Smart Thinking Books

Interview with Michael Wood, author of Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response

Interview with Michael Wood, author of Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response


Michael Wood, author of Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response recommends a fabulous collection of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Michael's book:

Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response

Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response

Michael Wood

Description from Blackwells:
With instant reactions and more surface distractions than ever, are you stressed out like never before? Beneath all the noise, we yearn for a quieter, simpler, more fulfilled life. Years of experience in the corporate world and special education have seen Michael breathe the dust from his life and uncover the less travelled path of Just One Conscious Breath.

Crafted with a Bic pen at an old school desk, Michael's message is a simple one: By consciously breathing, we choose our response in the moment. This is the key to our freedom. Drawing on the profound lessons learned from the nonspeaking autistic children he worked with and his experience as a qualified breath worker and spiritual companion, Michael presents possibilities for you to be brave and vulnerable, and to go beyond the noise, supported always by the quiet simplicity of the breath.

Just One Conscious Breath comes from a long life, often misspent. It makes no fanfare or dramatic entrance. Like the breath, it just is.

Buy On:

Bookshop.org US $17.62 Blackwells £12.37 Waterstones £13.95

(All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)

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Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?

The Scar: A Personal History of Depression and Recovery by Mary Cregan.
A book that ticks all the boxes for me – it’s brave, authentic, from the heart and generous in its scope - while at the same time being well written and researched. Mary Creggan writes form her experience of heart wrenching loss and suffering and the suicidal depression that ensues. She generously charts the process of being hospitalised and the treatment for melancholic depression along with the slow arc of grief and acceptance the other side of it.

The Scar: A Personal History of Depression and Recovery

The Scar: A Personal History of Depression and Recovery

Mary Cregan

Description from Bookshop.org:
A fearless, candid memoir interweaving the author’s descent into depression with a medical and cultural history of the illness. At the age of twenty-seven, married, living in New York, and working in book design, Mary Cregan gives birth to her first child, a daughter she names Anna. But it’s apparent that something is terribly wrong, and two days later, Anna dies, plunging Cregan into suicidal despair. Decades later, sustained by her work, a second marriage, and a son, Cregan reflects on and attempts to make sense of this pivotal experience. Weaving together literature and research with details from her longburied medical records, she writes of her own ordeal and the still-visible scar of a suicide attempt—while considering it as part of a larger history of our understanding of depression.

She investigates the treatments she underwent, from hospitalization and shock therapy to psychotherapy and antidepressants. At once intimate and scholarly, The Scar illuminates a too often stigmatised affliction with compassion and intelligence and offers hope to all those who are still struggling.

Buy On:

Bookshop.org UK £14.25 Bookshop.org US $15.76 Blackwells £15.99 Waterstones £15.00

(All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)

Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?

What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except The British) Home Truths From a Foreign Correspondent by Michael Peel.
This is a bit of a departure from the autobiographical, self-help genre that I often read, but as someone who has lived in Ireland for half of my life, I have a sense of reflection and perspective about the country of my birth. From this side of the Irish Sea, despite all its wonderful qualities, it feels like Britain keeps coming back to past modalities - the growth path seems to be to move on from circling back and moving on to a new future embracing an honest assessment of past events.

What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except The British) Home Truths From a Foreign Correspondent

What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except The British) Home Truths From a Foreign Correspondent

Michael Peel

Description from Bookshop.org:
Acclaimed for its clear, friendly style, excellent illustrations, leading author team, and compelling theme of exploration, Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, 4e takes a fresh, contemporary approach to the study of neuroscience, emphasizing the biological basis of behavior.

The authors' passion for the dynamic field of neuroscience is evident on every page, engaging students and helping them master the material. In just a few years, the field of neuroscience has been transformed by exciting new technologies and an explosion of knowledge about the brain. The human genome has been sequenced, sophisticated new methods have been developed for genetic engineering, and new methods have been introduced to enable visualization and stimulation of specific types of nerve cells and connections in the brain. The new Fourth Edition has been fully updated to reflect these and other rapid advances in the field, while honoring its commitment to be student-friendly with striking new illustrations, additional animations, and an unparalleled array of online resources.

Buy On:

Bookshop.org UK £19.00 Blackwells £12.37 Waterstones £20.00

(All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)

Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
It’s a book that I lived with as a teacher, as a parent and as a writer. It’s got repetition and a pounding rhythm and there’s a close group of people, possibly a family, going through a tough time. Despite this they learn, 'they can go through it,'' while having some excitement on the way. As a trainee teacher, having quit my well paid office job, I remember doing a class drama to it and every time I hear the book, I am brought back to that time when I knew that my decision to retrain was going to work out.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Michael Rosen

Description from Bookshop.org:
The Ninth Legion marched into the mists of northern Britain - and they were never seen again.

Four thousand men disappeared and their eagle standard was lost. It's a mystery that's never been solved, until now . . .

Marcus has to find out what happened to his father, who led the legion. So he sets out into the unknown, on a quest so dangerous that nobody expects him to return. The Eagle of the Ninth is heralded as one of the most outstanding children's books of the twentieth century and has sold over a million copies worldwide. Rosemary Sutcliff writes with such passion and attention to detail that Roman Britain is instantly brought to life and stays with the reader long after the last page has been turned.

Buy On:

Bookshop.org UK £7.59 Bookshop.org US $7.43 Blackwells £7.99 Waterstones £7.99

(All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)

Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?

That’s a bit like saying what hot drink do I prefer; coffee, tea or hot chocolate. It all depends on my circumstances. I like them at different times and wouldn’t want to cut out any out of my literary mug. I love the art and kinaesthetic response of a book and being able to flick back and forwards to feel and make connections and references. I like the lightweight and practical nature of a Kindle – the ease of downloads and being able to beat the baggage restrictions when I fly. Finally, as an auditory and kinaesthetic learner, I really enjoying walking and listening to audio books. So many of the books I referenced in my book Just One Conscious Breath were embodied while walking around the parks and coast of our home in Dublin.


Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?

Raven Books
Raven Books in Blackrock, Dublin, where we live. Its small and independent and run by Louisa who loves books and authors and her readers in equal measure. It is also where we had the launch of my first book Just One Conscious Breath, and I will always be grateful for her giving us that opportunity.


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Many thanks to Michael for recommending a fabulous collection of books! Please don't forget to check out Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response.
Daryl


Image Copyrights: (Just One Conscious Breath: The profoundly simple practice that moves you from reaction to response), The Lilliput Press Ltd (The Scar: A Personal History of Depression and Recovery), Octopus Publishing Group (What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except The British) Home Truths From a Foreign Correspondent), Walker Books Ltd (We're Going on a Bear Hunt).

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