This month marks my blog’s 4th birthday! When I began writing it I included a monthly book recommendation, something I’d been reading on the theme of creativity, personal development, that sort of thing. Somewhere along the line I stopped doing it, despite those posts beings some of the most popular, and despite people still asking me for recommendations when they are looking for places to be inspired or reassured in their practice. So I thought I’d return to including books in this space, since reading is possibly my favourite activity and I’ve loved books all my life, they are a constant companion even in the times when I don’t have the energy to open pages or turn on the ereader. Their presence comforts me, their contents a gentle lure back to myself. But this time I’m making things simpler. I won’t be ‘reviewing’ the books as I did in the past. I’ll mostly just share what I’m currently reading and my thoughts on it in this moment, what it’s offering me, what it’s prompting in me.
So, first up in the new/revived series ‘What I’m reading’ is Grounded by Ruth Allen.
This book is gorgeous. I’m reading it slowly so that I can savour the images and feelings that it brings up. In the last year my world has shrunk and my contact with nature consists mostly of my urban environment with the occasional trip to Kew Gardens. I miss traveling around the country and experiencing the landscape, I miss visiting family by the coast. It isn’t a painful loss, but it sometimes nags at me. This book is helping me to remember the importance of being grounded, of the calming effects or the reviving aspects of being in nature. I’m also enjoying spending time with Ruth, hearing her voice in the text – there is something reassuring knowing that she works as a therapist, the writing feels like we are together in a session, that she is sharing her knowledge lightly as an offering rather than as an instruction.
Grounded: How connection with nature can improve our mental and physical wellbeing by Ruth Allen
You can follow Ruth on Instagram @whitepeak_ruth