Key Summary
Welcome to this post on Being Human by Natalie Read. Being Human: The path to self-acceptance, resilience and happiness, is out now in both paperback and ebook. I received a review copy from Literally PR in exchange for an honest review. I extend my thanks to Lit PR, the author and publisher for this opportunity and my spot on the blog tour.
In this post I will briefly describe my motivation for reading this book and then present my review. Next I include the official synopsis and finally a bit about the author.
My Motivation for Reading
When someone suffers a life changing illness or disability, there is a lot of adjustment. I’ve found that I’ve had to completely re-frame how I experience the world; physically, socially and psychologically. How I view things like “success” now look completely different. As a result, I’ve had to reframe meaning throughout my life. This is very challenging, and I was surprised that I was not offered any information or support by the NHS. So, I’ve had to find it for myself and through trial and error find what works for me.
Overall, I’ve found that different things work at different times. There are a lot of resources (books, podcasts, community groups online) if you take the time to look. I was particularly interested in Being Human, because the title mentions resilience and self-acceptance. Both are so crucial in coming to terms with life with disability. A quick read of the synopsis (further down the post) also revealed that as well as advice, the book contains exercises and meditations which I think it so helpful for learning to put the advice into practice.
My Review of Being Human
Being Human is set over 14 chapters, divided into 3 parts. There is also an introduction, conclusion, references, bibliography and resources. The 3 parts deal with setting in context what it means to be human, providing a toolkit for specific difficulties (e.g. depression, anxiety etc), and embracing change and living with happiness. I learned a lot from this book, but it was the third part I found most useful; especially viewing my life with illness and disability.
This contains a lot of information and so is a real treasure trove. It’s written very clearly and without judgement. It’s geared at young adults, people facing the change of leaving school or college and entering the worlds of work of university. I can honestly see it being so helpful for a plethora of other people in different life stages. Especially in current times where our resilience has been tested on an “unprecedented” scale. I highly recommend it to anyone needing some support for life’s challenges, but also for people who want to cement their happiness and wellbeing.
I particularly like that it contains exercises to help the reader reflect and put the advice into practise. There are also 12 guided meditations which I found really helpful to do. It is definitely a book which I know I will refer to repeatedly when times get tough; to remind myself of the advice and to know that I’m not alone.
Do check out the other stops on this blog tour to read others’ reviews. See the poster below for details. For my other book reviews please see the blog section on reading.
Being Human Synopsis
• Would you like more happiness, self-confidence or resilience?
• Would you like to improve your relationships?
• Would you like to manage mental health symptoms or prevent them from arising?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, this book could help you. Being Human offers a journey of self-discovery to help you find self-acceptance and self-love through a blend of psychology with a mind, body, spirit approach in a language that will appeal to any belief system.
Being Human is written from the heart with a positive and compassionate message, encouraging awareness, responsibility and self-empowerment. It’s full of examples, explanations, exercises and also provides free access to 12 accompanying meditations written to support the material in this book.
Natalie Read has worked at the heart of mental health as a Student Counsellor at a UK University for over 12 years. This book draws on both her counselling expertise and her passionate quest to find peace and happiness through 25 years of self and spiritual development.
About the Author
Natalie Read is a BACP accredited counsellor with experience in private practice and as a University student counsellor. Prior to this, Natalie spent over a decade in the corporate world gaining experience in organisational psychology, change management, leadership, coaching and executive coaching.
This book blends her counselling and coaching experience with a mind, body, spirit approach in order to offer a broader range of solutions to today’s problems. Natalie believes wholeheartedly in working towards self-acceptance and self-love in order to obtain long-lasting and fundamental change. She also offers support and solutions to help manage symptoms and difficulties whilst journeying towards this.
In a world of increasing complexity, uncertainty and prevalence of mental health symptoms, there has never been a more important time than now to focus on embracing Being Human. Every time we ignore our feelings, live up to other people’s expectations or unrealistic ideas of happiness, try to control life, be perfect, avoid difficult emotions or challenges or, shy away from vulnerability, we are effectively denying who we are.
Whilst this is often well intended, these strategies are often ineffective and come with unhelpful side-effects. Conversely, working towards Being Human is about coming to terms with who you are and the reality of life. This involves more connection with yourself and learning to accept what is, rather than expectations of what life should be like. This can help you to have more happiness, self-confidence, resilience, more fulfilling and happier relationships with others, as well as helping to manage and prevent mental health symptoms.
