Little Book of Mindfulness: 10 minutes a day to less stress, more peace
By: Patrizia Collard
Reviewed by: Glain Roberts-McCabe
The Premise:
Dr. Patrizia Collard is a mindfulness teacher, psychotherapist, stress management consultant and lecturer at the University of East London. She’s covered a lot of bases around stress, cognitive behavioural therapy (cbt) and mental resilience. In The Little Book of Mindfulness, Collard delivers on her promise to provide the reader with short exercises to help build your mindfulness muscle, get more present and reduce stress. At less than 100 pages, the book is divided into 7 key sections that provide 5 to 10 minute exercises around key themes such as: being in the now; mindful eating; and, gratitude and compassion, to name a few. Rather than a book you read cover to cover, the exercises lend themselves to specific situations and/or areas of self-insight you wish to explore or deepen. Many of the exercises are cornerstone/tried and true activities that are beneficial no matter where one might be on their mindfulness journey.
The Bottom-line:
It was close to 8 years ago that I signed up for a formal program to learn how to meditate. I’d been told by one of my mentors that, as a stereotypical ‘type A’ person, I would benefit greatly from getting a handle on my racing mind. The practice of meditation and mindfulness have, without question, been a game changer for me. I’d also say, I have fallen off and climbed back on the mindfulness train many times over these 8 years which is why I picked up this book. Since Covid 19 swept into all our lives, I’ve noticed my moods have been much more erratic. I’ve found myself swinging between being ‘ok’ to feeling overwhelmed to feeling despondent and everything in between. I realized that I’d been letting my mindfulness practices slip. What I loved about this book was it was short, to the point and provided me with some practical ideas that I put into practice immediately. I also know that spending 5 minutes a day on being mindful, present and the moment is a powerful way to get present and this felt like something that was a do-able way to get back on track on not add to the current ‘frenzy’ that it feels like is going on in the world right now.
Recommendation:
Recommended for experienced and new practitioners alike who need a kick in the butt to either start or reconnect with their mindfulness practices.
