✦ Available Now · February 2026
Part guided journal, part coaching session, part honest conversation — Take Back Your Self is a 6-chapter journey from wherever you are right now to whoever you're meant to be.
Free Chapter 1 download available below ↓
✦ Why This Book, Why Now
When Kerry wrote Know Thyself in 2012, the world was mid-seismic-shift: the rise of social media, a housing crisis, a collective identity crisis happening in real time. She wrote the book she needed to read.
Fourteen years later, she sat down and rewrote it. Because the shift has happened again — faster, deeper, and louder. AI is restructuring how we work and who we think we are. The loneliness epidemic is real. Women are losing ground politically. And the noise is deafening.
Take Back Your Self is the answer to all of it. Not by fixing the outside world — but by returning you to yourself so completely that the outside world stops running your inner one.
✦ Kerry's Journey to This Book
The original framework is born in Denver, Colorado. Kerry coaches hundreds of clients through it.
Kerry goes all in on music (fronting rock bands) and fine art — exhibiting internationally.
Pen and paper become her anchor again through the pandemic. A new chapter begins forming.
What looks like a bold adventure becomes an initiation — narcissistic abuse, immigration trauma, chronic illness.
The world needs this work again. Kerry rewrites the book completely for 2026.
The complete, interactive, visually reimagined version — born from lived wisdom.
✦ Inside the Book
Each chapter builds on the last. By the end, you're not just at the end of a book — you're at the beginning of a genuinely different way of living.
Chapter 01
Face what you're actually struggling with today — not what you think you should be struggling with. Your feelings are the guide. Your truth is here, waiting to be named.
"What are you struggling with today? Write down the first honest words that come."
Chapter 02
Trace your thoughts, fears, and patterns back to where they were formed. Discover the stories you've been living — and learn to question whether they were ever actually true.
"What old belief might be shaping how you feel right now? Is it true — or just something you learned long ago?"
Chapter 03
Look at your whole story — not just the pretty parts. Learn to love your story by seeing the courage in it, acknowledging every obstacle you've already overcome.
"What is one thing you've survived that you've never given yourself credit for?"
Chapter 04
Your life is a garden. Learn to tend it — pulling weeds, setting boundaries, watering the things that matter. Daily, gentle maintenance changes everything.
"What does your body need today? What does your heart need? How can you give yourself even 10 minutes of peace?"
Chapter 05
Live your truth out loud — in your relationships, your choices, your daily presence. This chapter is about alignment: showing up as the whole, real version of you, consistently.
"How can you show up as your best self in one interaction today? What do you need to let go of to feel lighter?"
Chapter 06
You've done the work. Now create the life you actually want — with vision, intention, and the full confidence of someone who knows who she is. The fun part.
"What am I focusing on today? What small step will move me toward the life I'm creating? Who am I becoming when I choose this focus?"
✦ What Makes It Different
Most self-help books tell you what to think. Take Back Your Self asks you to write — to discover what's already true in you, in your own words, on your own pages. The difference is profound.
The 2026 edition is completely redesigned: visually rich, interactive, and laid out to feel more like a journal you live in than a book you finish. Chapter 1 alone has transformed the lives of people who read it.
"Every time you pick up your pen, sit in silence, or choose a loving thought over a fearful one, you're living this practice. You're living you." — Kerry Pastine
Every chapter contains questions, prompts, and reflection spaces. You write your answers in the book. This is the whole point.
Stunning layouts, bold typography, and generous white space make the book a pleasure to sit with — and a physical object you'll want to return to.
Most readers return to the book at key moments — life changes, hard seasons, new chapters. Each time, they find something new.
Not a framework Kerry invented from theory. One she developed coaching hundreds of clients and used herself through the hardest years of her life.
✦ Read a Sample
Chapter 1 is available as a free download below. Here's a taste of where the book begins.
Introduction · Kerry Pastine
I see the journey to self as the ticket to freedom. The freedom to finally get to be who you really are without fear of what anyone else thinks of you. The freedom from your past, where those fears and insecurities were formed. And, of course, the freedom to dream and manifest as much as you want, whenever you want.
As a child, I assumed that all adults knew exactly what they were doing in life. When I grew up, I realized that most adults are actually longing for a life on their terms.
Our collective nervous system is worn thin. Too many of us are running on fear, comparison, disconnection, and performance. Our identities are shaped by algorithms, our choices by pressure, and our voices? Too often buried...
Want to read the full first chapter? Download it free below — no strings attached.
Download Chapter 1 — Free✦ Free Download
Enter your email and receive Chapter 1 as a PDF — plus Kerry's welcome letter and journaling prompts to get you started right now.
✦ What Readers Say
★★★★★
"I picked it up on a hard night and couldn't put it down. By the time I finished Chapter One I had already written things about myself that I'd been avoiding for years."
— Reader, Take Back Your Self
★★★★★
"This isn't like other self-help books. It doesn't tell you what to do. It helps you hear yourself — and what you hear changes everything."
— Reader, Take Back Your Self
★★★★★
"I gave copies to three women going through difficult transitions. All three came back to me within weeks saying it had cracked something open they didn't know was closed."
— Reader, Take Back Your Self
★★★★★
"I've had Know Thyself since 2013. The new edition is extraordinary — it's the same heart but so much more alive. Kerry has clearly lived a lot of life since then, and it shows on every page."
— Know Thyself reader, now reading Take Back Your Self
✦ Get the Book
All editions include the complete text, all journaling prompts, and the full 6-chapter framework. The print edition is designed to be written in — pen-ready, with generous margins and journal pages throughout.
Signed by Kerry
$45.00
Ships from Lisbon. Personalized inscription available. Ships worldwide in 5–10 days.
Contact to Order DirectPrint Edition
$30.00
Beautiful full-color glossy. Available through Lulu.com. Ships from your country worldwide.
Buy on LulueBook Edition
$14.99
Instant download. Full-color PDF. Read on any device. Optimized for print and digital annotation.
Buy on GumroadGet the signed print book + a 60-minute 1:1 session with Kerry. The best way to start if you know you want the full experience.
✦ What's Next
The second book in the Take Back series applies the same framework to love and relationships — how we lose ourselves in them, and how we find our way back. Sign up to be the first to know when it releases.
2026–2027