Parenting is not an easy and problem-free matter, but the most beautiful thing in the world – I say this as a mom who is extremely active and wonderful just over two years old. And although such things didn’t bother me before, ever since this little man appeared in the world, it has become my dream to make this parenthood conscious, based on respect for the needs and abilities of the child, but also my own. Of course, this is an ideal scenario, and it is not always possible to implement it – after all, the common everyday life is full of unexpected turns of events and situations in which we do not know how to behave, where after a while we find out that we could have reacted in a different way. However, emotions do their job, so conscious and full parenthood is not something that is acquired once and for all, it is a continuous process of self-improvement and coexistence with others. And this is what this book is about, albeit a little indirectly.
The power of the breath
It is no secret that careful and deep breathing can become a strategy for stress management even in the most critical moments. The strategy of five deep breaths is based on this knowledge, and the author gives the readers precise instructions on how to use this simple method to… live more fully. It is something that, when practiced, will become part of our everyday life and will help us to become more attentive to ourselves and others.
Another proposal of Dr. Genevieve von Lob is the so-called mindfulness, which I understand as stopping for a moment and being attentive to what we feel in a given situation. I think that each of us knows this stubborn voice inside our heads, which most often takes on a critical tone, remembering what has already happened, or threatening what can – but does not have to – happen. I liked the sentence in which the author of this publication defines mindfulness as a tool that helps us to stop inventing these non-existent scenarios. Such an approach to the subject definitely can make me curious and make me want to learn more, because for me – I honestly admit – it was a completely new concept.
Mindfulness, awareness, wishful thinking
But this is only the beginning, because in fact, many other – equally important – topics have been raised here. Although I don’t really know if I’ve used the right words, because here everything is connected to each other, creating a coherent and very desirable whole in many people’s lives, which can simply make this life better and more conscious. In any case, we will find here a handful of information and attention, and about the role of kindness in a person’s life – importantly, also in relation to oneself, and about coping with difficult emotional crises.
What was very important to me was that we do not operate with theory alone, but we also have examples of specific situations. This makes everything that the author proposes to his readers much more credible. A big advantage is also the layout of the content itself – we don’t only deal with a continuous text, but also with various bullet points, frames and summaries at the end of each chapter, thanks to which we can easily return to specific – needed at the moment – content. This definitely improves the readability and clarity of the text, which does not tire the eye.
This is not one of those books that you read with bated breath from the first to the last page. This publication is exactly as the cover suggests – delicate, subtle, it flows through it slowly, often looking inside itself and discovering things we often had no idea about.
I’m not hiding that I’ve read this book for quite a long time, but in this case it would be hard to count it as a flaw, because it just makes you think and stop for a moment, to be careful. And I guess that’s what it was all about, not a quick reading, which will fly out of your head just as quickly, making room for another one. And that’s what the author did very well.