Self-help used to be found on the bulging shelves of your local bookshop. Now, there are wise and wonderful life coaches stealing a march online, too. Here, we take a look at the powerful women, who – like your friendliest aunts or most sage friends – are ready to soothe your soul.

BYRON KATIE


A glamorously grey 75-year-old speaker and author, Byron Katie teaches a method of self-inquiry called “The Work”, which is a way of identifying and questioning toxic thoughts.

She says: “I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn’t believe them, I didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment.” Time magazine calls her “a spiritual innovator for the new millennium”.

Check her and “The Work” out at thework.com.

GENEEN ROTH


A straight-talking writer and teacher, Geneen Roth is an expert in the field of complicated and disordered eating. Her bestselling books include such titles as Women, Food and God and When Food Is Love. Her mission is to help you “discover how to use your relationship with food as a portal to profound ease, sweet joy and, most of all, an engaged and thriving life”.

She’s devised two online courses that may change the way you think about food for ever. Plus, her website contains several brilliant, motivational and thought-provoking videos.

Have a look into both things at geneenroth.com.

IYANLA VANZANT


Iyanla Vanzant, a television personality and spiritual teacher in her sixties, knows a thing or two about abuse. Through her wildly popular books, TV appearances and workshops, she brings spiritual enlightenment to the masses.
Ebony magazine says: “Her books, lectures and television appearances have made her a multimedia high priestess of healthy relationships.”
Find out more about her at iyanla.com.

MARTHA BECK


Throughout her decades of being a life coach extraordinaire, Martha Beck has been honing a technique for training others to be life coaches, too. She knows her stuff. Sign up for her daily inspiration newsletters, hear her talk, read her blog – however you do it, let Martha Beck help you “cultivate a more purposeful life”.

Oprah Winfrey has said she is: “One of the smartest women I know”.

Visitmarthabeck.com and marthabeckinstitute.com for more information.

February 2018