The Calmest Minds

If you follow any book bloggers, you’ll know they get through a lot of books. Some seem to finish a book every day or two. I can’t imagine how they do it. When I reach the end of a book, particularly a really good book, I can’t just move on.

Wanting to linger in a fictional world, needing time to reflect on the messages of a story, and remaining emotionally attached to characters are all perfectly understandable impacts of a great book. In fact, as an author, I’m going to say desirable impacts.

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If you loved the book, why would you move straight on to another one and immediately forget that one? How would you?

So instead of focusing on all that’s great about books, this time let’s look at what you can do when you are not quite ready to start another story. 

There are many other mindful activities that won’t rip you away from the world you might have started to feel you actually inhabited. Here are some of my favourites.

Walking

It’s good to spend some time outside, particularly if you have been reading indoors. Nature is excellent at helping you unwind and reflect.

Origami

This is an incredibly mindful activity, which results in beautiful creations. It’s a great way to keep calm while still being productive. There are plenty of books about origami but sometimes you need a video!

Painting

Don’t feel you have to create an accurate representation of anything. An abstract picture, created by doing whatever you feel like, can be enormous fun to make and might just turn out beautiful, too.

Yoga

There are yoga postures suitable for all abilities. Focusing on what your body is doing is a good way to slowly release your thoughts and come back to the real world in your own time.

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Gardening

Gardening is good for the soul. It’s also a lovely way to stay absorbed in your thoughts and still achieve something!

Drawing

I learned whilst producing illustrations for my last book that drawing is a very satisfying activity. If you’re not great at it, you could try copying something first. YouTube has some brilliant videos to help with the necessary skills to turn a basic rendering into a stunning piece of art.

Knitting

Knitting can be very soothing due to its repetitive nature. You can look up the basics online but if you want to make something useful, it’s best to buy a pattern.

Puzzles

Word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles – they are all utterly absorbing. When you’ve just finished an awesome book and feel like you could never achieve anything even close to that, puzzles remind you how clever you actually are!

All these activities are great for book lingering days. If you have any ideas to add, please drop them in the comments.

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