about space to exhale
Tired of feeling tired? You are not burned out because you are doing life wrong.
You're fatigued because you have been navigating systems that equate exhaustion with success.
If you are constantly running on empty and barely pushing through, Space To Exhale: A Handbook for Curating a Soft, Centered, Serene Life will help you reclaim your energy, get some rest, and build a softer, more centered life.
In Space To Exhale Lisa Hurley, five-time Anthem Award-winning author and Founder of The Great Exhale, offers a practical, affirming self-help book to help you:
Recover from burnout without abandoning your aspirations
Set strong boundaries that preserve your peace
Honor your capacity without guilt
Release the pressure to overperform
Redefine success on your own terms
Create sustainable work-life balance
Embrace soft living as a liberatory practice, not a luxury
Drawing from her lived experience as a burnout survivor, Reiki Master, and community builder, Hurley shares the exact tools that helped her move from exhaustion to ease. Through affirmations, meditations, journaling prompts, breathwork, and her signature Exhalation Point™ framework, she guides you through a powerful shift to:
Know Yourself: Reconnect with who you are beneath the pressure, and realign with what truly matters.
Love Yourself: Release the belief that your worth is tied to your productivity, and prioritize your rest, your needs, and your peace.
Be Yourself: Show up fully, set boundaries with confidence, and build a life that instead of draining you, supports you.
This book is for you if:
You are exhausted from constantly holding everything together
You want self-care solutions that go deeper than the surface level
You are a Black woman seeking language, validation, and practices for your healing
You are ready to move from survival mode into softness, clarity, and ease
Recognized and celebrated for its cultural impact, Space To Exhale has received multiple honors, including:
Gold + Bronze Anthem Awards
Nonfiction Authors Association Gold Award
North American Book Award (Inspirational Nonfiction)
It has also been featured in The Globe and Mail, affirming its relevance in conversations around burnout, rest, and modern work culture.
You do not need to keep living this way. You do not need to prove your worth through exhaustion. You do not need to keep going until burnout forces you to stop.
You do not need to earn rest. You are allowed to exhale.
Featured in Essence, Forbes & The Globe and Mail
Founder, The Great Exhale
2nd Generation Reiki Master
Award-Winning Podcast Host
Featured in Essence, Forbes & The Globe and Mail
Founder, The Great Exhale
the impact
2nd Generation Reiki Master
Award-Winning Podcast Host
why Lisa wrote space to exhale
a note from the author
I wrote Space To Exhale because I have experienced the urgency of needing it. It is the book that helped me to get up after a breakdown. My hope is that if you are in a similar space, it will do the same for you.
Like so many of us, I spent years moving at an unsustainable pace: pushing through burnout, bypassing my body's signals, and treating rest as a reward instead of a necessity. Space To Exhale emerged from my own journey toward reclaiming rest, redefining success, and learning to center serenity, not as a luxury, but as a practice of self-preservation.
We live in a world that glorifies hustle culture, minimizes wellness, and positions productivity as a marker of worthiness. My goal was and is to offer a counter-narrative. Space To Exhale centers the idea that rest is not a reward; it is a necessity and a right.
Rest is the new success.
At its heart, this book is a soft place to land. It is my offering to anyone who feels overwhelmed, depleted, or disconnected. It serves as a practical and compassionate guide for anyone seeking to live a less frenetic, more intentional life—one rooted in calm, clarity, and care.
Space To Exhale was written to help you embrace ease, increase self-love, and create room to breathe. It is a deeply personal project, but also a timely one that speaks to the collective exhaustion many people—especially Black women—carry silently.
Whether you're navigating burnout, seeking peace, or simply longing to feel more at ease in your body, mind, and life, this book is here to hold space for you—and help you create some for yourself. Inside, you'll find tools to help you slow down, breathe deeply, and cultivate a lifestyle that honors your full humanity.
My hope is that this book will help you feel seen, affirmed, and held. May it offer you what I needed most when I began my own journey: permission to pause, to rest, and to exhale.
With love,
Lisa
the evolution of space to exhale
Space To Exhale did not begin as a book. It began as a community: The Great Exhale. That community became the birthplace of an entire ecosystem including the Exhalation Point™ framework, the book, the podcast, and the broader movement rooted in rest, healing, and the undeniable power of a deep exhale.
2021: The First Exhale
Lisa begins exploring the "exhale" idea through personal reflections on rest, breathwork, burnout, healing, and creating a softer way of living.
Listening & Learning
Through conversations with women, friends, colleagues, and future community members, recurring themes become clear: burnout, boundaries, healing, self-care, soft living, and rest.
The Exhalation Point™ Framework Takes Shape
Know Yourself. Love Yourself. Be Yourself.
2023: The Great Exhale is founded
A soft space for Black women to rest, connect, reflect, and return to themselves.
2025: Space To Exhale is Published
The Exhalation Point™ framework becomes the foundation of the award-winning book Space To Exhale: A Handbook for Curating a Soft, Centered, Serene Life.
2025: Space To Exhale: The Podcast Launches
The conversation expands through inspiring interviews and discussions on rest, joy, wellbeing, and authentic living.
Today
An ever-growing ecosystem of conversations, community, connections, and resources helping people make space to exhale.
the story behind the name
Long before there was a book called Space To Exhale, the idea of exhaling had become a recurring theme in Lisa's writing, reflections, and praxis.
When it came time to name the community that would eventually become the birthplace of the Exhalation Point™ Framework, members were invited to submit ideas and vote.
The name they chose was The Great Exhale.
Looking back, it feels less like a branding decision and more like a moment of collective intuition. The community recognized and gave voice to something that was already emerging.
Years later, the concept would continue to evolve through The Exhalation Point™ Framework, Space To Exhale, and Space To Exhale: The Podcast.
the exhalation point™ framework
know yourself
self-awareness
boundaries
truth
love yourself
compassion
self-care
rest
be yourself
authenticity
alignment
freedom
frequently asked questions
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Space To Exhale is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Goodreads, Books-A-Million, ThriftBooks, and from my publisher Wiley.
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It’s super easy! We have partnered with Porchlight Book Company to make the ordering process seamless.
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Absolutely!
2-24 copies: 15% off
25-99 copies: 30% off
100 - 249 copies: 32% off
250 - 499 copies: 35% off
500+ copies: 37% off
To get your discount, place your order with Porchlight Book Company.
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Yes, an audiobook version will be available. Subscribe to my Fresh Air newsletter, and you’ll be notified as soon as it’s available.
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Yes, the ebook is available from Wiley, and the Kindle version is available on Amazon
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Thanks for asking! Here are the best ways for you to help:
Order the book today!
If you can, buy multiple copies. Gift them to friends, family members, colleagues … anybody you think would love Space To Exhale.
Leave a review on Goodreads. It doesn’t have to be long: A few sentences would be more than enough. Early reviews can build buzz, and help the book gain traction.
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Place a bulk order for your book club, event, company, sorority…you get the idea. I’ve partnered with Porchlight Book Company to make the process super-easy for you.
Request Space To Exhale at your local library. There should be a form you can easily fill out. This will help make the book even more accessible to those who need it.
Attend my book launch events! I’m having a virtual launch on pub day, Tuesday June 17. It will be live on LinkedIn. Register to attend here. On Saturday June 21 I’m having an in-person launch party at the Pocstock HQ in Newark New Jersey. Get your tickets here.
Recommend Space To Exhale for your book clubs, teams, clients, groups, and friend circles.
Invite me to speak at your event, club, or organization, or to be a guest on your podcast.
Spread the word! Share this site with your family, friends, colleagues, and wider network. If you know of anyone in the media who would be interested in doing a story about the book, here’s a press release you can send their way to get the conversation started.
Post about the book on social media and tag me. I would love to hear your insights and reactions.
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Thanks for asking! I have self-funded this book project, and I am still writing, advocating, and supporting my community in various ways. You can support my work here.