Book Review: 60 Second Secrets to a happy, healthy, more relaxed you

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It was the tagline to 60-Second Secrets (to a happy, healthy, more relaxed you) that first attracted me to this book. How can any woman resist that?

Modern life is busy – often crazily so – and at times it’s difficult to remember to stop and take care of ourselves. Or, if we do remember, we’re certain that we either don’t have time to take a moment from our routines or we don’t think of it as a priority.

Wood, a naturopath, nutritionist and mother, understands this problem – but she sees it as just that: a problem.

Divided into four sections – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – Wood explains the importance of the seasons on her website: “Enjoying each season for what it brings is a great way to attune yourself to the natural rhythms of nature, our health, wellbeing and the things in the world that fill us with wonder.”

Each section begins with a simple seasonal recipe, before sharing some health and wellbeing tips. Each tip is short but sweet, taking just sixty seconds to read, with one for each day of the year.

My personal favourite – “start to plan a holiday today” – sums up the reason I believe this book to be worthwhile. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us lose the excitement of always having something to look forward to. This goes for not just planning holidays, but in our approach to everyday life and, to me, that is what this book does: gives us something new and fresh to look forward to each day.

This might be in the form of something small, such as taking ten minutes to be still and silent or trying a new food, or larger, like asking for something you need from a relationship or redecorating a room.

Big or small, each tip helps throw a new way of thinking into our daily lives, a small challenge to change our perspective. Not just that, these are designed to make us better people, in our relationships and communications with others.

Of course, not every tip will suit every woman, or be realistic on that particular day. But in those cases, perhaps we should try turning the page to a smaller idea, or revisiting a tip that worked on a previous day. In any case, it’s worth a try.

Each of us is worth this small effort.