The Mental Health Relief Journal: Creative Prompts and Practices to Reduce Stress and Promote Wellness

A Book Thich Nhat Hanh Would Recommend
Today, the field of somatic therapies is growing by leaps and bounds, mainly due to the urgent need of synchronizing together the benefits of cognitive and movement therapies. Chelsea Horton takes us on a practical journey of self-discovery into the unobserved recesses of our emotional and physical being. Modern depth-psychology knows that the human body, like the mind, is a storehouse of repressed emotions, memories and feelings. Journalizing, along with movement therapy, like Chelsea prescribes, creates a vibrant recipe of holistic application. The aid which Chelsea offers in her prompts helps the process of locating oneself on this path of self-discovery. She is astute and creative in her approach to reconnecting the body/mind organism which has been severed by traditional dualistic thinking and belief systems. She rightly posits her theory of recovery by saying “You can’t judge yourself into growth and well-being” – how true. In many cases, we are the worse judges of ourselves. By incorporating a “healthy” outside voice or aid assists in taking the burden off of ourselves so we can simply relax and trust the process and allow wholeness to enter our lives. Beautifully illustrated, this interactive journal, I believe, is an innovative way of incorporating body and mind facilitation in a viable combination that will skillfully assist any participant in finding love and acceptance of oneself and others. There is certainly no panacea for the human condition, no quick fix therapy for that matter; but by stepping forward and engaging a transformative practice or disciple, like Chelsea offers, will help to reclaim the lost parts of oneself and nurture reintegration and wholeness. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Every step makes a flower bloom under our feet.” That’s where recovery begins, by taking a step. I recommend taking a step with this book.

Probably a good first step.
At first, my takeaway from this was “It seems basic, and kind of hokey” but when I thought more about how broad an audience would be reading it, I changed my perspective a bit.If you’re someone who maybe hasn’t had much exposure to mindfulness, self-affirmations, and such, I think this could be a good eye-opener. Not a “this will fix me right up” kind of book, but something to give you some breadcrumbs to start down a path of thinking about yourself and your surroundings.Where I think this could have some tremendous benefit is for someone who might be on the fence about seeing a therapist, joining a group, or participating in more of a dialogue-based routine. I think this helps you map out where you might want to focus, and could give both you and someone in a professional setting a much better jumping off point than showing up one day and hoping for the best. (Though by all means if you’re already on the verge of seeking help, don’t wait for the book to show up. Just go.)