I think it’s funny how, usually, books find me. They have a funny way of doing it – sort of like pets, who have a sixth sense that you need them vs. the other way around, and who make their way into your life at the right time to fill a gap you never even knew you had. You know how that happens?
That’s exactly what happened with the most recent book I was asked to review: Shelley Pernot’s Running On Empty.
Running On Empty: A Book Review
Running on empty? You’ll be happy to know, there’s a book for that.
Through her book Running On Empty: The Irreverent Guru’s Guide to Filling Up with Mindfulness, Pernot makes mindfulness an approachable goal for just about anyone. You’ve probably heard of the term “mindfulness”, or have maybe tried to practice it – and you’ve probably become frustrated as hell by it, too.
Mindfulness sounds great, but how is it even possible to incorporate into your every day life? How do you keep your cool when you have forty-two notifications and your phone is ringing and you have to fill thirteen plastic eggs for your kid’s Easter parade and your toddler spilled the milk and your deadlines are fast approaching?
Lately I’ve been feeling like someone held down the “fast-forward” button on life and then somehow got it stuck. Even the idea of mindfulness was making me feel stressed, like one more thing I need to add to my overflowing plate. But I was relieved to see that Pernot’s book actually made me feel like I could do it without having to drop my entire life and hightail it to a meditation center in Bali.
One of the things that always makes me feel better is laughing, which made me love Pernot’s book even more. You will find yourself in her stories, you’ll relate to just about every thought she shares, and she’ll have you laughing through each of the approachable steps she’ll take with you to finally achieve some level of calm in your everyday life.
My Overall Thoughts
This book was like a breath of fresh air. It is meant to help anyone – and I mean anyone – better their life by incorporating mindfulness into the every day. I found the simple worksheets/questionnaires peppered throughout the book to be very helpful, because sometimes we have these thoughts but don’t find the time to put it on paper and really get clear – something that really helps me.
I am going to recommend this to my mother-in-law as well, because she is another super-busy person who wants to practice this but is unsure of where to start. Nothing “woo-woo” in here – just an excellent layman’s guide to mindfulness.
You can grab your copy of Pernot’s book here: Running On Empty: The Irreverent Guru’s Guide to Filling Up with Mindfulness
