Carry Your Heart: Indigenous Helping Wisdom and the Science of Psychological Flexibility

by Louis Busch

From Cree psychotherapist Louis Busch comes a transformative and insightful journey toward self-discovery and personal growth—integrating Indigenous teaching wisdoms and Western psychology, perfect for fans of What Happened to You? and Braiding Sweetgrass

With an introduction by Steven C. Hayes, PhD.

We all come into this world with hearts wide open, but somewhere along the way, life’s difficulties stack up. We set our hearts down, hide them away, and place heavy stones around to keep us safe from pain.

What if we instead chose to move through life carrying our hearts—our joys, sorrows, fears, griefs, and hopes?

Drawing from principles embedded within Cree worldview, and the author’s two decades of clinical expertise, Carry Your Heart walks readers through teachings from several prominent Indigenous Knowledge Holders from across Turtle Island to reveal how suffering—whether physical or emotional—can foster both personal insight and communal strength. This holistic approach blends Western psychological knowledge and Indigenous cultural teachings, and allows everyone to personalize their journey as they read and work through even the most tender discomforts and stressors with balance and clarity. Through this tapestry of ancestral Teachings, Busch reminds us that even our deepest wounds carry the potential to transform us, and that within our suffering lies a profound connection to the world around us.

Using Indigenous Wisdoms as therapeutic inspiration, Carry Your Heart calls us back to our truest selves—showing that pain, when embraced with compassion, can become the bridge to resilience, strength, and ultimately, wholeness. Beyond a meditative journey, Carry Your Heart equips readers with practical tools to address trauma, cultivate psychological flexibility, and foster lasting well-being.

Genres: Indigenous

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2026

Reviews

[Izzy Thurber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I found this book really enjoyable, I absolutely whipped through it compared to my usual pacing. The pacing of the book itself and the structure made it easy to read, with lots of natural stopping points without interrupting flow. This more non-traditional structure I feel highlighted the teachings of the book as well; the fact that Western structures, norms, etc., are not always the best fit for the situation at hand. I noticed some mild spelling and grammar errors here and there but as I read a pre-publication copy I don’t anticipate this being an issue post-publication.
I speak about this quite publicly, but I lost my own father to suicide in 2024. A lot of this book really spoke to me on account of that. The teachings about grief, carrying it, being in conversation with it, it all helped me gain a little more perspective on it. Grief is incredibly complex, it really is its own being that we’re in relationship with rather something we simply have, do, or experience.
Dr. Busch also makes expert use of metaphor, something he mentions throughout the book is inherent to Indigenous teachings as it allows us to better connect to what we’re learning, and I wholeheartedly agree. The metaphor about walking on newly frozen ice really spoke to me. Being fully present requires not anxiety, but full embodied noticing. It asks us to listen and watch with all of our senses, to then take a sure step forward informed by what our senses tell us is safe. Noticing creates certainty. Even the metaphor in the title of the book is heavy with meaning. Carry your heart with you, you have to hold it gently so as not to hurt it, but firmly so as not to lose it or drop it. Be kind to yourself, but true.
Turning back to Indigeneity, I come to this book as a non-Indigenous Canadian settler and researcher. Time and time again research has shown that cultural pride IS harm reduction in action, and Dr. Busch’s blending of western psychological sciences with Indigenous teachings proves that yet again. For Indigenous readers, the psychological help that will speak to their hearts the most will often come from within their own Nations, and can be supplemented with western ideas as they are useful to provide a fuller understanding of the self. For my fellow non-Indigenous readers, this book is another example of how there is so much for us to gain from publicly shared teachings from the Nations whose land we’re on. What stands out here to me is relationality. Coming to understand our inner worlds through the lens of relationship rather than individualism can be incredibly healing, regardless of your heritage, and can help us along the journey of reconciliation as well.

[Lindsay]

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an ARC. I choose not to assign star ratings to books centred on lived experiences and cultural teachings, as reducing them to a numerical score does not feel like the most thoughtful or respectful way to reflect on what has been shared.

I deeply appreciated the personal experiences woven throughout Carry Your Heart and the way Louis Busch connects these stories with cultural teachings and Western psychological knowledge.

One of the book’s most meaningful themes is the invitation to listen to our bodies and emotions with curiosity and compassion rather than treating difficult feelings as something we need to suppress or immediately eliminate. I was especially struck by the metaphor of the mind as the child, the body as the mother, and the heart as the grandmother each offering a different kind of wisdom and reminding us of the importance of creating space for all three.

I also valued the opportunity to learn from teachings grounded in Cree worldview and shared by Indigenous Knowledge Holders from across Turtle Island. Busch approaches experiences such as pain, grief, and trauma with care, emphasizing that healing is not about forcing discomfort to disappear but about developing a more compassionate and connected relationship with ourselves.

I would recommend this book to readers interested in Indigenous approaches to wellness, psychological flexibility, self-compassion, and trauma-informed care. It would be especially valuable for healthcare and mental-health professionals who want to consider how Indigenous cultural knowledge and Western psychological practices can exist alongside one another while respecting the integrity of each.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to see Louis Busch speak with Dr. Savage Bear at the Hamilton library, and was honoured to see Grandmother Renee open the session. My signed copy is now making the rounds of my friends and family because I think everyone could find something helpful in this book.

Louis is so open and honest about his own struggles, which is really refreshing in a book about mental health. The way he presents the wisdom of these Elders was so respectful and you could really feel their personalities coming through. I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you are struggling with grief or anxiety.

I've written some quotes down in my journal so I could return to them while my book circulates to loved ones. Here's one I keep rereading about grief, and an example of one of the many perspective shifts the book offers: "I once heard an Elder say that to grieve for someone is a kinship responsibility. After they go, we hold their memory in our hearts. And when they leave us early, we commit to having the experiences they will have missed, so that they will live those through us. To think of grief as a responsibility rather than a curse is a very different perspective."

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed learning from this book!
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for my ARC!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was exactly what my heart was looking for
and i think anyone who is spiritual will find something worthy from this book

[Kendall Bist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

This was a very solid book. I’d recommend getting a physical copy, because if you’re like me, you’ll probably want to highlight some of the passages.

The pacing was great; the author did a splendid job blending personal narrative with the educational components, and I think the mix of Indigenous teachings and general psychology will be helpful to a large and diverse audience. A limitation of most self-help books (does this qualify as a self-help book?) is that authors often aren’t qualified to give the advice they’re giving, and that the advice only applies to a certain kind of person. I think anyone can take something away from Carry Your Heart, and that non-Indigenous readers specifically have a lot to gain from the knowledge Louis Busch shares in this novel.