Book Review: "...and then you're dead" by Jim Rai

Back in February an email popped into my inbox publicising a new book, “…and then you’re dead”. This was the description.

“   If there is one certainty in life, it is that one day we will all reach the end of our journey. But before we get there, it’s worth taking time to reflect on and question the journey so far. Has it been pretty good, just ok or regrettably woeful? Before it’s too late, take time to stop, reassess and choose the path to lead the life you want to live.

 …and then you’re dead! is a profound, charming yet practical ‘personal friend’, which encourages you to achieve everything you have been meaning to do in life, but never quite found the time or courage to do so. Written by Jim Rai, a former prominent lawyer, the book is a life companion which is unique, inspirational and captivating. Rai’s thought-provoking words challenge the reader to contemplate the life they are leading and to change whatever they are unhappy about.

…and then you’re dead! delivers a fresh new perspective on life. The book comes with a complementary writing journal entitled …and then you’re alive!, which acts as a blank canvas for the reader to record their personal thoughts and feelings, as they create their personal journey ahead.”

These few paragraphs intrigued me. I was curious to know how a lawyer might feel compelled to write a lifestyle enhancing book. It didn’t seem to fit the profiles of lawyers I knew during my eight years working in two large multi-faceted law firms.

I purposefully didn’t look at Rai’s biography before reading the book. I was intrigued by the layout; striking, single black pages with individual sentence or thought which introduced the chapters of black text on a white background.

Each chapter was short, between one to three pages; easy to dip into with simple ideas, illustrational stories complete with suggestions for follow up. Some of the stories I’d heard before but some were new and you can never have too many stories. Some were ancient but some were taken from Rai’s own life to illustrate the point he was trying to make.

Some of the suggestions about diet, exercise and seeking medical advice surprised me. Most non-medical authors don’t presume to offer specific advice, however positive, unless they are followed by numerous disclaimers.

This willingness to make lifestyle suggestions made more sense when I finally read Rai’s biography and discovered he had left the legal profession to become a lifestyle coach. His new calling seemed much more in keeping with his sensible, solution focused approach to life and living well.

I enjoyed, “…and then you’re dead!” very much. It contains lots of common sense advice and suggestions which I’m sure will be of great help to those who are unfamiliar with a solution focused approach and who are working to make simple, positive changes in both their life and their relationships with others. The book is a helpful companion to anyone who wants to make the most of what they have before time runs out.

 
The complementary notebook which arrives with the book is a lovely idea. It is a gentle push to anyone reading to start making changes and produce a record to show how their life is moving forwards in a positive direction. 

…and then you’re dead! is published by Compass Publishing and is available for £18.94 (hardback), £12.94 (Softback) and £2.99 (Kindle).

There is a multitude of self–help books available today. Jim Rai has made a very genuinely helpful addition to the literature with “…and then you’re dead!” and I wish him well with his future endeavours.

Practical Herbs 2 by Henriette Kress: A Review

When I heard the Finnish Herbalist,  Henriette Kress, was bringing out her second Practical Herbs book at the end of last year, I was excited. I’ve been a member of her medicinal herb email group for most of my herbal life. It’s been a major contributor to my herbal education and I know that any information Henriette contributes will be sound, sensible and based on personal experience peppered with a healthy dose of common sense. I knew I wanted a copy of the new book but was hesitant to buy it as my current income is virtually non-existent. I was therefore delighted to be offered a review copy by Henriette herself.

Practical Herbs 2 has not disappointed. The book is an easy size to take around and dip into. The information is laid out in a clear and simple format and the pictures are stunning, making it easy to identify plants and flowers in their natural habitat.

In Practical Herbs 2, Henriette has continued to include sections on how to make herbal products – oils and salves, honeys, salts, compresses and poultices plus a green powder which I had come across on an Oregonion blog but hadn’t seen elsewhere in the herbal community, She has also provided easy herbal treatments not only in the main Problems section but also in a series of “Quick Help for small problems” alongside the materia medica for individual plants. 

It made me smile when she described heartburn and baldness as “small problems” since both can have devastating effects on individuals but by showing how such ailments can be treated simply with herbs a profound change to quality of life can be effected.

Practical Herbs 2 also includes a short introduction to herbal energetics, a subject which becomes increasingly important the more you work with plants. It’s good to see a European herbalist follow in Christopher Hedley’s footsteps and add to the work done by the notable American contingent of community herbalists. I was also grateful for her approach to tackling an under-active digestion last Saturday when I ran a workshop on bitters as it made an “unknown-to-many” concept simple to explain.

I was very pleased to see common vegetables included amongst the plants and trees in the materia medica in this book. Whilst I am familiar with the properties of cabbages and onions, I learned new uses for potatoes and celeriac. Did you know celeriac can be used interchangeably with celery? This pleased me a great deal. 

Although I use celery in virtually all my savoury cooking, I loathe the taste of the medicinal seed. I learned that celeriac can increase pelvic blood flow and thus can be considered an aphrodisiac. I love Henriette’s wry sense of humour, apparent when she writes, “It helps if both partners know celeriac works.”

The Problems section deals mainly with issues concerning female health and fertility, highlighting the need for treating with vitamins and minerals as well as herbs. It would be good to see Henriette’s next book target men’s health which has a dearth of easily accessible literature.

I recommend Practical Herbs I to all my apprentices and mentees. Henriette’s second book will be a welcome addition to any herbal library, especially to newcomers to herbal lore. A sample of the book can be downloaded as a .pdf here  The entire book can be purchased from Henriette's Herbal for £20 which includes postage and packing.

Book Review: 365 Ways to get you writing by Jane Cooper

Several months ago an email popped into my inbox advertising “365 ways to get you writing: daily inspiration and advice for Creative Writers”by Jane Cooper.  Although I write many different things, I’m always interested in new ways to learn so I asked for a review copy and it quickly arrived. Unfortunately the last few months have been somewhat busy, so I haven’t been able to get around to posting the promised review until today.

Jane Cooper is not an author I’m familiar with. She lives in Edinburgh where she teaches English and Creative Writing. She has written six school text books as well as poetry and short stories. I wish I lived a little closer to her because I suspect she is an inspiring and supportive teacher.

I love her book. It is split into over one hundred chapters ranging from “Googlewhack” to “Taboo” and other more familiar topics such as “Show, don’t tell” and “Changing tense”. Each chapter is split between information and practical tasks, giving the reader simple yet efficient ways of improving and inspiring their writing.

Cooper is a very subtle teacher. Within the chapters are suggestions about other books or TV shows the reader can investigate and if they follow her lead, they will find they have devoured a comprehensive diet of literature from both past and present which cannot help but influence their own writing in a positive way.

I was very impressed by the subjects included in the suggestions. As well as the usual five senses, Cooper shows how personal experience can be accessed to provide inspiration and depth when writing. She also includes areas you might not have considered before such as song lyrics, writing spells and first times.

She also includes standard creative writing techniques in her chapters – using different perspectives, increasing tension and conflict, using hypothetical subjects and writing dialogue between family members or other scenarios. The whole book contains a wealth of experience and expertise the reader can dip into at any time and, if the exercises are completed, personal skills cannot help but be improved.

Not everyone can attend creative writing classes or courses. Not everyone has a supportive writers group they can join.  I count 365 Ways to get you writing by Jane Cooper as a useful tool for every writer, no matter their level of competence. Published by How to Books at £10.99 (or £6.37 from Amazon), it is a worthwhile investment.

Book Review: Practical herbs by Henriette Kress

After twenty years of reading herb books, it takes a lot to make me excited when something new is published. Henriette Kress’ first book written in English (she has published others in Finnish and Swedish) makes me want to sing, shout and dance with glee. The title, Practical Herbs, says it all. It exudes common sense and you know the author is speaking from long years of personal experience with every sentence she writes.

Henriette is unique. As a child she moved from Germany to the Swedish-speaking part of Finland and is fluent in four languages. Originally graduating from Helsinki University in Economics in 1991 and working as a finance manager for a multinational corporation, she gave it all up to study with the late Michael Moore at the South Western School of Botanical Medicine, graduating in 1998. She is now a member of the American Herbalist Guild.

After completing her studies, she returned to Helsinki to become a practicing herbalist, teacher and author as well as setting up the most comprehensive herbal website which is used and valued across the world. She also runs a medicinal herb email discussion list which I joined 1996 and has provided me with the majority of my herbal education. In 2009, she was the keynote speaker at the National Institute of Herbal Medicine AGM in Preston where delegates could not get over how young she was to have so much knowledge!

The book begins by taking the reader through the basics of herbalism – how to choose, pick and dry your herbs, then how to make and use herbal teas, oils, salves, tinctures, vinegars and syrups. Henriette also includes a list of why your process hasn’t worked or produced something you weren’t expecting and how to put it right if possible. I have never seen this kind of information in any other book and shows she does not include anything she has not done herself.

Henriette has written about the herbs she grows in her garden or which grow locally to her Helsinki home. The book is illustrated throughout with beautifully clear photographs so you can easily recognise the plant or follow the instructions for a process.

Twenty three plants are discussed in detail in Practical Herbs ranging from the well-known calendula and St John’s wort to completely new to me plants such as Beggarticks (Bidens radiate) and Maral root(Leuzea carthamoides). She also describes the plant families and their actions - carrots (carminatives), mallows (mucilaginous), mints (anti-inflammatory) and roses (astringent)- and how they can be interchanged one with another depending on what you have available to you at the time.

Every herb is described by name, family, when to harvest, its habitat and appearance and its important constituents. She explains how to pick and process, including such gems as “If you go looking for this species, take a lot of patience with you.” Each plant’s effects and uses are discussed together with recipes and how to include the herb in your food.

The book is peppered with pages headed “Quick Help for small troubles”. These include painful menses, advice for the flu season, digestive upset, earache, itching, bleeding, toothache and sciatica – all subjects which arise and can be addressed in a home situation. Henriette doesn’t expect her readers to suddenly become experienced professionals. There are wise words of caution such as not to take too much dandelion if you have low blood pressure and to be sure to consult a doctor if you have bronchitis.

What really excited me the most was Henriette’s discussion about Echinacea. I knew you could not use the small root system until the plant was three years old, but I have been loath to sacrifice my plants so have been using the entire aerial parts in my syrups and tinctures, thinking I was producing a much less effective medicine. My joy at discovering that Henriette also uses the flower and, most importantly, considers the seedpods to be as effective as the roots was unbounded!

I began this review by describing Henriette Kress as unique. She has an uncanny ability to provide the struggling “amateur” with confidence. She believes in personal experience and knowledge over book-learning and “scientifically proven” research findings. She has said that “herbs don’t read books” but if they could, they would be proud of what their champion has written.

Practical Herbs by Henriette Kress was published on November 18, 2011 as a pdf file or paperback. Currently it is only available from her website for $5.50 or $32 plus p&p. Discussions with Amazon are continuing.

Transcendence : A Review

Several months ago, a random email appeared from a Californian publishing house. Would I like to read a copy of Transcendence by Norman E Rosenthal, M.D. If I were agreeable they would send two copies and maybe I could review the book for them.

Normally, I ignore random emails but this one intrigued me. I know the universe sends me books occasionally. The first was a book on bereavement from an online bookseller when I’d ordered one about dandelions. I offered to return it but they asked me to keep it in compensation for dispatching the wrong order. The second was a pink book of poetry left behind by a fellow passenger on a train. Transcendence is the third.

Norman Rosenthal is a South African by birth, but now holds the position of professor of clinical psychiatry at Georgetown Medical Centre with a private practice in Washington DC. His previous research has been in Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD).

It seems strange that Dr Rosenthal’s life and my own have run parallel in several ways. When he was a young undergraduate in Cape Town in the early 1970s, he was invited to an introductory talk on Transcendental Meditation. He was interested but did not take the offer of paying a fee and learning more.

Halfway across the world, about twelve months later, I was sitting in a room at the Christian Union of Birmingham University listening to the same introductory talk, probably with a similar level of interest, but I did not feel able to take the next step, pay my dues and be given my mantra.

Both of us took a similar path towards mental health, Dr Rosenthal from the professional viewpoint whereas I was educated by service users spending sixteen years with my local MIND group, five years chairing the West Midlands Regional Council of MIND and five years as a Mental Health Act Lay Manager with a stint as Lay Chair of the Regional Appointments Committee for junior psychiatric doctors before they got fed up with my radical views and found someone more acceptable!

Where Dr Rosenthal has spent his professional life treating people who suffer from mental distress, I spent fourteen years monitoring our local mental health services from the viewpoint of the consumer. I watched the change from the old system to the introduction of a home treatment service and a radicle new approach using mainly psychology to help young people recover from early onset psychosis. Never let it be said deprived inner city Birmingham cannot herald ground-breaking national innovations! I even lectured about them to a Grand Round at Oregon State University Hospital in Portland when I was doing a study tour of diversion from custody in 1995.

Now, I offer support to those who suffer mental distress through my herbs and healing and I teach sessions on how the NHS mental health services work to carers and other support workers.

Dr Rosenthal did return to Transcendental Meditation (TM) and now faithfully meditates twice a day. His book is divided into four sections – Transcendence, Healing, Transformation and Harmony. Within each section he describes the introduction of TM into the West through the visits of the Beatles to Marashi Yogi in the 1960s, provides scientific research to show how TM affects the brain and then gives comprehensive examples of the positive effects of TM with groups and individuals everywhere from schools, to prisons and well known media stars.

It is a fascinating book. I was amazed how the simple act of reading brought on a state of calm which I really appreciated. It is not a book which makes you want to read from cover to cover in one go, but it is perfect for dipping in to whenever you have a spare moment.

Dr Rosenthal has an easy, lyrical style, explaining his points in a simple, digestible format. Points are well illustrated with case studies; each story making the learning more memorable. I was slightly disappointed that most of the case studies related to men rather than women, but I presume this was to emphasise that even hardened male criminals or schoolboy yobs growing up in the most disadvantaged and violent neighbourhoods can become relaxed, reformed, constructive members of society, fully able to take control of their own lives and futures.

I particularly found the research carried out in prisons and schools to be exciting and ripe with possibilities. The outcomes seemed so positive, I truly hope this book serves to publicise the potential of providing TM to the most disadvantaged groups, giving them opportunities currently beyond their grasp.

Personally, I felt the stories involving film producers and other media stars did not strengthen the book in any great way, although I can understand Dr Rosenthal wanting to show how TM can enhance creativity in those whose profession is mass entertainment. The inclusion of Russell Brand left a sour taste in my mouth after his distasteful escapades with Jonathan Ross on Radio 2, but I suspect Dr Rosenthal may not have been aware of his elder abuse on this side of the pond.

It is always a pleasure when a book brings me new information and ideas. Transcendence is such a book. The notes are constructive and highly informative as one would expect from an experienced professional with an acclaimed academic background, but this is not a book just for professionals. It should be welcomed by anyone who wants to know more about this practice.

I gave my second copy of the book to a friend who is a fellow writer. A painter and decorator by trade; he follows the Buddhist path and meditates daily. Like me, he was disappointed the book did not include a full disclosure of the TM technique, but Dr Rosenthal is faithful in keeping the secret of the “movement”. My friend was fascinated by the studies on brain activity and was looking forward to reading more about TM’s applications.

Tomorrow, I leave for Manchester and on Saturday I will fly into Dr Rosenthal’s home city, Washington D.C. In a perfect world, I would love to be able to offer Dr Rosenthal the experience of receiving healing and be able to discuss how this can also produce the state of transcendence he ascribes to TM. I have been very grateful for the opportunity to read his book and I wish him well as his words reach out across the world.

Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation by Norman E Rosenthal, M.D. is published by Penguin at $14.74 and £12.18 from Amazon.