'The Feel Good Body' by Jennifer FLEMING & Anna-Louise BOUVIER

Received from the publisher

These days if you have a headache, you take Panadol. If you have backache, get a $100 aromatherapy massage. If you’ve got flabby bits, pop the latest weight-loss miracle pill. If you’re feeling lethargic, gulp some detox milkshake concoction. But at the end of the day these are all temporary reliefs – a bandaid on a bullet wound. What’s that old saying? ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ With their book ‘The Feel Good Body’, authors Jennifer Fleming and Anna-Louise Bouvier are giving readers a feel-good fishing lesson… so to speak.

The book promises ‘7 steps to easing aches and looking great’ – and you don’t need to pop a pill or fork out for a weekly spa treatment to do it. All you need is to train your mind and your body to look and feel the way you want.

Fleming and Bouvier’s ‘7 steps’ are related with tongue-in-cheek good nature. They are never preaching or patronizing, rather they impart their wisdom with common sense and relatable case studies. Chapter-titles are indicative of the overall light-hearted tone; “niggly shoulders and flapping arms” or “tight chests and saggy boobs”.

The book also has diary pages for readers to jot down their reactions to the recommended exercises, and built-in quizzes to gauge readers stress levels etc. Such interaction really prompts you to have a go and take Fleming and Bouvier’s advice, with impressive results.

Most of the remedies or cautions are common sense (i.e.: don’t hold the phone between your ear and shoulder). But things like information on why women’s boobs sag, and what bad posture is doing to your organs is quite interesting and will prompt you to make changes (even if it’s just getting properly fitted for your next bra!).

Forget the pills, detoxes and lipo-suction. Finding your way to mind/body balance is a lot easier than you think. If you want to ease your niggly shoulders and floppy belly, just give this book a go.

5/5