TIME TO START A NEW CHAPTER
CAROLINE SANDERSON OFFERS HER GUIDE TO THE SELF-HELP BOOKS THAT HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
RISE AND SHINE: HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE, MORNING BY MORNING
by Kate Oliver and Toby Oliver (Piatkus, £9.99) “Invite more happiness, wellbeing and success into your life, one morning at a time.”
That’s the premise of this wellness guide in which the psychologist and therapist authors (a sister and brother) argue that how you start your morning matters, setting the tone for the rest of your day and shaping your mood, focus and productivity.
Drawing on scientific research and ancient traditions such as yoga, their S.H.I.N.E method represents the five elements – Silence, Happiness, Intention, Nourishment and Exercise – that we should incorporate into our morning routines.
From hugging and candle gazing to free writing and mapping the day ahead, they suggest 30 practices to help you rise and shine in a way that works for you. by Dr Michael Breus and Stacey Griffith (Vermilion, £14.99) Tired of being tired? The main reason we’re often exhausted is that we’re living out of sync with our minds and bodies.
So the authors of this 30-day health plan promise to help you find the energy you need to succeed and to optimise your health.
They use core principles from chronobiology, the study of how time affects our biology.
So their quizzes help you to identify your own chronotype (are you an early rising lion, an in-between bear, a late-night wolf or an insomniac dolphin?) and body type (fast, medium or slow metabolism).
They then guide you to tailored advice on the best times to wake, to go to bed, and to eat, and share exercise programmes to boost your energy levels.
DISCONNECTED: HOW TO STAY HUMAN IN AN ONLINE WORLD ENERGIZE! GO FROM SHATTERED TO SMASHING IT IN 30 DAYS
by Emma Gannon (Hodder & Stoughton, £9.99) In this short and pithy manifesto, author, speaker, novelist and podcast host Emma Gannon shares her belief that our online experience is increasingly losing its humanity and explores what we can do about it.
It’s not a book about digital detoxing because, says Emma, we can’t simply log off now that our online lives are such an integral part of how we work, rest and play.
Instead, she provides practical prompts to help us inject the humanity back into our daily lives, from sending hand-written notes to friends you haven’t spoken to in ages to planning offline time in your diary.
SEEKING WISDOM: A SPIRITUAL PATH TO CREATIVE CONNECTION
by Julia Cameron (Souvenir, £16.99) Julia Cameron’s worldwide bestseller The Artist’s Way, first published 30 years ago, is credited with bringing the importance of creativity into mainstream conversation, helped along by such superfans as Reese Witherspoon, Alicia Keys and Russell Brand.
Incorporating a new six-week Artist’s Way programme, this new self-help book uses her history of alcoholism as a springboard to show how we can channel creativity to overcome obstacles life throws in our way and grow into more spiritual people.
Full of meditations and creative exercises such as solo walking and morning journalling, and imbued with the author’s characteristic positivity, it’s a deeply personal guide to transforming pain into healing and growth.
THE POWER OF FUN: WHY FUN IS THE KEY TO A HAPPY AND HEALTHY LIFE
by Catherine Price (Bantam Press, £14.99) “When did you last feel exhilarated and lighthearted? When was the last time you felt fully alive? When did you last have fun?”
The author of How To Break Up With Your Phone returns with a guide to making fun an essential part of a balanced, purposeful and healthy life.
And she doesn’t mean bingeing on Netflix.
Instead, the woman dubbed “the Marie Kondo of brains” has a practical plan to help us find our own personal fun “magnets”, whether riding a bike on a sunny day or making your kids laugh.
There is science here too, proving that fun helps us flourish.
EMPOWERED: LIVE YOUR LIFE WITH PASSION AND PURPOSE by Vee Kativhu (Square Peg, £14.99)
Twenty-something Vee Kativhu has overcome plenty of adversity in her life, from the early death of her father and leaving her home country of Zimbabwe for the UK, to working long hours to support herself and her mother.
Now, through her growing online community, Empowered By Vee, she uses her experiences to help others recognise their talents, whatever the obstacles they face.
Her first book provides plenty of inspiration for setting life and career goals, ranging from staying motivated in the face of rejection and cultivating self-love to “making the best lemonade the world has ever tasted when life throws rotten lemons at you”.
EAT MORE, LIVE WELL by Dr Megan Rossi (Penguin Life, £16.99)
“There’s one simple way to look after your gut health and reap the cascade of other benefits that it triggers: eat more plants.”
The dietician author of Eat Yourself Healthy is back with 80 plant-packed recipes, paired with expert advice on how to make a diverse selection of vegetables, nuts, seeds and herbs the basis of your diet (but not necessarily the whole of it), boosting your gut microbiome and overall health.
She also busts “superfood” myths and offers tips for those with food intolerances.
INTELLIGENT FITNESS: THE SMART WAY TO REBOOT YOUR BODY AND GET IN SHAPE
by Sam Waterson (Michael O’Mara, £18.99) If you admire Daniel Craig for more than his acting skills then try this fitness manual and wellbeing guide by the fitness trainer who transformed Craig’s physique for the James Bond films.
Waterson has an intelligent focus on energy, sleep and confidence, urging you to focus on training, recovery and nutrition rather than what you see in the mirror.