An Alternative Guide to Health & Well-being
The second in the new ‘Practically Pagan’ series from Moon Books, Health & Wellbeing is a gentle guide to maintaining both physical and mental health in a holistic and nurturing way. The author starts the introduction with “You are precious…” and goes on to show alternative ways of achieving a state of contentment and acceptance of ourselves as perfectly imperfect humans. Many of the life changing questions asked within the book have overreaching foundations in our societal attitudes towards our bodies and how we are expected to manage our own mental health within that society. Times in the last year or so have been challenging for many and this book is a perfect antidote to any self-doubt.
Many of the exercises are completely unique and offer a new perspective on how to manage any health issues we may have, from settling your mind to enable sleep or meditation to learning how to play! Most of the practices within the book are simple and easy to do, most of them are, when you think about them, common sense and you may well wonder why you hadn’t thought of it yourself. I particularly liked the chapter on eating because it doesn’t try to preach to you about what to eat and what is good or bad for you; but instead encourages you to eat in a more present and mindful way, (i.e., away from technology,) suggesting that we enjoy the pleasure of eating. Issues of weight and size are shown as controls placed upon us by others and Moon shows us ways in which we can regain our own self-worth by listening to ourselves and our bodies.
In conclusion, I found the book to be a refreshing change from the usual self-help style moralising books and one that may encourage the reader to reconsider their lifestyle in a positive way.
Book Details: Irisanya Moon. Practically Pagan – An Alternative Guide to Health & Well-being. Moon Books (27 Nov. 2020). ISBN: 978-1789043778
Review Details: An Alternative Guide to Health & Well-being was reviewed by Thea Prothero for Indie Shaman magazine and this review was published in Issue 49.
