Tag Archives: #relax

Best Mindfulness Books on the Market 

Continuing Booko’s August focus on self-care, this week we are looking at some recent releases on Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a form of meditation borne of Buddhist tradition – yet you don’t need to be spiritual or “the meditating type” to benefit from this practice. Mindfulness asks us to focus on the present moment without judgment, and can be as simple as focussing on our breathing for one minute. There is much evidence to show that mindfulness can improve our physical as well as mental wellbeing, helping to relief stress and anxiety, improving mental clarity, and helping us get more out of personal interactions. If you have ever felt too busy, overwhelmed, or distracted, then you may benefit from mindfulness practice – and here are some great guides to get you started:

Becoming Aware: a 21- Day Mindfulness Program for Reducing Anxiety and Cultivating Calm by Daniel J. Siegel

Cover for Becoming Aware by Daniel J. Siegel
Cover for Becoming Aware by Daniel J. Siegel

This companion to Daniel J. Siegel’s bestselling Aware offers a 21-day, step-by-step guide to adopting his Wheel of Awareness meditation practice. Siegel developed Wheel of Awareness after reviewing current scientific research, which shows that mindfulness offers physical as well as mental health benefits. Using a series of meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques, Becoming Aware enables readers, including children, to focus attention, open awareness, and develop compassion, leading to an enduring sense of calm and quiet.

The Resilience Project: Finding Happiness through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness by Hugh van Cuylenburg

The Resilience Project is more of a memoir than an instruction manual, yet Hugh van Cuylenberg’s life stories are sure to inspire you to make a habit of the simple yet transformational practices of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness – behaviours that lead to resilience and happiness. With humour, poignancy and clear-eyed insight, Hugh van Cuylenberg shares the personal experiences – including his sister’s eating disorder, and his time volunteering in northern India – that has led to his discovery of the link between gratitude, empathy, mindfulness and happiness, which in turn has inspired him to work to help people live a happier and more fulfilling life.

Now Is the Way: Simple Mindfulness for Modern Times by Cory Allen

Cory Allen, host of the popular Astral Hustle podcast, adds author to his resume with this practical, highly readable guide to the why, what, and how of mindfulness. As in his podcasts, Now is the Way mixes mindfulness, neuroscience, philosophy and music; it includes a detailed review of current research; discussion of trends in the mindfulness movement; no-nonsense exercises such as deep breathing; as well as how to use “binaural beats”, a form of sound therapy. There is also a detailed bibliography for further exploration. Cory Allen thinks of mindfulness as “strength training for the brain” – it can help us take control of our thinking, stop merely reacting to life and start to live it the way we want.

How to Focus (Mindfulness Essentials) by Thich Nhat Hanh

The late Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh is best known in the West as the “Father of Mindfulness”. He also developed the concept socially-engaged Buddhism, and was an active proponent of nonviolent activism. The Mindfulness Essentials series is a pocket-sized collection of Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing that focuses on key elements of mindfulness practice. How to Focus offers a set of simple meditations, written with his characteristic kindness, that can help us overcome constant distraction and regain our powers of concentration, and thus foster the conditions that bring insight and understanding.

Gutsy: Mindfulness Practices for Everyday Bravery by Leah Katz

Dr Leah Katz is a clinical psychologist who uses a mix of behavioural therapies and mindfulness techniques in treating anxiety and depression. In Gutsy, she shows how mindfulness can be part of a broader toolkit that helps us make bolder, more fulfilling choices;
by adopting a mindset of joy, gratitude, and resilience, we can learn to identify what is holding us back, to overcome our fears, and move past society’s unrealistic and often harmful expectations to create the self-loving and compassionate life that we all deserve.

Attention Hijacked: Using Mindfulness to Reclaim Your Brain from Tech by Erica B. Marcus

Attention Hijacked offers invaluable advice to steer teens towards healthier tech-use habits, without resorting to “screentime is bad” scare tactics. Erica B. Marcus acknowledges that technology offers many benefits, including education, entertainment, social connection and personal expression; yet some technologies are designed to be addictive, and can interfere with cognitive abilities and mental and physical health. Attention Hijacked shows how mindfulness can help us reassess our technology use, leading to a more conscious, balanced approach. A great resource for teens as well as their caregivers and teachers.

Top six books for those who want to learn to meditate

Meditation is known and followed by many who delight in the calm and clarity it brings them when they need it most, though others can find it lacking in science and complete woo-woo. In these crazy times we are living in with a climate crisis, global pandemics, spring inflation and even a war, Team Booko has found six amazing books that want to help ease your mind and may even change the mind of the strongest sceptic. Whether you are looking for quick suggestions to relax during the day or answers to deeper questions about the direction of your life, these books each aim to work towards a positive impact on your life while drawing on science and practice. 

Finding Peace: Meditation and Wisdom for Modern Times by Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche

Finding Peace is a practical guide to the life-changing benefits of meditation from leading Buddhist master Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche. Rinpoche is the leading Buddhist monk in the UK, who shares his collected wisdom on how we can all overcome negative thoughts and calm our minds with simple meditation practices. His teachings have transformed the lives of people all over the world and, in our modern chaotic world, have never been more pertinent.

He teaches us that our minds are infinite like the sky, which can easily become clouded with stress and emotions, but with meditation we are able to clear away these clouds. By freeing our minds of those obstacles we can find peace in every moment and live a truly fulfilled life. With practical steps on breathing, posture, forgiveness, relationships and routine, this is the definitive guide for beginners and experienced meditators alike to learn from the wisdom of a globally revered meditation master.

Breathe Like a Badass by Hannah Jane Thompson

Breathe Like a Badass is a practical handbook that shows you how to harness the power of meditation, covering everything from comparison and office politics to body image and relationships. This practical handbook teaches you how to start and stick to a non-woo-woo, scientifically based, zero-BS meditation habit that you can turn to again and again when life and work gets tough. Qualified meditation teacher and certified life coach Hannah Jane Thompson has been practising meditation for over 11 years, after discovering the difference it made to her own life. As an ambitious but chronically anxious journalist, Hannah suppressed all feelings of not being ‘good enough’ until one day she was hit with chronic depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. At her absolute lowest point, she discovered meditation, and it quite literally saved her life. Breath by breath, meditation taught her to stop, breathe, accept who she was, and question those negative thoughts and transform them into something a little more kind, positive, and mindfully productive. Drawing on her own story, her teaching practice and experiences of her clients, Hannah shows you how to harness the power of meditation. Breathe Like a Badass is your no-BS guide to creating a life-changing, burnout-busting emotional toolbox of your own.

Total Meditation: Stress Free Living Starts Here by Deepak Chopra

Times are hard. Meditation doesn’t have to be. Meditation leads to transformation. It affects every aspect of your wellbeing and can bring about positive change in your body, affect your mental outlook, increase your decision-making ability and eliminate worry and anxiety. The master of modern meditation Deepak Chopra draws on his 30 years of practice and reveals how to achieve blissful awareness by waking up to who you really are. Perfect for beginners, sceptics or those looking for a new approach to stillness, his simple 7-day programme offers a life-changing path to a quiet mind.

The No-Nonsense Meditation Book by Steven Laureys

Rigorously researched and deeply illuminating, world-leading neurologist Dr Steven Laureys works with celebrated meditators to scientifically prove the positive impact meditation has on our brains.

Dr Steven Laureys has conducted ground-breaking research into human consciousness for more than 20 years. For this bestselling book, he explores the effect of meditation on the brain. He uses hard science to explain the benefits of a practice that was once thought of as purely spiritual. The result is a highly accessible, scientifically questioning guide to meditation, designed to open the practice to a broader audience. A mix of fascinating science, inspiring anecdote and practical exercises, this accessible book offers scientific evidence that meditation can have a positive impact on all our lives.

Strong, Calm and Free: A modern guide to yoga, meditation and mindful living by Nicola Jane Hobbs

Heartfelt and deeply practical, Strong, Calm and Free brings alive the possibility of a life of inner peace, compassion and joy. Grounded in both modern science and ancient wisdom, this beautiful and inspiring book demystifies the philosophy and psychology of yoga, making the 4000-year old practice accessible for modern life. Whether you’ve never stepped foot on a yoga mat before or want to deepen your home practice, this beautifully-illustrated book is suitable for all abilities, gently guiding you through a ten-week journey of yoga sequences, meditations and mindful living practices that will build strength, bring insight and offer a path to healing and freedom. Written by holistic counsellor and international yoga and meditation teacher Nicola Jane Hobbs, Strong, Calm and Free shares the tools to help you navigate the peaks and valleys of modern life, to dispel the “I’m not good enough” myth that holds so many of us back and to experience the miracle of being yourself. By sharing her gentle wisdom alongside simple, practical exercises, Nicola invites you on a path of inner transformation. A mindful adventure of self-discovery. A journey towards health, happiness and wholeness. Towards strength, peace and freedom. Towards becoming fully and fearlessly who you are.

A Monk’s Guide to Happiness: Meditation in the 21st century by Gelong Thubten

We’re all on a search for happiness, but we’re looking in the wrong places. Everyone looks externally to find contentment, we think material possessions will unlock our happiness. A Monk’s Guide to Happiness  explains how and why we need to look within, and connect to our true essence, in order to find peace. Everyone has the potential to be happy, after all, we’re all ‘hardwired’ for happiness. But how do we get there? By meditating. Not just in the morning, but throughout the day by introducing micro moments so we never drop the mindfulness ball, even when we’re busy. Meditation is more than just a stress-reduction tool or a relaxation therapy, it is the key to finding long-lasting happiness. Gelong Thubten, a Buddhist monk who has worked with everyone from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to Ruby Wax and Benedict Cumberbatch, explores the theme of happiness in his debut book and explains how to bring meditation into our busy 21st century lives with simple exercises.

Enjoy!

Boredom Busters for the School Holidays  – the coolest activity books on the market

The school holidays are right around the corner and if they have snuck up on you as they have us, then fear not, we have found some amazing books that will eradicate any complaints of boredom over the next two weeks. But if these aren’t enough to fill the days, next week Karen is going to be sharing what’s on in the libraries over the holidays too, just in case you are running out of ideas. 

Get ready to get clicking because we know that the children (and perhaps a parent or two) will absolutely love these creative activity books. 

Absolutely Epic Sudoku by Ivy Finnegan

We all know that Sudoku puzzles reinforce logic and problem-solving and this is a bumper book of these number based puzzles.

Young puzzlers can put their number and logic skills to the test with this ultimate book of over 180 sudoku puzzles. Inside you’ll find puzzles for everyone, from sudoku beginners to number ninjas. They’re graded by skill level so that you can start wherever you feel comfortable – then level up when you’re ready for a challenge. With epic cartoon illustrations, this collection offers hours of fun and satisfaction while improving memory and critical thinking too! Fantastic fun for puzzlers aged 7+.

Everything Under the Sun: a curious question for every day of the year by Molly Oldfield

This is a wonderful collection of 366 curious questions asked by children from around the world, based on the award-winning podcast by Molly Oldfield. How much bamboo can a giant panda eat? Do aliens exist? What we would do if we didn’t have a prime minister? Why do hammerhead sharks have such strange-shaped heads? Find out the answers to these curious questions and much, much more! Find out why you taste things differently when you have a cold with Michelin star chef, Heston Blumenthal. Learn about everything from how astronauts see in the dark to what the biggest dinosaur was with experts from the Natural History Museum. Fascinating facts are accompanied by gorgeous illustrations making this the perfect school holiday activity book. Whether you read a question a day, or dip into it whenever you are feeling curious, this is a book to treasure and share all year round.

Big Life Journal, Second Edition: A Growth Mindset Journal for Children by Alexandra Eidens

This is a second edition of the popular Big Life Journal for Children (you can buy the first edition here). It’s an illustrated and guided journal for children to develop a growth mindset, and promotes social-emotional learning. Children’s negative self-talk can lead to a fixed mindset, they begin to fear failure and their self-esteem plummets. As parents, we can make a huge impact on how much our kids believe in themselves and how they approach challenges. By giving them the right tools, we help them better understand their brain and learn the importance of positive self-talk.

Big Life Journal incorporates the latest research in positive psychology, brain science, and youth development. With plenty of room to draw and write on each page, this interactive journal is a growth mindset workbook for kids to work through at their own pace as they reflect, learn and grow. And there is a different engaging activity on every page, so this is the interactive journal kids will actually want to use! A life story journal becomes a beautiful future keepsake. With a bright, colourful and durable hard cover, this kids journal with prompts contains 176 high quality pages that stand up to pencils and markers with a lay-flat design, and a sewn in satin bookmark.

How to Draw a Mermaid and Other Cute Creatures by Lulu Mayo

From a magical mermicorn and a friendly narwhal to a puppy cupid and a panda cupcake, these cute creations are loads of fun to draw. The book demonstrates how to create quirky kawaii-style characters in an easy, step-by-step way that will also have readers coming up with their own cute characters in no time. Using simple shapes, illustrator Lulu Mayo explains how to draw each mythical, magical or just plain marvellous creature. Her 30 imaginative creations are sure to keep budding artists entertained and inspired to dream up their very own weird and wonderful characters.

if you have a budding artist that you know will love this book, Lulu has written more. You can find them here.

Puzzlooies! Space Cats to the Rescue: A Solve-the-Story Puzzle Adventure by Russell Ginns, Jonathan Maier

Snag a pencil. Sink into the story. Solve the puzzles – and save the day!

Say goodbye to boring downtime and hello to Puzzlooies!, the latest in portable entertainment. Meant for kids to write in, these illustrated and compact books flip up like a reporter’s notebook, making them perfect for fast fun while on-the-go. Each zany adventure is packed with eclectic puzzles to decipher and decode, as well as jokes, riddles, and true trivia galore that’ll keep readers laughing ’til the very end . . . if they can reach it!

Sharpen your pencils and prepare for liftoff! Here come . . . Space Cats to the Rescue! In this exciting Puzzlooey instalment, Earth is in big trouble. A deadly asteroid is on its way to pummel the planet. Humanity’s only hope is a fearless foursome of felines.

You can buy more Puzzlooies here

Give This Book a Cover by Jarrett Lerner

Inspire kids to grow their imaginations with this second collection of creative activities from Jarrett Lerner, author of the EngiNerds, Geeger the Robot, and Hunger Heroes series! This collection of fun, open-ended writing and drawing prompts will kick-start creativity and challenge kids to be imaginative in new ways with every turn of a page. The Finish This Comic section features a variety of scenarios and characters inspire kids to write and illustrate a six-panel story. How to Draw instructions encourage kids to find their own drawing styles. Drawing and writing prompts and a smorgasbord of other activities add to the fun perfect for home, road trips, school, and anywhere!

Enjoy!

Books that have come to life on the small screen

Which is better, the book, the mini series or the movie?

It’s an ongoing debate that pops up each time a story makes the transition from our bookshelves onto our screens. The beauty of books is that readers get to exercise their imagination beyond the descriptions of characters and settings created by the author. It’s when directors and actors add their own ‘twist’ to the characters in our heads that the debate begins.

There are a number of new adaptations that are being made and have either just launched, or will be gracing our screens in coming months. Today we’re having a look at some of the wonderful stories that either just have, or will be, coming to life. 

Be sure to share in the comments below which has been your favourite book-to-movie (or mini series) transition. 

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Starring Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving, and Manny Jacinto, a great cast is coming together to bring Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers to our screens.

One house. Nine strangers. Ten days that will change everything. The retreat at health-and-wellness resort Tranquillum House promises total transformation.

Nine stressed city dwellers are keen to drop their literal and mental baggage, and absorb the meditative ambience while enjoying their hot stone massages.

Miles from anywhere, without cars or phones, they have no way to reach the outside world. Just time to think about themselves, and get to know each other.

Watching over them is the resort’s director, a woman on a mission. But quite a different one from any the guests might have imagined. For behind the retreat’s glamorous facade lies a dark agenda. These nine perfect strangers have no idea what’s about to hit them. 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Little Fires Everywhere has been made into a tv series staring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, both of whom also executive produced the show, alongside Liz Tigelaar, Lauren Neustadter, and Pilar Savone. 

Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned, from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principal is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren, an enigmatic artist and single mother,  who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants.  All four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When the Richardsons’ friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family, and Mia’s. 

The Outsider by Stephen King

The Outsider is an American horror crime drama mini series based on the novel by Stephen King. It stars Ben Mendelsohn, Bill Camp, Paddy Considine, Julianne Nicholson, Jason Bateman (who also happened to direct the first two episodes) and Cynthia Erivo.

When an eleven year old boy is found murdered in a town park, reliable eyewitnesses undeniably point to the town’s popular Little League coach, Terry Maitland, as the culprit. DNA evidence and fingerprints confirm the crime was committed by this well-loved family man. Horrified by the brutal killing, Detective Ralph Anderson, whose own son was once coached by Maitland, orders the suspect to be arrested in a public spectacle. But Maitland has an alibi. And further research confirms he was indeed out of town that day. As Anderson and the District Attorney trace the clues, the investigation expands from Ohio to Texas. And as horrifying answers begin to emerge, so King’s propulsive story of almost unbearable suspense kicks into high gear. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy but there is one rock-hard fact, as unassailable as gravity: a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Can he?

Survive by Alex Morel 

Love is a force of nature. What makes you fight to stay alive? The movie version of Survive stars Sophie Turner and is a gripping adventure story that will have you on the edge of your seat from the first chapter. Jane is running away from everything. From the facility she’s been living in, from her pain, from her guilt, from life. She boards a plane to Montclair, New Jersey, though her destination does not matter she doesn’t plan to be alive when the plane lands. Jane has planned the perfect suicide. She’ll fall asleep on the plane and never wake up. But as she’s reaching for her pills in the tiny bathroom, the plane hits turbulence. Another jolt, the engine’s down. The plane crashes into the cold, remote mountains of Montana, and Jane and a boy named Paul are the only two survivors. It took a brush with death to make Jane realise that she didn’t want to die. But now there is snow, mountains, cliffs, little food and no water standing between life and death. And suddenly it’s not just Jane. There is another person in the equation and she needs to get them both to safety. She needs them both to survive.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery star in the mini series version of this gripping story by Willian Landay.

When a teenaged boy is discovered stabbed to death in the woods adjoining the local high school, a wave of shock ripples through the suburban community of Newton, outside of Boston. Assistant district attorney Andy Barber is used to dealing with murder and its after efffects, but with his own son, Jacob, also a student at the school, he too is anxious for a swift arrest and conviction. But as the kids appear to be stonewalling the cops and the investigation stalls, evidence emerges that ties Jacob to the crime and suddenly Andy faces a very different challenge: preventing his son from being convicted of murder. Together with his wife, Laurie, the family closes ranks in the midst of an increasingly hostile community as Andy prepares for the trial of his life, the one trial he cannot afford to lose. Especially when the emergence of his own dark family secrets threatens to undermine Jacob’s defence. And as the drama reaches its climax, Andy and Laurie have to face every parent’s toughest questions: how well do you really know your own child, and how far would you go to save them?

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

Around the world, millions of readers have been captivated by Wally Lamb’s incredible talent in representing the lost and the lonely. It’s the story of Dominick Birdsey, whose entire life has been shaped by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother that he deeply loves and resents. The two brothers share a family history that includes an adoptive father, Ray, and a long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip and a huge desire to protect her troubled son, Thomas, as the demons of his schizophrenia become increasingly apparent. But as Thomas commits an act which sends him to strict confinement for the mentally ill, Dominick’s life spins even further out of control. He attempts to come to terms with the desire to rescue his brother and fears about his own psychological health and his inability to love. Dominick’s journey is illuminated, and further complicated, by a fable-like account of his grandfather Domenico Onofrio Tempesta’s life. As Dominick continues to face the pain of loss, he must rebuild himself in the shadow of his twin, and come to grips with his anger in order to forgive. 

On screen you’ll see Mark Ruffalo play both Dominick and his brother Thomas in the mini series adaptation. 

Of course, there is one other new addition to our screens, which has been eagerly awaited in our household…The Babysitters Club. The Babysitters Club books have been treasured stories for many generations and have undergone adaptations to graphic novels (you can check those out here) along with launching on Netflix in the past few weeks. 


Enjoy!