The Joy Strategist - Book Review

Title: The Joy Strategist; Your Path to Inner Change

Author: Grace Harry

Publisher: ‎ Andscape Books

Publication Date: October 17, 2023
 
Length: 224 Pages

About the Author
Grace Harry is an artist, entrepreneur, creative muse, pleasure instigator, and speaker. After a 30-year career in entertainment, Grace, “The Joy Strategist,” found her calling leading what she calls “the Revolution of JOY.” Through her popular playdate community “Play with Grace,” she helps everyday people welcome joy back into their lives.

A Toolbox for Joy
This book is a mix of memoir, self-help exercises, and cultural commentary on joy.
The author shares tips, tools, and exercises to help you cultivate your joy, embrace a more fulfilling life, and overcome obstacles.

My Thoughts 
I love the title of this book. 
This book is upbeat and inspiring. Ms. Harry shares experiences from her own life and explains how she has changed her life for the better by implementing JOY into her mindset.

The book is designed to be interactive and practical. The author suggests deep breathing exercises, journaling, playfulness, creativity, and nurturing the soul. Self-love is a strong thread that runs throughout this book. The author reflects on her past failures and disappointments; multiple husbands, affairs, bankruptcy, and a lack of self-love and respect. She asks the question, "Were all these botched relationships just reflecting how I felt about myself?" 

The author shares advice on picking a partner. The first thing to do is make a detailed list of all the qualities you are looking for in the person. And then ... go through the list and become what you want to attract. Start with yourself and become the partner that you would like to find. Great advice!

This book was a JOY to read. It is worth reading and rereading.

MY RATING: 5 Stars Out Of 5

Thank you to NetGalley for an excellent reading experience.

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Breath Love - Live Love Laugh Breathe

About the Book

Title: Breath Love

Author: Lauren Chelec Cafritz

Publisher: Warren Publishing, Inc.

Publication Date: June 11, 2019

Length: 174 Pages

About the Author

Lauren Chelec Cafritz is an internationally known breathwork teacher, speaker and the author of Breath LOVE. She is trained and certified in Integrative Breathwork and Transformational Breath® and has studied many other breathing modalities. 

Just Breathe

Lauren Cafritz is a certified breathwork specialist.

What is breathwork?

"Breathwork is the experiential field of study and practice that uses various breathing techniques, individually and in groups, to promote self-awareness and enhancement of physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual wellbeing. Breathwork uses conscious connected breathing to release trauma, clear emotional blockages, and heal physical ailments."

Ms. Cafritz inspires readers with her own experiences with breathwork and explains how she has changed the lives of others by teaching breathing techniques.

My Thoughts

I chose this book because I have used deep breathing techniques to help me relax for many years. I play the piano for my Sunday School Class at church and often find myself feeling tense before I begin playing. I have found intentional deep breathing to be very helpful in taking away the stage-fright jitters. I also find deep breathing a great way to relax before going to bed at night. 

I enjoyed reading about how breathwork helped the author reconnect with her love of art that she enjoyed as a child. I could relate to this experience because I also enjoyed art as a child and have found pleasure in artistic endeavors in recent years.

The highlight of the book is the "Emergency Toolkit". The author advises her clients to use the following four techniques when they are feeling angry, upset or even having a panic attack;

• Connect your breath. Take 20 conscious, deep, diaphragmatic breaths.
• Drink water. Drinking eight glasses of water will help you function at your best, especially if you are under stress. 
• Move your body. Do 10 push-ups or sit-ups. Think about something that makes you angry and then start wiggling your whole body. The mind lets go of anger as soon as it is moving.
• Go outside in nature. Go outside, get into nature, feel the sky over your head...and be sure to keep breathing. Being in nature will change your perspective almost immediately.

This book gave me new ideas for using breathing techniques for relaxation, pleasure, healing, and wellbeing. Breathwork can be done in combination with yoga, meditation or therapy. I recommend this book to anyone who is curious about how breathing can improve the quality of life. 

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

FYI - I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

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How To Believe In Love Again

It will soon be Valentine's Day and love is in the air. Unfortunately, many people have given up on love and the hope of finding that special person to share their lives with. Laura Lee Carter, the Midlife Crisis Queen, has written a new book about believing in love again....after divorce and well into the midlife years.  How To Believe In Love Again; Opening To Forgiveness, Trust and Your Own Inner Wisdom is based on experiences from the author's professional and personal life.
In 2004, the author found her long-time career as a librarian coming to an end.  She was 49 years old and divorced with no children.  She had a graduate degree in counseling psychology, so she decided to start a professional matchmaking service.  She interviewed hundreds of midle-aged singles who came to her service looking for love.  The problem was, most of these people were putting all their focus on finding the perfect date instead of working on themselves and their attitudes toward love. 
Ms. Carter has written an inspiring book about how to clear your mind of the negativity that you have toward love and being loved.  She asks readers to take a "Love Quiz" in the first chapter to better understand why it is necessary to adjust our thoughts and attitudes toward finding a love partner.  She emphasizes that self-love is the first step towards believing in love again.  We must all find that self-loving place inside before we begin to bring others into our life.  Emotional and spiritual healing is needed before we can believe in love again.
The author gives many practical ways to go about healing. She tells about her own journey to find self-love and self-acceptance.  She expains that journaling, positive affirmations, reading books, watching movies with positive messages about love and listening to music are all ways to increase self-esteem.  The important thing is to spend time alone and really get to know yourself.  The author asked, "Are you the kind of person that you would want to be married to?"
Ms. Carter provides another quiz at the end of the book, "Have Your Beliefs About Love Changed?"  Yes, I think my thoughts about love have changed since reading this book. 
This book is not just for middle-aged singles who have given up on love.  I married my soul mate almost 20 years ago but still found a wealth of useful information in this book.  Yes, even married people have a need to believe in love again. 
There is an awesome list of books in the Bibliography of this book.  I would love to read every book on the list.  The author has made a YouTube video to promote this book. The book is available from Amazon.Com in both paperback and Kindle edition.
I would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!  It is never too late to believe in love.

Disclosure:  The author provided me with a free digital copy of this book to read and review.