Walking on Sunshine

Book excerpt: An accessible and clear-eyed handbook that offers fundamental tips, tools, and sanity-saving ideas to guide you through the seasons and help you better manage the mood-altering pressures of everyday life—“Try it. I took my blood pressure before and after. It dropped” (The New York Times). In the form of weekly journal entries over the course of a year, bestselling author, journalist, and mental health activist Rachel Kelly shares the fifty-two strategies that have helped her cope with depression and anxiety and maintain a calm, happy lifestyle. Walking on Sunshine requires no complicated program or an overhaul of your current way of life. These are simple shortcuts to lighter, more conscious living—tangible rituals you can use to care for your body and mind. In the pages of this engaging book, you’ll find breathing techniques, poetry, prayer, philosophical nuggets, and meditations, all of them gentle suggestions designed to bring more ease and equanimity into your daily life. Written in the candid, conversational style of a good friend and accompanied by delightful cartoon illustrations, Walking on Sunshine is a constant, supportive companion that will see you through your ups and downs.