by Sandra Thebaud
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Self Help
78 pages
Published 2011
Ellie's Review
I am someone who is constantly stressed out.
Though I purposefully keep a very busy life, I hate the anguish and sore
shoulders caused by stress. I have read another stress management book
that was good to learn about techniques such as deep breathing and
visualization. I felt better while I read it but was soon caught up in my
life, forgetting about using my diaphragm to inhale.
The Art of Loving Life crossed
my path, and I decided to give stress management a try again to see how it
could improve my sore muscles and help me enjoy life a bit more.
While this book did discuss several stress
management techniques, it started out by teaching us that to better manage the
stress in our lives, we first have to understand what stress is, what causes
our personal stress, and how we react to stress. I had a notepad I used
to write down my own definitions of ideas and different types stress in my
personal life, as I was instructed. Then Thebaud helped me understand
things differently than before.
One example is while I focus on the major
stressors in my life, my energy is used up in small stressors that I ignore and
fail to manage/decrease. She told of being frustrated at all the laundry
she did every day when potty training her son; it was a small thing, but when
she purchased more pairs of pants and underwear, her stress level greatly
decreased. I had similar little things in my life I was ignoring even though
they caused me anguish.
Thebaud realizes that most of us do not have
extra hours we can daily dedicate to meditation, etc. She has reasonable
suggestions such as practicing deep breathing every time we are stopped at a
red light - I can do that!
I was not a fan of the writing style, but I have
noticed a big difference in how relaxed I am and how much I'm enjoying my daily
life. The message is realistic enough for me that I'll keep this book on
hand as a reference.
Book Summary
Life can be difficult and unpredictable. Sometimes you feel like no one understands what you're going through. You want a life that you love, but stress can make that seem impossible.
Unlike other stress management books that talk about techniques out of the context of real life, this book approaches life from an emotional standpoint and uses proven techniques to show you how to improve your life, not just deal with stress. Tried and true techniques have been tweaked to make them easy to practice and more effective.
by Truman Capote
