Book: Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig
This is a shortish chronicle of the authors experience with depression; not the low level low mood type, the full fat knock you sideways type, combined with anxiety, loss of self confidence and an almost complete shut down. The title comes from his conversation with...Book: Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled – Ruby Wax
This is Ruby’s second book about the mind and mental health; as I recall the first was about her journey through understanding the workings of the brain and mind, this second is a look at the techniques of Mindfulness to bring the mind into check. The question...Book: It’s all all Your Head, True Stories of Imaginary Illness – Suzanne O’Sullivan
“To a degree we are all vulnerable, we all have a threshold and if we are pushed beyond that point any one of us could develop a psychosomatic disorder” The author is a Consultant Neurologist, and the book is a user friendly – that’s to say for...In Defence of Yin Yoga
I wanted to share this wonderful article from YinYoga.com, written by Bernie Clark (although I hope he will forgive me anglicising the title).In Defense of Yin YogaAt first glance its perhaps unclear why any yoga should need defending. Then at second glance you...Book: Yin Yoga – Ulrica Norberg
As Yin Yoga matures, a few more books are coming to the market. This is one of the newer ones, published in 2014. The “big three” of Yin Yoga books are: Paul Grilley – Yin Yoga Principles and Practice Bernie Clarke – Complete Guide to Yin...Book: Mind Change – Susan Greenfield
The sub title to the book is “How digital technologies are leaving their mark on our brains”. It’s a valid question. It’s tempting to say we live in unprecedented times as our lives become more digital and our connections with...Book: Yin Yoga – Olivia Summers
I have, as you would expect, a number of Yin Yoga books. I bought this one to add to my collection, you can never have too much of a good thing.You can. This is the one too many. With a heavy heart, I must say this is a disappointing book.”With Yin Yoga...Book: Adventures in Being Human – Gavin Francis
Apparently this was a “Sunday Times bestseller” – oops, as an avid ST reader I missed it! Never mind, when it popped up on my facebook network as a recommendation I thought it looked interesting – my love of anatomy and body things never...Book: Chakra Yoga – Anodea Judith
Anodea Judith is no stranger to writing about the Chakra system have written many other books, of which “Eastern Body, Western Mind” and “Wheels of Life” stand out. This, her latest book, is a more practical offering, outlining how the Chakra...Book: The Diet Myth:The Real Science Behind What We Eat – Tim Spector
Scarcely a week goes by without another fad diet hitting our awareness in the news or social media. Dairy good/bad. Fats good/bad. Coffee good/bad. Proteins good/bad. Carbs good/bad. Repeat to fade. Confusing, isn’t it?...Book: Being Mortal – Atul Gawande
Death – mortality- catches up with us all in due course, but despite this it has an element of taboo. Written by a doctor, this book is about facing mortality – end of life care, individual wishes, the medicalisation of dying. In days past a great many...Book: God is Not a Christian – Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu will need little introduction – the first black Archbishop of a Cape Town, when South Africa was undergoing a period of lengthy trouble, change and adjustment around apartheid. This book is a collection of extracts from sermons, interviews, letters...Advent thoughts
The year draws to a close; yoga classes wind down; our hearts draw back to home and family.Earlier this week Facebook reminded me of posts from the same day in previous years; it seems that its not unusual for me to be running behind on wrapping presents and generally...Book: Behavioural Economics Saved My Dog – Dan Ariely
So I admit I knew very little about the author or the book when I started reading; I saw it on Waterloo Station and through it worth a go, maybe as slightly lighter holiday reading. The author is a columnist on the Wall Street Journal writing a column about life...Books: Light on Yoga and Light on Pranayama – BKS Iyengar
Two masterpiece works by Iyengar, some would say the Grandfather of modern Hatha Yoga. I’ve dipped into these books before, but never studied them in depth, and so for my recent holiday I took them with me for some quality reading time. At 450 and 300...Book: Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East – Charles Russell
Living in the rural outskirts of England, it’s easy to become distanced from the world around us, it’s trial and tribulations, viewing it as images in the media, rather than the stories of real men, women and children. No where more prominent is this...Books: Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You are There You Go – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness is a buzz word these days, which is not to decry it in anyway, but sometime you have to ask, has it become over used and diluted? The author of these books, Jon Kabit-Zinn is, arguably, one of the leading exponents of modern mindfulness: “(I tried...Book: The Poetry of Kabir
Anyone looking back over the books I’ve reviewed will notice a bias towards the technical and practical aspects of Yoga.However the spiritual aspect of Yoga doesn’t pass me by; far, far from it. Indeed it was the spiritual re-awakening and re-connection...Book: How to do Restorative Yoga – Michael Hetherington
Any book which includes a cup of herbal tea nearby in its recommended list of props, doesn’t have to work that hard to be a winner for me! Theres always a cuppa beside me during morning practice and, quelle horreur, sometimes a glass of wine in the evening....Socials and Feeds
