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Leadership & “UnMoored”

Unmoored
01 Jul

“UnMoored” by Leena Palav (2026) is a new release memoir that I devoured (print edition) in a week. I met the author at a DC area networking event. We connected on several work topics when she indicated she was about to self-publish a memoir. She referred to it similarly to the “Eat, Pray, Love” book. I found parallels to the story, but this one was more introspective and intentional in educating various healing modalities in the context of world travel – what she calls whole person health.

Overview: Palav’s book has about 350 pages and it moves quickly. It covers approximately 10 years of life transition from a divorce, career exit and residential move, with  additional memories arising from childhood. Unmoored is about finding the courage to give up control and ego, and learning to trust a deeper flow of life. It is about the author confronting deep pain and asking new questions, connecting her healing practices from the body, to the Earth, to the Universe. UnMoored was an exhilarating journey of discovering the author’s soul with immense freedom and joy.

Key Message: Her key message is that love is everywhere, if you learn how to look for it. She learned that the three keys to happiness is embracing detachment, healing and joy.

Areas of Strengths: I loved how much I learned in this book and how much it resonated with me, even though our circumstances are different.  The way the author (and former GE Executive) structured it allowed me to go deeper in various cities (New York, Mumbai, Auroville, etc) as well as explore many other eastern and western healing traditions that I may want to incorporate in my life. While I am active in yoga, physical activity, gratitude journals and oracle cards, I have never explored many of the other methods. Some lesser known include inner child healing, herbal medicines and body energy (including intimacy). She also had several well written sections that would have you never guess she was a first time author. Some of my memory recall includes the beginning backyard grass scenes, the hot and heavy NYC scenes, the Vippasana round 1 scene, and the trauma awakening.

Supplemental Information:

Where it Falls Short: The book has parts that are more engaging than others. I expect that as Leena continues to write, she will develop the skill of consistent voice throughout her work.

Overall Assessment & Why: I rate it a 7 out of 10 in terms of a personal development book. I would consider her book an accidental personal development book that many people, especially women can get a lot out of during their own choice-making and transitions in life.