Nature Tonic: A Year in My Mindful Life

Nature Tonic: A Year in My Mindful Life is a year long journaling guide with 365 mindfulness prompts which actively encourage the reader to slow down and find balance and relax in nature. Due out 10th Sept 2019 from Quarto on their Leaping Hare Press imprint, it's 240 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a beautifully calming and charmingly presented guide to re-learning awareness of our natural rhythms and re-learning to live more in sync with our natural environment. There are multiple activities to prompt examination and reflection. The days whose exercises I followed diligently and wrote down my reactions and feelings were really good days. The self reflection exercises the author has included gently allow the reader to slow down and experience their existence instead of just rushing exhaustedly from one activity to the next at maximum speed every waking moment.  The illustrations, by Clare Owen, are restful and lovely and really enhance the whole message of the book.

Though the book is dealt into 12 chapters with different themes which encompass 365 guided prompts, it's not specifically written serially with seasonal activities. The individual activities could be experienced in any order. Whether the reader follows the prompts in order or not, there are real, proven benefits to slowing down and spending more time interacting with nature. I have no doubt that following the prompts regularly over the course of a year would give measurable positive results.

Beautifully illustrated and calmly and appealingly written, it would make a superlative gift for a journaling (or would be journaling) friend or family member, or oneself. Many meditation guides in my experience are quite full of metaphysical 'woo'. This one is refreshingly practical and 'woo-woo' free.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.