What Am I Reading?

I buy a couple of books every month, often to inspire my work, for knowledge or simply to enjoy. My client’s suggest some beauties and are always welcomed, and my learned academic son continues to add unusual titles to my shelves. The book club come up with some exotic and sometimes drab titles but always a good interlude to ones I choose books, plus they are library books so they transit through my home.

My bedside table like many others can become pretty crowded and when there are 2 stacks that are starting to wobble I know I need to either get reading or sort them out again

Here is a recent snapshot from my bedside:

 

Daring To Rest – by Karen Brody

“Who would you be if you were able to get enough rest? That’s the question Karen Brody is asking women to explore in Daring to Rest.
As ‘worn-out’ has become the default setting for women today, here’s a book to help women learn how to properly rest — not just allow for more downtime or inactivity, but find a place of true stillness.

We learn to rest using the framework of yoga nidra; a guided meditation done
lying down that deeply relaxes the body and accesses the subconscious mind.
Brody teaches how to carry the effects of your practice into everyday life, so you
don’t fall back into the cycle of worn-out exhaustion.
This easy read is inspiring women across the globe to join her “rest sisters”
programs, I hope you enjoy and become inspired to allocate time for more rest.”

The Book Of Joy by The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu

“In April 2015, Archbishop Tutu travelled to the Dalai Lama’s home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness’s eightieth birthday and to create this book as a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: how do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?”
This book hovers on and off my bedside reading list – it is so marvellous that I want to savour every conversation. As they share intimate stories, teasing each other continually, and sharing their spiritual practices.
‘By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our times and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy. This book offers us a rare opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecedented week together, from the first embrace to the final goodbye.’

In May 2018 this year I was fortunate to stay 6 days in McLeod Gangi the village
above Dharamsala where Dalai Lama lives and attended one of his teachings
with hundreds of Tibetan devotees in his compound. It was an extraordinary
experience, I will write more about this sometime soon.

The Art of Happiness – Handbook for Living by Dalai Lama

“The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living is a practical, inspirational guide that combines the wisdom of the Dalai Lama’s eastern spiritual tradition with human happiness expert Dr Howard C. Cutler’s western perspective. From health, self-esteem, family and relationships to anger, stress, anxiety and jealousy, they apply the principles of Tibetan Buddhism to everyday problems and reveal how we can find balance and achieve lasting happiness in our lives.”

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

“Every time we are introduced to someone new, try to be creative or start a difficult conversation, we take a risk. We feel uncertain and exposed. We feel vulnerable.

Most of us try to fight those feelings – we strive to appear perfect. But in a powerful new vision Dr. Brené Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability, and dispels the widely accepted myth that it’s a weakness. She argues that vulnerability is in fact a strength, and when we shut ourselves off from revealing our true selves we grow distanced from the things that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”

 

Salt by Nayyirah Waheed

“Salt is a journey through warmth and sharpness.

This collection of poetry explores the realities of multiple identities, language, diasporic life & pain, the self, community, healing, celebration, and love.”

I love the way she crafts her poetry, the placement of sparse words on the page
creating strength and emotion with so few words – masterful and beautiful.