Buoyant - by Gina VILD (Hardcover)

About the Book

If you've ever felt shattered by loss, unexpected change, setbacks, or disappointment, Buoyant offers a lifeline. Filled with practical "Buoyancy Boosters" and more than twenty inspiring true stories of resilience, this book shows that resilience isn't something you're born with--it's something you build.

Book Synopsis

"A lifeline for navigating personal hardship and the chaos of our times."--Andrew Carroll, four-time New York Times bestselling author

A science-backed and story-driven guide for staying afloat amid life's ups and downs.

If you've been shattered by grief, weighed down by loss, or overwhelmed by life's challenges, you're not alone. Adversity is a universal human experience, but your resilience--how you respond, adapt, and recover--shapes your outlook, strength, and well-being. What matters most isn't what happens to you, but how you rebound and chart a path forward--your buoyancy.

Buoyant is a science-backed, hope-filled road map for grief healing, trauma recovery, and post-traumatic growth. Author Gina Vild draws on psychology, neuroscience, timeless wisdom, poetry, and her experience--from discovering roses still blooming through a November snowfall after her life unraveled to exploring everyday habits that can regulate your stress--to show that resilience isn't something you're born with; it's a skill you can cultivate and strengthen at any age.

Buoyant offers inspiration with twenty-plus stirring stories of transformation from people who faced both unimaginable challenges and everyday struggles, and actionable steps in the form of "Buoyancy Boosters"--interactive exercises and practical coping strategies. These "Buoyancy Boosters" include surprising insights into how simple practices like mindfulness to gut-health-supporting foods can help regulate stress and build resilience. Put together, Buoyant is your toolkit to reframe pain, manage negative self-talk, embrace forgiveness, rediscover your sense of purpose, and build a supportive community. Whether you're healing after personal loss, navigating trauma recovery, overcoming professional setbacks, or simply trying to stay afloat in a chaotic world, Buoyant is your essential guide to a life of joy and meaning.

Review Quotes

"Vild is the epitome of a 'giver, ' and this exquisitely written book--filled with beautiful poems and uplifting stories infused with light and love, generosity and grace, compassion and kindness--is the ultimate gift to us all." --Andrew Carroll, four-time New York Times bestselling author

"A generous, story-driven guide to cultivating resilience that offers real-world tools for surviving what's difficult in 'your own wild and precious life.'" --Maryanne O'Hara, author of Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark

"Resilience in response to life's inevitable challenges is a capacity we all too often need, but the path to achieving it is often hidden and always difficult. In Buoyant, Gina Vild vividly describes the strategies she and many others have successfully employed to achieve resilience, and her elegant presentation makes Buoyant required reading for a large audience." --Jeffrey S. Flier, former dean, Harvard University's Faculty of Medicine

"Life can pull us under without warning. In Buoyant, Gina Vild gathers extraordinary stories of people who found their way back to the surface--and beyond. Weaving together cutting-edge research and hard-won wisdom, she hands readers the life preserver that makes all the difference: the knowledge that we are not alone." --Debbie Phillips, leadership coach, Executive Office of the President, Biden-Harris administration, and founder of Women on Fire(R)

"Gina Vild offers a road map for navigating not only the personal traumas and setbacks we all eventually face, but also the collective political and social tumult we are enduring in the current time. Each chapter is like a fitness class to strengthen not only our inner core but the muscle of resilience that keeps us buoyant even in troubled times." --Judith Valente, author of The Italian Soul: How to Savor the Full Joys of Life, How to Be a Contemplative, How to Be, and How to Live

"Vild has written an honest meditation on what it means to survive and then truly live. The stories told in Buoyant are bold, the science sound, and her voice lucid. This book shatters the ceiling you have placed on your own resilience and dares you to reimagine what you are capable of surviving and, ultimately, of becoming." --Yousif A-Rahim, MD, PhD, author of Smarter Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Will Make You Healthier

"Gina Vild offers a compelling and inspirational take on some of life's most important challenges, her thoughtfully researched strategies deftly presented with a storyteller's voice and compassion." --Rita Beamish, associate editor, National Parks Traveler

"Embedded in this book are captivating stories that will stir your soul, and the exercises will lead those facing adversity to rebound with valor and grace. This is a timely and precious book that will resonate deeply with readers, many of whom will want to gift it to family and friends." --Sanjiv Chopra, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and bestselling author of many books, including Leadership by Example

"Gina Vild gives us her life story and those of many others, filled with moments of turmoil and deep despair but, ultimately, lasting joy and recovered purpose. The book is clear, elegant, well researched, and deeply affecting. She provides helpful 'Buoyancy Boosters' for critical moments in life, making this a valuable primer for our troubled times." --Peng Fan, MD, clinical professor of medicine, UCLA; honored for excellence in teaching and humanism in medicine