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October 7th 2021
Mindfulness has become somewhat of a buzzword in the last few years. However, it's a method of managing stress and getting the most out of life that I've practiced for as long as I can remember. In essence, it's about disconnecting from all the noise, the things that may be worrying us, and focussing on finding calm and joy in what's right in front of us.
I came up with the idea for My Mindful A to Zen when my youngest son was a few weeks old and my eldest was having a lot of big feelings around certain events. I wanted to make a book of child centric ideas (the original title was My Little A to Zen) for finding happiness in life and learning to approach difficult situations with resilience.
A few months later I attended a children's mental wellbeing workshop at my son's school where the 5 Ways to Wellbeing were mentioned and they really resonated with me. I decided to focus each entry in the book around one or more of these 5 elements. They have been recognised by the NHS and mental health organisations in several countries and have been proven to boost mental health and increase positivity which was my exact aim for the book!
The 5 Ways to Wellbeing include actions we can all incorporate into our daily lives. Things like "connect", which I've shown in the book with entries like "hug" and "smile" which are about connecting with other people and more implicitly in "nature" which shows children connecting with their surroundings. There are lots of nature scenes in the book, I lived in the countryside for a few years and was taking daily walks in the woods during lockdown. However, I made a conscious decision to have an urban scene with a tower block behind, as I also grew up in a flat in the middle of London and wanted to make sure those children saw themselves in the book too.
I signed the contract with Lantana at the beginning of March 2020, so the majority of the book was made during lockdown, just as the pandemic was unfolding. The concept definitely took on a whole new relevance during this period. People were really starting to slow down, appreciate the importance of human connection, taking pleasure in small things and thinking even more about their physical and mental wellbeing. I hope this is something that continues and that families will find relevance and inspiration in the book for years to come.
My Mindful A to Zen is out now.
