This is my first ever official book review, but when I saw the opportunity to review a book of this title I knew that it would speak to me at this time of my life and hopefully really help me too and so put myself forward, I’m so glad I did… the full title of this book is “Put Yourself First (A Busy Woman’s Guide to Thriving and NOT Surviving“.
Let me start by telling you a bit about the author…
Marianne Killick (MSc, BA (Hons), PGDipAC, WHC) is a Women’s Health Coach and Professional Acupuncturist. Marianne believes that every woman has the right to feel well, to feel empowered in her own body and mind. Marianne’s coaching integrates her knowledge of evidence-based medical research on lifestyle medicine, behaviour change and whole-person traditional Chinese Medicine approach to health.
Put Yourself First (A Busy Woman’s Guide to Thriving and NOT Surviving
For a relatively thin looking book, just shy of 150 pages in length, this book really does have such a wealth of information on women’s physical and mental health and how to improve it in all sorts of different ways. I read it bit at a time, but it most certainly is the kind of book which you would want to keep for reference after having read it so that you can keep going back and revisiting each part as you tackle it.
Here are the chapter titles just to give you a taste of what is inside:
- Giving yourself Permission to Be a Priority
- Overcoming Barriers to Putting Yourself First
- Importance of Understanding our Habits and Environment
- You Can’t Do It All By Yourself
- Your Wonderful Hormones and How It All Links Together
- Sleep Yourself Healthy
- Nourish Yourself – What to put in and what to take out
- Project Self
She really does break each of these down into fine detail, with suggested further reading as she goes. She relates to the readers struggles throughout as she has been on her own self development journey. She clearly understands all the curveballs we are thrown as women and gives you tangible advice on how to tackle each one.
This has been a particularly interesting read for me during social distancing and whilst being furloughed as it is quite a unique opportunity to try and tackle some big stuff for myself on personal development.
As you will know, if you follow along with my blog, I have had somewhat of a roller-coaster ride with anxiety, low mood and insomnia since having kids, but I am a natural optimist and have always loved self development, since discovering “self help” as a teenager.
I have actually met one of my biggest goals for 2020 in this area in coming of of prescription medication for my insomnia since being furloughed.
I just love that there is always something else to try, it is never hopeless, even if sometimes it feels that way, as I have gone on my own journey I do believe that I am now better at putting things in perspective, even if this is sometimes after the event. For example a bad night sleep can fill me with dread at the prospect of ruined plans the next day, but I am becoming more accepting that sometimes that just happens, sometimes you can have a shitty day and just embrace that and try and nourish yourself and be kind to yourself and just get through it, knowing that the next day/ the next night too, is a chance to start over.
What I am understanding more and more is that a lot of books and references and podcasts have the same messaging, the same themes; routine, gratitude, healthy eating, sleep, moving your body and mindfulness all can go a long way to tackle an awful lot of issues.
And the good thing about going through challenging seasons in life is that is an opportunity to learn ways to tackle them head on, so that your toolkit gets bigger and better for the next challenge you might be faced with. It also allows you to empathise other people as they also go through struggles, I genuinely believe this to be one of the greatest gifts of being human, to support and lift each other up during challenging times.
It is really interesting how nature links in with the body and having this slow down has just made me more mindful of what my triggers are and how to tackle them and the best way to handle them going forward.
The chapter on hormones was a particularly interesting on in the book, as it really gave a good overview of all the different things which hormones are responsible for and how we can work with them rather than against them.
I like how she finished the book with a chapter entitled Project Self and actively encourages you to tackle just one challenge which you are facing at a time and once you have mastered that one then go on to the next one.
Remember how far you have come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be.
Carmel Farnan – British Mindfulness Academy
Remember behaviour and lifestyle change is a process. It takes time. Neither is it usual a straight path. But keep at it. You deserve to feel amazing.
Marianne Killick – “Put Yourself First (A Busy Woman’s Guide to Thriving and NOT Surviving“
You can find Marianne Killick on:
Go on Pin it!
I am open to doing product review posts, please contact me at product.testing@jamjargill.com if you are interested in sending me a product free-of-charge to test and I will get back to you as soon as I can. My intension going forward is to focus in on testing items which have a green agenda in some way shape or form and/or are beneficial to natural wellbeing. I look forward to hearing from you.