Eight wellbeing books

 

As well as reading fiction, novels, short stories and poetry I have also enjoyed reading and rereading the following eight wellbeing books over the past year or so.

 

The Mindfulness Journal by Corrinne Sweet

The happiness passport by MC Hayes

The serenity passport by MC Hayes

Pottering by Anna McGovern

The mindful home by C & D Hassed

The little book of mindfulness by P Collard

The little book of inner peace by AD Bush

Slow by Jo Peters

Although I enjoy all of the books, I would say my absolute favourite is Anna McGovern's 'Pottering' book. It is very down to earth and amusing. It is accompanied by the endearingly quirky artwork of Charlotte Ager.

The Star Heart Cafe

I have loved spending time alone in cafes since the 1990s. Pubs have taken over a little in the past few years, but the call of cafes is never far away. I have run two imaginary cafes in my life. The first was The SubVerse Poetry Tea Room which ran for five years from 2000 to 2005. The second is The Star Heart Cafe which is both my blog and my craft stall which both started in 2013. There is generally something civilised about a cafe, hopefully something comforting; it's social but not intimate. Hopefully you can just relax, be yourself and not get bothered too much by anything or anyone.

Forest Therapy

The concept of forest bathing comes from Japan. If you don't have a Japanese forest near you to bathe in, hopefully you can still find a few trees to befriend. We have Ruislip Woods near us which has a lido in the middle of it and can offer great opportunities for mindful walking and connecting with nature. Trees can be inspiring, beautiful, healing and fascinating. Slowing down and taking in the magic of trees and nature can be very good for us.