‘NEW YEAR, NEW YOU’ BOOKS
If you’re looking for some inspiring self-help reads to kickstart the new year, here are some of the books that I’ve been enjoying over the last couple of months. These books all approach life with a holistic view whilst coming at it from different angles. They all have a taste of the new world order of empowering your journey rather than powering your way through at a cost to the planet and those around you.
From Winning not Fighting by my friends John Vincent of restaurant chain LEON and Wing Tsun (also spelled Wing Chun) master Julian Hitch, through to an easy read that sounds terrifyingly close to me in my 20s with Lauren Bravo’s How To Break Up With Fast Fashion. P.S. I’ll be interviewing Lauren this January as part of her book launch, so watch this space.
Winning Not Fighting: Why you need to rethink success and how you achieve it with the Ancient Art of Wing Tsun by John Vincent and Sifu Julian Hitch
Why do we constantly use the language of war to talk about our successes? Co-authors Vincent and Hitch shift the focus to a more simple and positive way of approaching our personal and professional growth, drawing on the ancient philosophy of Wing Tsun, a Chinese martial art based on the idea that fighting is harmful and is the actual opposite of winning; conflict drains time, energy and resources. Wing Tsun is only martial art in the world created by women (that we know of!) with notable practitioners include Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee and Robert Downey Jr. — it’s a poignant time for to reclaim the natural balance of female power in the world.
Yang Sheng: The art of Chinese self-healing by Katie Brindle
As we move into 2020, every one of us has heard about self-care, but do you know much about its origins? In this beautiful reference book that takes the broad topic of Chinese medicine and makes it accessible to everyone, Brindle explores another ancient Chinese philosophy, Yang Sheng, which means “to nourish life fostering your own health and wellbeing by nurturing body, mind and spirit.” A wonderfully complementary philosophy to Ayurveda.
Spirit Hacking: Shamanic keys to reclaim your personal power, transform yourself and light up the world by Shaman Durek
In this book, Shaman Durek taps into his six generation-deep shamanic knowledge to help us navigate this difficult era and find our personal power. This is an eye-opening book that will make you think about how you can live a more authentic life in tune with your mind, body and spirit, as an antidote to some of the Western conventions we often take for granted but that do not serve us. Read more about the book here.
Your Dream Life Starts Here: Essential and simple steps to creating the life of your dreams by Kristina Karlsson
The founder of lifestyle and design brand kikki.K, Karlsson gives us the tools to create our dream life by doing exactly that: giving ourselves the space to dream. Like meditation, dreaming is time taken for ourselves outside of the daily grind. It allows us to imagine a life without limits, all the things we would do and create and prioritise if we were not so encumbered by doubt and fear and expectation.
How To Break Up With Fast Fashion: A guilt-free guide to changing the way you shop - for good by Lauren Bravo
Popular journalist Lauren Bravo is bringing slow fashion back into the mainstream with this game-changing guide. She gives us realistic, actionable advice for switching to a more sustainable approach to how we dress and how we shop, for mending and reusing and recycling, peppered with funny and relatable anecdotes to make the journey even more enjoyable.