Making Happy Work by Mick Timpson landed on my doorstep at probably the most appropriate time. This year has started very differently to most. I hadn’t set goals, I hadn’t done a review of last year and to be honest, I have been totally overwhelmed by my “to do list”.
Towards the end of January, I decided that February would be my January this year and I would set goals and review my year then.
I didn’t.
When “Making Happy Work” arrived, I initially thought “oh no, one more thing for the to do list” but at the end of half term, it was my birthday and as one of my presents, my husband gave me a day in bed (with children barred from distrubing me) to do anything, except work. A day of reading in bed was exactly what I needed.
Navigating the modern world with meditation
I started my day with this book. When I saw the strap line for the book, I knew it was exactly what I needed to read just now.
I started to recall how the most successful and productive times of the past few years have been when I practised meditation. Somewhere along the line though I had stopped and I don’t know why.
The book explains the thinking and how to apply it behind “beanddo”. Beanddo help develop modern meditation practices for the busy, active person.
How many times have you thought “I like the idea of meditation but I don’t have time”? If you have, then this book is definitely one for you.
beanddo (be-and-do) a verb
being and doing – a purposeful merging of the scient of effortless being, with the art of spontaneous doing, as a way to promote deeper awareness, wholeness, wellbeing, joy, intuition and creativity
The book is split into two sections. Section one looks at the art and science of meditation and section two looks at how to apply that.
I love how the book describes what meditation is and what it isn’t. There are so many myths around meditation. I can promise you I have never said “ooommmmm” with my finger and thumbs touching while sat in a cross legged position to meditate. Obviously, some people have because that works for them but meditation is not just something your “hippy friends” do, I promise you.
As I was reading, I came across the chapter about the benefits of meditation – positive thinking, less anxiety and stress, insight, creativity, happiness, etc – and this made me remember how much better I felt and worked when I have meditated regularly.
Continuing through the book, I started to read the advice in section two about actually meditating. I loved how he splits this into categories – meditation by noticing, by looking, by seeing, by thinking, by feeling, by knowing and more. These all build up to a simple easy-to-use practice that can be incorporated into daily activities. So often, meditation books are really prescriptive and insist that there is only one way to meditate.
I know that when I first started meditating, I was very tied into how I did it which actually meant there were times I felt too busy to fit it in. However, over time, I found myself meditating when I was sat at the beach or sat in the garden on a morning listening to the birds, or just taking five minutes away from my Mac to clear my mind by focussing on my breathing.
Living inside our own snow globe
One of the paragraphs that really hit home with me was a paragraph tallking about “Living inside our snow globe”. It describes how we are distracted by thoughts and how this can impact how we operate and feel. These thoughts are like snow flakes in a snow globe. They limit our view of what is really happening in the world. However, if we allow those flakes to settle, it allows us a clearer view of what is happening in our world.
Does your world feel like a snow globe?
Do you have too many tabs open in your head?
Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the thoughts in your head or all the items on your to do list?
I would highly recommend this book as an introduction to the practice of meditating. It is also great for those of us who know about meditation and have used it (or currently using it) as it provides so many good ideas and prompts. There are guided meditations within the book, for those who prefer that, with links on how to listen to these online.
Last week, after reading the book, I started to introduce meditation back into my daily routine. My to do list seemed to shrink, I felt less anxious and had more realistic expectations. Mainly, my creativity made an appearance and helped me to think differently about something I was trying to achieve, something I had been struggling with for a few months.
You can purchase the book at Amazon.
You can find out more about Mick Timpson and his mediation workshops at beanddo.co.uk
Disclaimer:
I was sent a free copy of this book to review. I have not been paid to write this review and have been honest with my thoughts on the book.
The link to the Amazon copy of the book is an affiliate link. This means I will receive a tiny amount of money should you purchase it using this link.
