Happy – a review

First of all, let me just say that this is a beautiful book and I love beautiful books. The illustrations throughout are inspiring and link in a mindful way to the content of the various chapters.  This has helped to make reading this book a pleasure over the last few weeks.

Divided into 11 chapters, with each one focusing on bringing Happiness into a different aspect of your life, this book takes you on a journey through your own mind and soul. Where you end up depends greatly on your personal starting point and how much work you are prepared to put into the process.

Fearne draws on her own battle with depression, referencing her struggles throughout, but with a positive twist. It’s obvious from her writing that she has been there and understands how ‘the darkness’ feels as it descends upon you.  From this perspective, she offers advice on pulling yourself out of the low points and building resilience to help you weather any future dark patches.

There are some though provoking activities, sprinkled throughout the book, ranging from a calming yoga flow to a recipe for courgette and carrot fritters.  The point is that there are plenty of engaging, helpful hints in this book and you are bound to find something to suit your needs.

The parts which resonated most for me were the ‘Happy Mind’ and ‘Happy Thanks’ sections of the book.  Fearne included a beautiful guided meditation/relaxation which I used at one of my yoga classes.  Reading the words immediately helped me to connect with my breathing and relax my mind and weary body.

In the ‘Happy Thanks’ chapter, I was reintroduced to the need to express and feel gratitude. Honest gratitude, not just muttering the words out of politeness, but allowing the feeling to permeate my entire being.

While reading this book I made a commitment to myself to slow down, taking time to ‘practice what I preach’ and relax. This has involved lying on my Pranamat, listening to a lovely guided relaxation, as my way to end the day. The result of this routine is a better sleep, improved focus and my sore muscles are slowly beginning to ease off a bit.

I choose to feel good about myself and to fill my body, mind and soul with inspiration and positivity. I also choose to share the inspirational and positive. That is why I have written this review, as a way to say ‘Thank you’ to Tesco for stocking this lovely book, and to Fearne for writing it. They say that when you are ready, your teacher will appear. Luckily I was ready that evening and found this book and all the lessons I was also ready to learn.