Hold Nothing: An Invitation to Let Go and Come Home to Yourself

by Elena Brower

A distinctive, artful, contemplative guide for self-discovery and self-inquiry, with wisdom, encouragement, and thought exercises by the best-selling author of Practice You. Includes 45 practices and full-color pieces of artwork by the author.

What if the most important work of your life isn’t something you chase—but something you uncover, slowly, in stillness? What if your presence is the greatest offering you can make to the world? This book is an invitation to come home to yourself—gently, honestly, and with great love.

As an evolution of, and a departure from, her best-selling journals, Practice You and Being You, Brower draws on her memories and life experiences, her practice of yoga and Nonviolent Communication, and more recently, her study of Zen, to offer us a road map for living with presence and reverence.

Each chapter offers teachings, contemplations, and prompts on a single theme, such as:

• establishing presence in your daily life
• bearing witness to small moments of reverence
• embracing the art of not knowing
• invoking the wisdom of emptiness and stillness
• and more

She also includes 45 pieces of her full-color artwork to inspire deeper insight and creativity as readers explore each theme. This is not a manual for self-improvement; it is a field guide for self-remembrance, for cultivating tenderness toward your own heart, and for showing up to life completely, with purpose and heartfulness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Personal Growth, Grief, Psychology, Spirituality

296 pages, Paperback

Published November 18, 2025

Reviews

[Suus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A valuable and deeply personal read. Elena shares her wisdom in a vulnerable way. Food for deep thought for everybody that is walking the path of self awareness and deepening of personal work.

[Stephanie Affinito · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book to sit with, to learn from and to take comfort in.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried with this book. Each chapter has reflection questions which are helpful. The content just did not resonate with me at all.

[Miguel J. Rios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elena Brower’s Hold Nothing is less a book and more an intuition: a quiet invitation to dissolve the rigid banks of self and return to the spacious flow of being.

We all “chop wood and carry water,” and this work reminds us to do just that with presence. In clear, heartfelt language, Elena shares the practices that have guided her toward deeper awareness and service. These pages do not offer quick fixes; they offer a way of seeing, a way of being. When the practice is realized, what remains is the same: chopping wood, carrying water, yet the simplest acts shimmer with new understanding and meaning.

This is a book worth reading slowly, not for answers but for the understanding it awakens.

When the last page turns, what lingers is gratitude for the teaching, an invitation to practice, and nothing left to hold.

Thank you for sharing your practice, Elena.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Our task is to see our traces of pain as our map to compassion; tracking struggle as a signpost pointing toward a fresh perspective on the whole matter of your existence. Opening to compassion is a moment-to-moment endeavor of letting go of discursive thought and acknowledging, Now I feel lost—can I summon compassion for myself? What does compassion look like this time? Can I drop the concept of “lost” or “found” and just breathe to open until this new tension in my body passes?

When listening becomes a form of prayer, our reverence reverberates. The state of surrender we invite when we disappear into listening is a balm for our nervous system and reminds us that we have the capacity to be with things as they are, present and willing to face what’s here.

A mixed bag of personal stories and questions for reflection. I always welcome the chance to question the norms or feelings that seem so right, so there were some questions I worked on that helped open my mind. Otherwise there was too much memoir that resonate with me.

What layers of personality might you be able to shed?
What aspects of your daily life are impacted by fears or feelings of insufficiency?
Who are you beneath those feelings?
Beneath those layers, can you appreciate the heart of who you are?
Is there a certain ending or death that might be recontextualized as a beginning?
Could the death of an idea, a concept, or an experience be a door to something unforeseen and beneficial?
Can you practice offering your full respect, your attentive awareness to what’s dying or changing?
Specifically, can you soften the words you use to describe that past event or person, not to ignore or repress it/them but to practice highlighting the learnings gleaned instead of the conflict?
Might tenderizing the story expand your capacity to live with more ease?

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, grounding read that invites all readers to "hold nothing" and detach from pressures, expectations, and presumptions to really be present with self and others. I've long respected Elena Brower's service to the incarcerated, unsheltered, and terminally ill, and this book is a balm for any of us with sensitive souls looking to navigate the high-octane nature of today's world. A book (with journaling prompts) I'll return to again and again.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Nothing is not a book you read so much as one you live it.
Elena Brower offers a quiet yet powerful invitation to loosen our grip on certainty, identity, and control, guiding us back to the simple truth of being present.
Personal practice and learning how to love yourself, a caress to your soul.
I was fortunate to listen to the audiobook, so calm and reflexive.
100%recommended.

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of meeting Elena and partaking in both a meditation & yoga session that she offered at a wellness event. This book is her voice, an honest account of her journey and an invitation to walk beside her.

[Mandy MacLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many great nuggets in this. I just want to sit and breathe and reflect and observe and let everything be and go and be present in my life. Beautiful wisdom and teachings that I will hold and sit with forever.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for book club - enjoyed a lot of the references (eg. Song of the jewel mirror awareness). Meditative and easy to follow but not life changing

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Adaline Gresham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book

[Amy Landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Nothing is a poetic yet profoundly practical guide that conjures a delightful yearning to relish in solitude, all while refining the way we are in attentive relationship with the world around us.

Written in Elena’s captivating, reflective, moving, and transformative style, this invitational work is a portal to another realm.

Read from cover to cover, engrossed, I could not put this gem down. Elena’s continued evolution and wisdom shine through on every page. Hold Nothing offers tremendous healing and solace to all.

[Julie Mackiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Nothing is a book I'll come back to again and again, and I know I'll be met wherever I am on my life path. It's a sweet, soft place to land. Elena's personal stories around the teachings and the self-inquiry questions she poses allow us to move authentically, heartfully, and deeply into the teachings she shares. I absolutely love it!