each page down and I often felt as if the book was somehow written just for me. And with this, I felt a profound sense of hope. Because it was not written for me, and if these words are impacting so many, then here is absolute proof that my people are out there yet. I will be buying multiple copies to give to friends and family and want to say thank you a million times to Toko-Pa Turner for writing such a magnificent piece of art. 🙏🏼

I have been following Toko-Pa for years, and anxiously awaited the arrival of this book. I expected greatness! But nothing could have prepared me for the deeply compassionate, soulful, embodied journey through the psyche and straight to the heart that ‘Belonging’ is. Toko-pa weaves a poetic exploration through the depths of ancestral lineage to conception, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and age that holds no prisoners. She offers a garden of delights for reclamation of any and all lost parts of our soul that may have been discarded along the way in Life, and graces every misstep and lost moment with the innate power we each possess to create the life we deserve and desire. She breathes Life into the lifeless and brings light into the darkness with a richness and gentleness like nothing I’ve read before. And believe me, I read a lot. This is a MUST READ for anyone who finds themselves longing for a deeper, more authentic and purposeful life. She never tells the reader what to do... she gently coaxes the reader to examine their deep inner longing and not only recognize its true value, but muster the courage to pursue it with trust, faith and the inexhaustible power of limitless possibilities to “Be the Champion of Your Right to Be Here.”

I recommend this book to anyone that believes in magic, dreams, and artistry. It is written like a painting of the soul, untethered and free to fly, dive and dig. This is a human offering to being truly human, past, present and future.

This is a book that was arguably the most meaningful book I have ever read (as a man). It is a slow read, at least it was for me, because every page triggered me to take notes, highlight and reflect. To me at least this is a book that allows me to work on myself, to understand how/why I come to feel those emotions, what they mean and how they can help me grow and move forward. Equally they help me to understand others and their desire for deep belonging. It helps me understand why we admire those who belong to their own core, those who know and believe their own soul and energy and live from that core. It has been more than a year since I read this book and in subtle ways it has guided me ever since.

Yet I am an rebel outlaw. Definitely BELONGED SOULFULLY IN this book.

Once in a while an author comes along with an impeccable story that pushes you to the edges of life and leaves you wanting for more…enjoy the amazing journey…

What an incredibly transformational and soul connecting book. The most profound book I have ever read. I saw myself in your pages as if you knew my journey. I was so touched. You have given breath and pulse to my spirit to take life into its path. So incredibly grateful. Thank you for showing up to this life and for creating and dreaming this book into our consciousness. This book is a must read if you are in the path of soul awakening, alignment with spirit, in life with your dream world, and in higher purpose and connecting to the mystical side of our selves. Toko- pa is a truly magical writer!! In honor of your life. Your journey. Your existence. Your beingness. Your dream essence.

Author writes like a poet, so it's actually fun to read. But her insights are incredible. I was a licensed clinical counselor for years and she is so on target with bringing us back to our true selves (our home) from the fabricated selves we have created in our desire to belong.

Toko-pa’s journey sings to the soul in poetic wisdom. This book is a warm, folksy, delicious sharing of sweeping insight gained through pain and longing. I’m 60 and I have read so many spiritual books in my life, Belonging has joined the most influential. I recommended it to my spiritual book club and my heart is happy knowing the rich, soulful conversation we will share around this beautiful offering.

I think probably the most endearing thing about this book are the resonant poetic passages... that the author doesn't remember writing (as she has stated on podcast interviews). I first read this book when I was going through a heavy transition and found that it did feed some bits inside that needed the nourishment, and this made overlooking some issues easy. One of the biggest issues that should be a screaming red flag for people who are adrift from their original families is that the author is also adrift and voluntarily severed contact and continues to encourage other people to do so, as if this is a curative amputation that will magically heal all your wounds. As a former no-contact child, I totally understand the need to have very big defining spaces from the people we feel disempowered by; however, there's a very real new wound that occurs when/if you don't attempt to resolve those issues and find a healthy-for-you way to reconnect. This author not only has not gone through that process, and therefore cannot provide the guidance to reach the other side of this issue, but she attempts to create an authority around herself through Jungian, psychological and spiritual lineages that she hasn't recieved recognition for. This is an interesting, coming from a person who writes about false belonging (probably the most original and telling chapter in the book). Alas, the final straw came from witnessing the author publically berate a community member who was in conversation with someone else and was sharing some deeply personal stories that led her to a completely different, and challenging, perspective from this author. Not only was this outbreak bizarre, it followed a pattern that other people have witnessed when, in particular, mothers speak up about their experiences within this author's earshot. When I saw this, all the red flags came together: brought up in a cult, unresolved mother wounds, a profession based on interrpreting other people's dreams (without license or training), regurgitating myth analysis from people who lived 100 years ago, and a book designed to attract people in the midst of feeling vulnerable and isolated. Oh, dear, what have we here? And now, probably in an attempt to shore up a waning market share, she's trying to branch out into the trans-community with her "severe all ties" snake oil. Eek! Watch out! If you read this book, please beware. There's plenty here that can help but there are some areas where, I hope, you find outside advice. As always, select your healers, gurus, therapists, and guides with discernment.

I read another review state “if there was an edible version, I’d eat it”. And I could not possibly resonate more with this! This book is an absolute gem, and touches the reader to the depths of their soul. I’ve hugged this book in tears, grieved with its exposure of my wounds, taken long, thoughtful pauses to chew the dense and profound content, and laughed incredulously as Toko-Pa’s words weave a wondrous picture for the unseen, unknown, unacknowledged until now. I was engulfed in inspiration and awe as I drank each page down and I often felt as if the book was somehow written just for me. And with this, I felt a profound sense of hope. Because it was not written for me, and if these words are impacting so many, then here is absolute proof that my people are out there yet. I will be buying multiple copies to give to friends and family and want to say thank you a million times to Toko-Pa Turner for writing such a magnificent piece of art. 🙏🏼

I have been following Toko-Pa for years, and anxiously awaited the arrival of this book. I expected greatness! But nothing could have prepared me for the deeply compassionate, soulful, embodied journey through the psyche and straight to the heart that ‘Belonging’ is. Toko-pa weaves a poetic exploration through the depths of ancestral lineage to conception, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and age that holds no prisoners. She offers a garden of delights for reclamation of any and all lost parts of our soul that may have been discarded along the way in Life, and graces every misstep and lost moment with the innate power we each possess to create the life we deserve and desire. She breathes Life into the lifeless and brings light into the darkness with a richness and gentleness like nothing I’ve read before. And believe me, I read a lot. This is a MUST READ for anyone who finds themselves longing for a deeper, more authentic and purposeful life. She never tells the reader what to do... she gently coaxes the reader to examine their deep inner longing and not only recognize its true value, but muster the courage to pursue it with trust, faith and the inexhaustible power of limitless possibilities to “Be the Champion of Your Right to Be Here.”

I recommend this book to anyone that believes in magic, dreams, and artistry. It is written like a painting of the soul, untethered and free to fly, dive and dig. This is a human offering to being truly human, past, present and future.

This is a book that was arguably the most meaningful book I have ever read (as a man). It is a slow read, at least it was for me, because every page triggered me to take notes, highlight and reflect. To me at least this is a book that allows me to work on myself, to understand how/why I come to feel those emotions, what they mean and how they can help me grow and move forward. Equally they help me to understand others and their desire for deep belonging. It helps me understand why we admire those who belong to their own core, those who know and believe their own soul and energy and live from that core. It has been more than a year since I read this book and in subtle ways it has guided me ever since.

I’m glad I stuck with this book - I felt there was too much focus on dreams and their interpretation in the first half, and that it meandered, but the book became better for me in the second half. There is a lot of wisdom and thoughtful contemplation that made me feel it deserves 5 stars; also it’s well written and that’s not a given in today’s publications.

I have read so many books by brilliant authors on the topics of human connection and creation of a meaningful life- from both a psychological and a spiritual point of view. I first found Toko-pa when a dear friend sent me her poem "I Want to Be Alive With You", and have followed her ever since. I am a scientist and a dreamworker myself. I bought her book because I relate so readily to her blog posts... this book is exemplary. I can't say enough about it. I knew it would be good, but I actually am a bit floored to find it so deliciously profound and lucid, it exceeds all expectations. It's like all the things I already feel that I have stuck inside me found a beautiful and articulate voice and are laid out in front of me to ponder with holy curiosity. It is not a fast read. I had to take it in slowly, savoring it. It is deep and complex, but her anecdotes are sprinkled throughout, grounding it and driving the points home. Toko-pa is what my circle calls "tapped-in"... a bridge that can span the gap between the medicine and the sick, this book delivers. Such a beautiful and personal piece of art that I will reread and recommend to my friends.

Reading this book, Belonging, is a spiritual experience. It is as if Toko Pa took the time to explore the same fleeting thoughts, ideas, perceptions, and even emotions that I have had but never settled in to explore, and she explored them and distilled them down to find what was true in them, and then she spun the true parts into a fabric to create this book. I know that I am going to read this one many times. Thank you, and bless you, Toko Pa.

This book is of the soul. It is just outstanding and I find it very difficult to put it down. I have a habit of highlighting what really touches me, inspires me, and awes me when I read. As a result there is highlighting on every page of this book. The author is a word-magician. She is an extremely talented writer, creative - and as she looks deeply into the real meaning of words, she also weaves sentences that are truly a work of art. Second, her own story which she shares early on is riveting and the reader knows that she draws on her own experience. It focuses on archetypes, dream work, truth, philosophy, literature and more. As I read, I can feel the insights I experience healing and inspiring me as they also motivate me to continue on a journey I began many years ago. It is affirming to truth that resides deep within, to my own knowingness. I know I will read it again a d maybe even again. Thank you, Toko-pa for this gem so current, so needed right now in our world. I know I will be sharing this book with friends as gifts….

Hi Toko-pa, Oh goodness, how utterly rare it is for me to reach out to an author whose work I am being tossed about and fed and enlivened by -- But something in the way you offer yourself is making me feel invited to write to you. I hope that's a welcome thing. I've just begun to read your book, Belonging -- and as a trans non-binary person, I am SO STRUCK, Toko-pa, with your sensitivity around issues of gender! I mean, your cosmology -- the elegance & layers & nuance all speak with what feels like shocking directness to my own emergent worldview -- but I am SO ACCUSTOMED to authors espousing the (if you'll forgive me) "genre" of wisdom you're offering writing with what feels like acutely patriarchal violence -- however unintentional -- around issues woven through with gender & gender presentation. I am feeling an overwhelming amount of gratitude toward you as teacher and author and voice in the world, Toko-pa. I really haven't had an experience as saturated with YES as this since discovering the work of Martin Prechtel.

What can I say that hasn’t already been said by hundreds of others. I have C-PTSD and Co-Dependancy issues from a very traumatic childhood. In fact, my childhood was very similar to the outline Toko-pa generously shares in her remembering. The greatest gift I can say from my reading ‘Belonging’ is that it gave me assurance I wasn’t alone in my reasoning, responses and reactions that I feel so frustrated and ashamed over. Its not that this book points fingers at moms and dads, instead, it allows you to do a deep sigh and settle back into your heart. In a nutshell, it gives you a sense of belonging. This book is a power object. It will transform the way you think, the way you perceive the truth of your past and the truth of family of origins. It helps you reclaim back your power. I cannot think of a greater gift of a book than this one in my 34 years of life. Thank you, Toko-pa for your authenticity and bravery.

Belonging is one of those books that i call 'once in a decade' that manages to illuminate the present and validate years of exploration and healing...Have been with the book for a few days and Toko-pa has uncovered one of those rare golden nuggets that is found in the deep dark terrains that reveals the holographic of micro and macro-cosmic/personal and collective. This book relevant for these days when so many of us know it is time for unity and activism and yet at the same time many of us are aware that something seems to be holding us back collectively. This book lends great insight into the current series The Crown and also into the emerging of #metoo. We are being released from the death mother archetype together. This book has insight that can release us individually and collectively for a much greater wholeness. Toko-pa is a great writer, for she enters a creative flow that lifts and carries the soul that knows it 'belongs'. It is a good book and am so happy to find this one... Many thanks for its allowance.

This book was chosen for a women's book club I am part of. Women ranging from 30-65 read the book and everyone had a deep experience with it. I highly recommend it, especially if one is on the spiritual journey of remembering, returning home to yourself, wanting to explore dreams in deeper but less rigid analytical way, or interested in the topic of belonging. I found myself wanting to highlight just about every paragraph. I did not personally enjoy the voice of the author on the audiobook sample I listened to, so I opted for the paperback. Because of so many quotable passages, I am very glad I did.

Toko-pa’s beautiful work has had a profound impact on me allowing me to own my vulnerability and how its etched in my life…a lot to process and think about how we make meaning of ourselves and our sense of belonging. Thank you for writing this work.

With this book I feel that something holy has come into our home. Toko-pa has written a book that takes the ordinary, the painful, the beautiful, what goes deep and what soars up, what is radiant and what is hard, all that is wonderful and restless and unfinished and broken and tender and longing - and spins it into the gold of Life coming through us, in holy relationship with us. Life longing for us in true fullness - all these things resolved in their paradoxes through the grace of Life's Love - even as we long after it. Grounded in the realities of her own hard travelling, this book lifts the soul, shows the Way, and sings to the deepest part of ourself that may be still finding its voice, but wants to Sing. Thank you Toko-pa for this incredible gift you have given the world. I truly believe it is a treasured golden thread in the weaving back together of our living with this beautiful, damaged Earth, in the beauty and grace of honouring what is radiant as well as in what runs dark and deep. Thank you with all my heart.

***My name is Victoria, I am just using my sweetheart Dustin's Amazon account** I am reading Belonging right now and, on my knees bowing to the reflection this work is for me. Shining me back to mySelf and I am so grateful. Literally will talk about something in the morning, have it echoed back at lunch, and sit down to read another chapter in the evening where I read the exact language that came out from my mouth in the book! True belonging when we belong to our truth. My eyes make liquid celebration when reading this. Thank you, Toko-Pa for your journey and for translating it into a piece of art for us all. 💗🙏🏻😭✨🙂

This is such a moving book. I resonate with it so much. So many times I read my own thoughts and conversations in her written word - we are kin indeed 😀🙏❤️

I’ve never connected so deeply to a book. Each chapter draws tears, and a feeling of being completely understood. I’ve purchased three more books as gifts for friends, and know more will follow. Reading this with a cozy blanket and a cup of coffee calms, inspires, and awakens me to the possibility of loving and accepting myself and my gifts, and in turn doing the same for others. Thank you, more than words can say, to the author who penned this treasure.

This is a beautiful, lyrical, soul-feeding, natural medicine for your soul. To me, this book is reminiscent of Circle of Stones by Judith Duerk or Women Who Run With the Wolves by Estés; both in the way that it calls on the ancient feminine, as well as in the way that this will be a book I will return to again and again throughout my lifetime. This book feels like love itself has come into your home to hold you, tend to your wounds, and inspire you to march on. This is one of those few once in a lifetime books that turn up in our paths. I have already bought it as a gift for 2 of my friends, and I will continue to do so until each of my friends owns a copy.

This book took me three months to read, mostly because there were deep truths on every page, and I wanted to give them space to resonate inside me.

Coming from a background of Depth Psychology and having read hundreds of books related to dreams, dreaming, the unconscious, Hillman, Jung, you name it, I found this book to be one of the most profound and well written that I have read in the past 20 years. Toko-pa is grounded in her life experience, the dreamwork of herself and others, and her knowledge of Sufism and Jungian psychology. This work has been produced by someone with their image based "boots on the ground" and it really shows. So helpful on so many levels, written in a poetic, friendly, inviting, and Belonging style it supports our journey toward a strong relationship with both our own connection to soul and the connection to the world soul. What a pleasure to read a beautiful book written from the heart that will surely educate for years to come! Highly recommend! Can't wait to read it again!

Belonging by Toko-pa Turner is unique, transforming, and validating. My copy is underlined and dog-eared with notes in the margins. From the first pages, I found myself shaking my head in agreement. Yes, we are estranged and align ourselves with values that don’t nurture our souls. Yes, we’ve forgotten how to love ourselves and life’s wild sacredness. Yes, we feel exiled from our bodies, our communities, the political world, and commercial values. I love the way this book brings many life threads together and connects sacred work from many religious and indigenous traditions. I love Toko-pa’s willingness to invite our rejected selves to the table. I love her honest and heart-opening personal stories mixed with stories from others and dreams told with the perfect amount of detail and explanation. Belonging is sacred moisture in the midst of drought. Thank you, Toko-pa, for sharing the Divine Feminine with the world.

Just finished a glorious and gratifying saunter through this testament of love, beauty and hope. I am beyond-words grateful that something that covers most everything imminent exists in one place. So accessible to a wide variety of readers. Toko-pa Turner brings it ALL together - interbeing, 21st Century issues, mindsets, nature, humanity, our beautiful walk home to the center of all things under one roof. It's heart, it's soul, it's intellect and it's body. Passing it on to my daughters because I want them to read the actual book I read and buying myself another one. This one deserves all the stars in heaven.

I'm not even fully finished with this book (I'm close!) and it's an absolute favorite. So beautifully written. When I'm able to pick it up and dive into it, I can't put it down. I've taken notes from it, I've cried reading it, it's so incredibly valuable. Can't stop recommending it and I'm honestly already sad that it's going to end. Do yourself a favor- READ. THIS. BOOK.

This book is a true masterpiece! I’ve read...a lot, and this book is up there with Clarissa Pinkola Estes who is my all-time favorite author. Belonging synthesizes so many different fields and topics, and most importantly, makes it make perfect sense even though it’s quite complex topics. I’ve read from other sources almost everything Toko-pa writes about, but she writes in such a clear way...it’s all fitting together. I literally became instantly mesmerized by this book because the way she speaks of difference and belonging is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I kept waiting for it to get boring or repetitive, but she drew me further in. I’ve underlined like mad as I plan to go over it again even though I’m not done yet. I don’t think there’s been a book like this before. Truly unique, and I just LOVE it!

I received this book as a gift after having appreciated Toko-pa and her online contributions for many years. For anyone who is new to her message and work, please know that her wisdom is genuine, consistent (meaning it holds up all the way through and is not just veneer over a hollow message), and arises from love that has space for pain. She acknowledges and makes room for shadow states, which is indispensable in any work that we do to free ourselves from harmful habits. She has lived it, and continues living it, and is a beacon for the possibility that we, too, and live it if we turn towards the splintered parts of ourselves and one another. This is genuine spiritual care in the offing, *not* new age fluff.

I am torn between wanting to sit for an entire day reading this and talking little hummingbird sips to ponder over. I haven't finished the book and I've already bought copies for friends.

This is my favorite self-help book I’ve ever read. It houses so many pieces of wisdom without feeling overwhelming, just a connectedness that keeps going deeper. With every chapter, I found myself in awe with resonance. Toko-pa is also an incredibly beautiful writer and I can’t recommend this book enough. ❤️

I just received the book, as soon as I open it and try to turn some pages a few literally fall out. I can probably mend it myself but it is a little sad. It’s still readable and I’m excited to get started on it so I’m just gonna deal with it.

This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It truly has changed the way I see almost everything. It’s not a book to race through, but to linger, ponder and process. Written with intelligence, heart and deep understanding, it addresses the complexities that make us who we are at our most essential essence. With many things this deep, the more you put into your engagement with this book, the more you’ll get out of the experience.

I follow Toko-Pa on Facebook and Insta ~ so, I knew before I purchased this book what it would be like and how much I would resonate with it ~ I totally was not disappointed. There are so many words of comfort and wisdom that I have recommended it to friends and to the reading circle at work. I love this book

This is an important book for anyone who is seeking to discover connection with themselves, others and the earth. It is the same kind of groundbreaking work brought to us by Clarissa Pinkola-Estes and her Women Who Run with the Wolves. Belonging is deep, archtypical, soul work that is so needed by the world at this time. It opens the world of dreams, of our stories, of our culture and how we belong to ourselves and each other. "Remembering ourselves home" is truly the perfect title. Reading of the book is an experience, a transformational experience. It is written beautifully, soulfully, with a balance of mind and heart that feels so right.

This book written by Toko-pa Turner is filled with insightful wisdom, bringing along her own wounds, sorrows and experiences and so much more. It pierces one's soul of all the ways in which a person can feel 'like an outsider', looking in. Toko-pa writes with compassion, wit and an overall love for humanity. I would recommend this book for all those creative souls, mystics, Earth Keepers, Universal thinkers and everyone in between. It's wonderful.

Highly recommend this book to anyone looking to process grief and interested in personal reflection. Beautifully and soulfully written. Was a slow start, but once I got going I couldn't put it down. This is a book I will be reading a second and third time.

When someone else expresses that which is deeply felt and experienced within the particular self, we each become more liberated to focus on our particular paths. This book has that power. Thank you, Toko-pa!

(My delayed first review from March) I wept! You have given my soul a resting place to absorb what it may finally mean to belong to MYSELF! A voice! Words on paper! Affirmation of that I am NOT alone and to share my story is a way to belonging. Much Gratitude to you. So much. - Still today - When I read this book, no matter how often, I am swept up in to the arms of a belonging in my own heart. Words meant to be spoken to me, from me, thru you. Words of understanding and empathic sensitivities. A book I have waited my whole life for. The gratitude I have for your wisdom is endless. 💕

I do not read very many “self-help” books, but this one will stay by my side forever. I began reading excerpts on-line, and quickly realized that she wrote about my experiences as someone who never knew how to fit in to this society. I wish that Toko-pa was with me as I was growing up! Every word is a gentle, loving reminder that our gifts exist within us, that no matter what our experiences have been, we belong to this universe. I’ve read it a chapter at a time, savoring her words and gaining strength each time I read. I am buying many copies of this book for gifts.

Interesting read for those who want to look at the meanings of their dreams and to delve a little deeper into their own psyche. This can help you realize why some dreams recur, as well as why some dreams frighten us. Through the author's own personal examples, one can see that dreams can nudge you through healing, belief in yourself and your strengths, and into a community that supports you in becoming your best self.

This is more than a book, felt more like if a gentle sage-like presence somehow had witnessed, fully understood and put into profound and poetic language the personal path I've been trudging. It is a wonderful companion for all of us who have yearned for a calm, compassionate and wise voice to soothe and guide us. Each word and sentence is carefully crafted: deep, rich and comforting, revealing additional layers of subtle meaning for each read. I wholeheartedly recommend this treasure chest of wisdom.

This book has quickly become my constant companion. Toko-Pa weaves words together in such a way that causes a soul to feel as if It is coming Home at last. There are moments in any spiritual awakening where a giant leap in consciousness is made. Belonging was such a leap for me. I have highlighted so much of this book, that it looks as if it was written on colored paper. Belonging is a game changer.

Absolute Master piece! Brilliant work! Toko-pa invites a conversation and posture of living that promotes purpose, fulfillment, and BELONGING! This book is a sacred text and if you will allow it, every single thing we do can be sacred too! Many thanks and blessings!

I have never read a more insightful or meaningful 'self-help' book in my life. I recognized myself and my struggles on every page. I underline sentences on every page, and I never underline my books. I realize now why I stand outside of every circle -- as an adjunct, a rebel, a stepmother. Why I have felt angry and irritable, and shamed, out of proportion to circumstances and inconsistent with my own accomplishments. Why I strive so hard to accomplish, to achieve, all the time. Why the grief of loss nearly destroyed me. I feel recognized and heard. Best yet, the book provides more useful suggestions for accepting and healing and moving forward than I've ever found before. Highly recommend.

Belonging is transformative and revolutionary. It is one of the densest and most beauty-filled tomes of wisdom I've ever come across. It also helped get me through a very difficult time in my life.

This book is so well written, it is one I will read over and over again. I have only ever felt Thais way about one other book, Women Who Run With the Wolves. This ranks right next to it as one of the most important books I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot. It is such a beautiful read on the topic of Belonging, addressing it from many angles and going so deep. It has helped me heal and brought me into a deeper understanding of what it means to belong in this world. I can’t recommend it enough!

I cannot recommend this book, Belonging by Toko-pa Turner, highly enough. It is both lyrical and an aesthetic pleasure to read, and it somehow contains all the important stories of my heart and the values I live by. Please treat yourself to this one. It will quickly become a favorite <3

The writer has a way of speaking from the heart and saying things that resonante with anyone who has ever felt like an "outsider" in society for any reason. A terrific book for self-improvement.

Belonging, written by Toko -pa is a portal to quite a profound experience. The life of an awaken soul who travels in a world of crises and obstacles ,her exquisite soul, endures and she is triumphant .Her very sensitive writing , makes it possible for you to experience from the very revealing dreams that bring sense and wisdom to the immediacy of her next breath. I am reading the book again, to savor the profundity of every page, full of narratives of a very mature soul. Thank you Toko-pa for opening the gate and sharing your impeccable life.

A must-have book for anyone serious about healing and self-wholeness. I could hardly put the book down! I laughed, cried and marked up the pages as I went. The dream work was especially transformational for me. I have been buying multiple copies to give as gifts, hoping my friends find it as deeply meaningful as I have.

If you are feeling isolated in this time of covid, this book invites you to think about belonging and community in deeply moving ways. Kim

I like the different and interesting ways the subject is represented and how it makes one feel included.

Phenomenal, rich, spiritual book... a must-read for women walking their own spiritual paths in today's difficult world. Her perspectives are deep, distilled through some tough life experiences that perhaps you can relate to (I did). Her insights on dream interpretation are simple yet so profound and have helped me enormously. She writes like an angel and easily conveys abstract concepts using rich metaphors. I stumbled upon this book, quite by chance and am very grateful for the experience. This is an important work I will be reading again and again.

A friend of mine owned this book and I read a few pages and I new our family needed to have it. I surprised my wife with it during an anniversary picnic and she loved it too! Very inspiring!

I wish I could give this 10 stars! I have read so many of these types of books in my search for actalization, but this book is a shining light in the self-help genre. For me, it is a slow read in the most wonderful of ways as I find myself pondering as I read. It has opened my eyes, heart, body, and mind to be able to know my soul, my Self. She writes beautifully and is very engaging. How intimate are we with the lives we have built? I can't recommend this wonderful book enough!

I loved Toko-pa's book Belonging. Her soft and wise voice shines through on each page and I wanted to go on reading it forever. It spoke deeply to me and taught me. I took my time reading it to let it all sink in and I underlined so many parts that I will re-read it again. I now can't wait for Toko-pa to write another book and check out her website with podcast series on Belonging which is wonderful as well.

This book is life-changing. As a loner, black sheep with a fierce purpose on this earth, it has filled my shadow with complete and utter light. This book truly is a rehoming ❤️

Bought this book for research on a book I am writing on community. It didn't necessarily fit my research - but is so insightful and well-written that it hooked me from the beginning. I've already recommended it to several people, something I don't often do because books are so personal.

I'm reading through Belonging right now, I am so amazed with how deeply it resonates with me, my journal is full of its pages and what is beginning to take shape in my life as I fully accept who I am, take the quiet time to breathe in and acknowledge my own pain, beauty and growth. Thank you for the honesty of your words and for the acknowledgement of myself that you inspire!

I LOVE THIS BOOK. My reading time is limited right now so I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it but it's amazing - so insightful, so timely for what is going on with our collective consciousness these days. Toko-Pa shares her deepest personal experiences of pain and joy, and where she has come mentally and spiritually from those ashes. I began reading Toko-Pa's work a few years ago and couldn't wait for this book to be released. I am not disappointed!

This is a book that resonates deeply with my experiences, written insightfully and expressively. The author speaks for me, advocates for me with a gentle reassurance. I am not alone. Her writing let's me know that I am heard. With resonant symbolism and authentic voice, her prose echoes and lingers in my consciousness, like a memorable fragrance.

I love this book so much, she’s sick a deep and profound writer. She sort of observes the abstractions of life/ growth/ spirit and articulates in a way the solidifies the intangible in a poetic way.

Toko-pa's unique expression of universal experiences makes this book a necessary one for our current time if we are interested in learning to live with our wounds in such a way that brings healing and belonging. It is next to impossible to do on one's own and yet that is mostly the way it's done. This book is a practical guide to making sense of that. Much gratitude to her for writing it.

I just finished reading this wise and useful book, and I can't recommend it highly enough. As someone who is involved in dream groups, ritual, storytelling and poetry, I might have thought there isn't much more to be learned on topics I'm already well-versed in, but I'd have been wrong! I found myself underlining all throughout and will go back to these areas of the book again and again. Toko-pa's writing is beautiful and her thinking profound. I'm grateful to have discovered her work.

This is the most important book I have ever read. It is life changing in the deepest ways. There really aren’t words to express how sacred and healing the experience of reading this is. I hardly ever write reviews but I want other to read it and gain from it like I have.

Yes; savored... it's pages folded down, edges filled with post-it-notes, used for journal-prompts, shared among wild-women (and those who aspire to be), each section read over and over out of order as a holy grail, and honored as a guide for deep sacred work.

This book is a true and gentle eye-opener. It spoke directly to my soul, awakening something that was long-burried and forgotten. I am enormously grateful for Toko-pa’s contribution, immense talent and soothing words, and feel very lucky to have found this book. Highly recommend it, as a huge help for anyone seeking awakening and connection to their true self. Deep gratitude, again...

How to belong. Belonging as a skill. These are incredibly important 21st Century ideas. So much public discord and tendencies toward racism and authoritarianism is coming from people who have been displaced from the roles and communities that anchored them in life. We have a lot of healing to do to understand how to keep our nation together and this book is a blessed and challenging resource.

Though Toko-pa describes herselfe as a midwife of dreams, she is actually a midwife of the heart. Through her beautiful writings, she helps us birth our true hearts, who we really are underneath all the programming that we have accepted as our truth. We have the opportunity through her tender midwifery to rebirth ourselves as we the amazing creatures that we are. Thank you Toko-pa for your help in gently and loving awakening our hearts. Blessings...

Tenderly narrated by the author herself, I felt a sense of calm immediately and knew this would be a keeper. The practical hows and the mystical whys of the subject are interwoven in this book as belonging is revealed as a skill, an art. This book bumped off another in my top ten of books I'd claim as part of my few prized possessions -- into the treasure chest it goes!

Beautifully written. There were times I would stop and let what I just read wash over me. So inspiring and brought value to struggles with pain and illness that have many times made me feel worthless. I LOVED this book and it's heartfelt message.

I am so grateful that I found this book and that as my daughter grows up she will be able to access these beautiful and poignant words. I have bought three copies of this book because I keep thinking of friends who would love to read this. Words can't describe how much this book has helped me and validated what I have always believed. Thank you Toko-Pa.

This author is a new voice to be added to the wisdom keepers throughout the ages. As she brings herself home, carrying the generations of loss with her, she brings us all along. Answering the deepest and darkest longings of things that are avoided and discarded with courageous welcoming, Toko-pa paves the way for the possibility of true belonging.

A breathtakingly beautiful work of art. I resonate so strongly with the themes that Toko-Pa explores in this book, and it is aiding me in my journey of self-reclamation, and giving me comfort and solace on my path. If you have felt estranged and exiled by life, or had to carve out your own path, I highly recommend this precious book.

"Belonging" belongs with me and many more like me I am certain! The wisdom here is parallel with one of my very favorite books, "Women Who Run With Wolves". They sit side by side on my shelf and within easy reach! Thank you Toko-pa for giving us this jewel so that we can learn how to wear our crowns and take the position in our lives that we are meant to live!

I am in awe at the way Toko-pa has woven together all that she has woven here. Truly in awe and truly grateful. I have been reading literature in this same vein for the past twenty years, nothing has hit home or spoken to me so clearly as this book has. Honestly, I can't wait to read it again and underlining everything I should have been underlining! Thank you for this, Toko-pa.

Toko-Pa Turner's eloquent articulating of the deep and common pain we share, its' roots, and how to emerge and find our own belonging, gave me powerful insights,.... it is like a best friend has come to visit and deeply understands. Such beautiful words and turns of phases endears this book to me as a work of art. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

Best book ever. Read it now. Especially if you’re a woman and feel like there was something that never clicked about your place in the world.

Dear Toko-Pa, This book was like a balm on my spirit after a series of very challenging years that were damaging to my health and relationships. I felt recognition in your chapters and a sense of wonder and hope as the book came to a close. I hope it will be a catalyst for beautiful change and growth.

I have read so many “spiritual” books; but no one like this, full of insights and every word made an impact in me!!!! Really love it! Thank you!

This is a beautifully written book filled to the brim with insight and inspiration. If you're lost, alone, or you're going through any type of a transformative time in your life - this book is a lovely elixir to help you think, feel, and make your way back to your authentic self. Much wisdom here!!!! - Highly recommended!!!!!

This book is beautiful. Gorgeous. Lyrically written balm for the soul. I can’t get enough of it and can’t reccomend it enough and give away enough copies. Truly a masterpiece that smoothly sinks into me inspiring me from within. Thank you Toko-pa for this beauty.

This is a beautifully written wise book and speaks perfectly to the human experience, especially for women. It is the best thing I've read in ages!

Very happy to have come upon this book, perfect timing in my life . It’s a deep read for me and I must take it in small doses so I can reflect on the content. This offer delivers the message in a relatable way that is original and you can really sense that she is speaking her truth.

Everybody needs to read this book. It's amazing. I read a ton of stuff and I haven't seen anything like this. The ideas aren't completely new, but the way in which they are presented hit me in a completely different way that made it click in a deeper more meaningful way.

This book has done more for me than words can say. It shifted my awareness about what it really means to belong. It left me feeling more connected in the larger scheme of things. Thank you, Toko-pa for helping me to see myself and my relationship to the rest of the world more clearly.

This is an earthy, generous, kind-hearted approach to depth and the ambivalent call toward finding our belonging as humans while experiencing and including every facet of alienation and fear-of-aloneness that we experience. Toko-pa's prose is clear, lucid, and playful, and her grasp of depth psychology and dreamwork so profound that she presents it with a disarming simplicity of competency.

Through her book "Belonging-Remembering Ourselves Home" Toko-pa takes us on a journey into ourselves where we find out we are truly not alone showing us that even in the midst of grest sorrow and pain there is a sacredness and deep love waiting within us all beckoning us to come and be who we are and we belong in this world!

Even pages in to this text it was clear that this is one of the most amazing and timely books I have ever encountered for my own personal work. Thank you so much for putting your wisdom down in this beautiful piece of writing. It tenderly puts words to those feelings and knowings that may not yet be verbal for you. I recommend highly!

What a moving, unique book. A review can’t do it justice. I signed up for her DreamWalking Course after finishing the book, mainly because I wanted more of what she offered. Look at her blog or website, if it resonates then I expect this book will find a home with you.

I like it. It's not perfect and a bit impractical but it's a good read!

Another reviewer wrote they would give this book 6 out of 5 stars if they could. I wholeheartedly agree. I will read this book over and over again until I am dust.

I knew based on her writings this book would touch me. But I didn't realize how it would just be the connection exact I needed to move me forward on my path. Thank you Toko-pa, as of today I have bought 1 copy for me and 4 to share. And they too are finding it magical.

Reading "Belonging" has re-opened the doors to dreamland! They have been waiting for me all along and eagerly await the closing of my eyes to impart their wisdoms, experiences. It's a wonder now to awake, refreshed to have had the dreams to interpret. With much love and full hearted gratitude, I thank you Toko-pa.

This book is an artful weaving together of personal experience, dream work, philosophy, literature, and love. As an orphan archetype on legs, I found it grabbed me on the first page and held me gently throughout. I don’t know when I have appreciated a book more. I found healing and inspiration and hope on almost every page through its truth.

This book is life changing! I had truth (chill) bumps from the first page! There are aha moments contained in every single chapter, sometimes on every page! Serious healing occurred while reading this book! A truly enlightening and empowering read! Deepest gratitude to Toko-pa for her wisdom and her words.

Good readng, excellent service, received book quickly

Helping me emotionally confront my lifetime longing for a “tribe” in which to fit and the reasons behind it. Discovering the difference between “fitting in” and “belonging” and realizing former “friends” charged too high a price from me for my admission into their toxic tribe. Strongly recommended.

Belonging is a great read and it offers plenty for reflection. I had two dreams that I later realized were related to passages I had highlighted while going through the chapters. Thank you, Toko-pa, for your loving and generous book.

Belonging is stunning, incredible. It will live on my shelf next to Women Who Run With Wolves and be recommended to women who ask me for wisdom books. I have been savoring each chapter, one at a time, absorbing what feels so true, all of it. Thank you for writing this book.

This book is for one: pure poetry, for two: a powerful memoir, for three: an incredible introduction into archetypes and fourthly a completely new and ancient concept that I am holding onto as a life raft during these turbulent times.

Belonging is one of those rare treasures that is not just a book, but a masterpiece. Toko-Pa has gathered her life's sufferings under her wing and undertaken the alchemical journey to transform them into light. Luckily for us, she shares her journey with the world. Thank you, Toko-Pa. Thank you, thank you.

This book is like being wrapped in a cozy quilt while being hugged by the most loving grandmother with hot chocolate to go along with it all. It brings much wisdom, understanding, connection and comfort. Toko-pa's wisdom she shares is desparetely needed in this world.

Never before have I picked up a book and read my story. It makes me feel validated, seen, known, embraced. I imagine that it took a lot of courage to tell this story, our story. And for that I am deeply, deeply grateful.

Loved loved loved this book. Have read it twice now and also ordered for my daughter. I've been having a hard time understanding the feelings that have overcome me in the past year. Toko-pa's book belonging had been very helpful to me in spring things out.

One thing is that I read this over and over again and really gain so much insight each time. This book would b so good for a book club to talk about "Belonging."

This book was terrible. It is the ramblings of someone with borderline personality disorder who needs therapy for their trauma. She cites a lot of therapeutic stuff that is not considered accurate in modern day psych (such as Jungian theory about dreams). I could not get through it, it would have been much better as her telling her own trauma story versus peddling this nonsense as universal truth.

I cannot sing enough praises about this book, how well it's written, how it speaks to my heart and how it has changed my life. It is permanently beside my bed now within easy reach!!! Like solace for the soul, a balm for the heart.

At first I was repelled by the first chapters of her early life thinking that it might be a poor me theme. But then I became engrossed and every chapter was full of meaningful direction experience after experience...It was all laid out perfectly right up until the end.

Best book ever on the human condition and our desperate need for belonging. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a seeker and wanting clarification on what can be found deep within by connection on every level.

We cannot get through life without heart break and feeling "outside" of it at times. This book speaks to the wisdom that is locked inside our broken hearts. Speaks to the wounded Self we have inside, so that it may heal and feel free to BE.

I can`t even tell you what is this book about. Everything...I fell in love with this author. So beautifully written, so clever, so helpful. thank you Toko-pa! I hope she will write more books.

I read this slowly and savored it with a pen to take notes and write down quotes. Really lovely language, analogy, myth and guidance. It’s a book I’m sure I’ll turn to again and again.

I am almost finished with my second time through the audio book. My paperback copy arrived yesterday so I can go through it again with highlighters. If there was an edible version, I would eat it. For now I can always rub the paper version all over myself. 😉

Loving this book! It was recommended to me after many discussions on how much I felt I didnt have a sense of belonging in life. Toko-pa poetically writes this great peice. Delicious, thought provoking, great for a in depth discussion bookclub.

I have a few chapters to go, but I have seriously hugged this book to my chest several times. An intense thank you to Toko-pa for being a cartographer for the inner works so many can arrive “home” where they belong.

From the very first word, I wanted to start underlining, starring, and marking! Every word, sentence, and paragraph being nourishment for my soul. Thank you for this beautiful book and for feeding my soul such nourishing spiritual food!

Toko-pa writes with a gentle knowing. I’ve been able to see past experiences with a new eye, reshaping some of my old feelings. I learned so much! Love the book- I will read it again ❤️ Joyce Krause ❤️

Written from the heart. Vulnerable and wise.

Open to any random page and receive profound, heart-centered, brilliant guidance. I bought 3 extra copies because it's a book you want to have on hand to give away. It's that good!

I loved this book. It put into words many of the experiences I have had during my life but was unable to articulate. Toko-pa has clarity, vision and a deep wisdom. I will definitely read it again.

If you’ve ever felt like the black sheep or lacked a sense of belonging in your life......like something was missing. Read this book!

Such beautiful, healing words that are like a soothing balm to an old wound. It reads like a song. A book everyone should read.

I’m nearly halfway through “Belonging” & thinking... this is the best book I’ve ever read. Deeply relatable, poignant, and integrating. Thank you Toko-pa for this gift!

Incredibly meaningful and well-written book.

I didn't feel like I belonged to anything. It's one long drawn out motivations saying which lead me to nowhere. She's more compelling with her quips on Instagram. But even there I stopped following her.

Hyperbolic and trite. Struggled to slog through this book that restated basic therapeutic concepts (a lot of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) concepts) utilizing many, many words. This would have been a much better book if she told the story of her own trauma recovery journey and insights learned.

Wonderful memoir from this dream worker.

Great book!! Eye opening

This book has completely broken open my spiritual life and the way I see myself. Cannot recommend enough.

Beautiful, nourishing and hope-giving. Just the medicine our ailing spirits are calling for in these transitional times. Thank you, Toko-pa.

Not very impressed with her views and advice. As a new ager, I’m sad to see that this author is lacking extreme amounts of empathy and basically encourages people to shred all parts of community that are different or don’t fit in their life view. Well, we can’t live like that. We must live globally and inclusive, respecting others wishes and possessing empathy and understanding. Unfortunately this book did not employ any of that.

“If something important is left unsaid, everything in its wake is less truthfully spoken.” TT

Everyone should read this book.

Great way to look at your life and dreams.

I loved everything about this book.

This book is a pure treasure and my new companion.

A confession: I read a lot of books. Outside of Braiding Sweetgrass and just about anything written by Terry Tempest Williams, this is one of greatest books I have read. I don't say that lightly! The book is truly profound. Also as someone who takes pleasure in the written word, this work is magnificently written. Rather than provide details let me describe these pages via metaphor: the author takes her readers into both the 'light' and 'darkness' of the human enterprise with a very Big Heart. I have never met the author in person but I feel like I have known her all my life. Few writers are capable of capturing the imagination and the soul of being human; but Too-pa does so! She does so with an uncommon compassion and a collective love that clearly overflows in her words and the context they deliver. Reading this book will make you more human and more sane. We need it now more than ever!

interesting read

Deep and rich. Exquisitely written.

Love!

Toko-pa's where the speak to my soul. Her prose is poetry, and I have gained so many insights and a deeper sense of connection to myself from reading.

Have you ever felt so outside and within yourself that belonging felt foreign and forever away? Like it may in fact be a rite and also a curse that you would go it alone rather than belong to much of anything? Like belonging might strip you of your authenticity so you wouldn’t dare touch it with a 10ft pole? I have… Until I read “Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home”, by Toko-pa Turner, and was changed, brightened, and welcomed forever into the fabric of the world we have lived in for centuries. OUR world. Through it, I realized, belonging doesn’t give up our hard-fought exile, but rather what we learn during our [Hermit] estrangement may help heal our world and others in it when we are ready to integrate into our micro, macro, and ancestral communities. We are needed. YOU are needed. We can be at once, individual and collective, belong to a community that builds itself and each other up rather than tear down in the name of self-preservation, because “no one is free unless we are all free” - Martin Luther King Jr. I highly recommend Toko-pa’s brilliant work of art to anyone who needs to remember at their deepest core that yes, even they, belong here.

Belonging is a book I've read over and over and over. Each time I read, there's new meaning and insight. This is not a book, I think, that is designed to be read in a few days like a summer beach read. It's a book to keep by your bedside, to reference and be reminded of deeper truths, again and again. It's a book that is meant to work us, on a soul level, if we're open to it. Not everyone will be able to absorb this offering; I think this is because the idea of true belonging is radical given how normal disconnection is within mainstream western cultures. True belonging threatens every aspect of the systems that have driven us into that disconnection, including our unique ways of internalizing those cultural myths. Toko-pa beautifully and compassionately guides readers to integrate these forgotten aspects of ourselves, which are also a part of nature. Our personal healing or evolution is integral to the healing of the earth and the greater whole. This is big work, and it's a big book! A lot is packed in here. Each chapter in itself could be a lifelong study or devotion. I highly recommend checking out the Companion course that goes along with this book on Toko-pa's website... it allowed me to metabolize this book in ways I never could have otherwise.

Truths... beautiful words woven melodies of authentic truths!!! This book is real. She is a profound teacher. May her life unfold well!!!

Hipster crap

Auth

Toko-pa's book, Belonging, is the book I would love to travel the world handing out to everyone I meet, like a Namaste. I would love to see it in libraries, in schools and left on park benches for the right person to find and open and be touched by its perfect depth and beauty. This is the book I wish I had written, it speaks from and to all my own deep knowing and my own pain and my own belonging. It is universal in that touch. It is a most lovely guide to shadow work, to the hidden, dark and jagged and disowned places within us and speaks so eloquently to the value of going there and making space and love for what we most fear. It is gentle AND fierce. Toko-pa has found exquisite language, just the right tone, to share her own story and dreams and those of her clients in ways that illumine and make clear our shared story and dreams and path to belonging. Each quote, each poem, each opening illustration is simple and so spot on. This is a masterful book. It is in its own way a conversation with the numinous and pulls the reader, as one pulls the thread of a dream into consciousness, deeper into her own journey with that reciprocal conversation between the inner and outer worlds. It brings alive That which is dreaming us all. I will read it again and again, as it touches places in me which bring me home to myself. It awakens in the reader a sense of self compassion. It evokes the deep wisdom we all have within and it stimulates a longing for what T. S Elliot called "A condition of complete simplicity (costing not less than everything)." I am so very grateful to Toko-pa for this inspired guide, for this sacred and alchemical touchstone. Belonging is pure gold.

I was such a fan of this author until she blocked me on Instagram for mildly and respectfully trying to open discourse about something we disagreed on. I figured she'd ignore me if she noticed me at all, but going to the trouble to block me was on another level entirely. If I were hiding behind anonymity to spew venom, sure, but this was not that. Maybe it was an off day for her, but unfortunately it completely altered my opinion of someone who supposedly represents the admirable ideals of standing up for what you believe and speaking your truth. Apparently this only applies to people who believe exactly what she believes and there's no room for diversity in her worldview. 'Belonging', indeed. Sadly hypocritical. Sadly common.

I feel so fortunate to have come across this book following a six year bout with a chronic pain condition. I stumbled upon depth psychology and dream work when I suspected some of my pain was rooted in trauma. My dreams had been so vivid and when I felt I was alone in the world and unmoored, they allowed me to feel connected to myself. And I wanted to understand their language as their language was my own mother tongue. During one period of intense pain when I was close to giving up, I had a dream and through engaging with it I had a breakthrough and the pain was nearly gone. I felt whole and connected to my body and soul for the first time in years. I began reading Toko-pa’s book and I felt ready to absorb and engage with her ideas. She expounds on jungian ideas presented in other dreamwork books but also offers a feminist perspective and discusses specific archetypes related to belonging. It cleared up much of the confusion Ive had and seemed to hit a nerve so deep that the reverberations felt by it seem to emanate from a time long forgotten and buried.

Toko-pa Turner’s book is a warm, nourishing self-help book and in today’s radically changing society her words of wisdom, so poetically and beautifully written, sparkle and speak to you. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the best self-help book of the decade. It’s certainly the best I’ve ever read and I’ve read quite a few in the last three decades. Belonging is powerful, profound, insightful, intelligent, compassionate, so exquisite and more. This is a book not to be missed by anyone. Every reader will discover a trinket of insight or a trove of treasure between the pages and come away enlightened, refreshed and transformed. It’s a book to read and reread, to savour the sections you’ve highlighted or dog-eared, to keep by your bedside or on your coffee table. Highly, highly recommended. This month she released the audiobook version via audible, Amazon and itunes, which is read by the author herself. Toko-pa's delivery brims with heart and soul that makes you immediately feel safe and secure in her confident hands.