It Didn't Start with You by Mark Wolynn book review

March Highly Recommended Read

This month’s recommended book is It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn. You can watch a conversation with Mark below.

This is a very exciting book that picks up the mystery which is underpinned by a biological fact. Science shows that we are born carrying our parents and our ancestors DNA, including their emotional traumas. We are often unaware of this. At some point in our lives however, we may find ourselves reliving these traumas. We think they belong to us but often struggle to explain why we act or behave in a certain way. This happens because of a wonderful process called epigenetics. You can read one of my other blogs about the science of epigenetics on this site.

Building on the work I draw on in my coaching practice – neuroplasticity and post-traumatic stress therapy – Mark shows us how to recognise and heal wounds that are not ours.

3 reasons to read It Didn’t Start with You

1. It’s a highly practical book

It explains family trauma and how such trauma may end up repeating itself in your life because your DNA is linked to your family’s DNA. This nicely links with Family Constellation therapy which I continue to study over the last seven years to help me apply some of its principles in internal disconnection.

2. Personal reflection and understanding

The book has been very helpful in my own life. It helped to shed more light on why moving home as a refugee from Poland to the USA has such a major impact on me. It also helps me understand why my approach which taps heavily into neuroplasticity is so effective for clients that search for inner peace and joy.