Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Practices for Embodied Living: Experiencing the Wisdom of Your Body by Hillary L. McBride, PhD is an illustrated hands-on book on learning to live better with your body and to understand how your body can guide your thinking.  I was drawn to this book as someone who has been listening to The Body Keeps Score (on audiobook) by Bessel Van der Koelk. I think they pair well together. However, McBride also has a more in-depth book that she published previously entitled, The Wisdom of Your Body. It is on my list to get and I understand that this book pairs well with her first book. Practices for Embodied Living , from my perspective, is along the lines of a workbook or guided journal. It isn't just a book to read. It is a book to use to reflect on your life and experiences so that you can grow and learn how to better understand your body. I read through this book but I have not yet taken time to do all of the exercises in it. I think that is something that you can't rush through...

  Do you struggle with big feelings? Feelings you aren't sure what to do with? I Cry In Corners by Chari Orozco might be just the book that you need to help you manage those emotions. I Cry In Corners will turn the reader towards Jesus. Each chapter focues on an emotion with a look towards Jesus to handle that emotion. Orozco deals with overwhelm, loneliness, fear, insecurity, anxiety, disappointment and more. Throughout the book, she shares stories from her own life that relate to each emotion. Some of her stories deal with big hard things like being unable to get pregnant while others deal with smaller issues. We all have big and small issues of our own that bring out our emotions. She also shares from the Bible and how she believe Jesus deals with those emotions. The author is down-to-earth and the writing is easy to understand and relate to. For those who want help in dealing with emotions, or someone who they can relate to, they may want to read I Cry in Corners . I received...

  The Rooted Life by Justin Rhodes is a gorgeous book that could be truly inspiring for those who want to grow their own food and live a more sustainable lifestyle that is connected to the land. The Rooted Life is full of color photos that show beautiful pictures of gardens, chickens, egs, harvesting produce and time spent together as a family enjoying the land. I wasn't familiar with this author before this book but he teaches people to grow their own food through a YouTube channel and his own streaming platform called Abundance. Some of this information may be from those platforms but it is all new to me through this book. If you are new to gardening and raising chickens, there is a lot of step-by-step instructions along with the pictures in this book. There is also a chapter with recipes using garden produce, chicken and/or eggs in them. Everything is up-to-date and helpful for life in our world today. There is also an appendix in the back that shows how much space to leave in ...