Jog on-How Running Saved my Life- Bella Mackie- Running/divorce/athletics

It’s wonderful when you read a book and know that someone “ gets you” . Bella

began running after her short lived marriage broke down. A life long sufferer of

agoraphobia and anxiety issues made most things a challenge let alone going out

for an activity. I believe we all run for a reason and how and why we started can

be anything from a nightmare to a comedy. (This book has lots of light moments

in it to make you smile).  Mental health is one of the big reasons for many.

As Bella says “your body takes your mind along with it”. If you are not sure about

this- try counting in sevens down from a hundred whilst running- harder than you

might think- thinking you can do whilst you run- however your mind will literally

have a mind of its own and take you to calmer places. There are lots of stats to

tell us how good exercise is for us not just in body but in mind too. Bella takes

us though some of them and they make for very interesting reading. I empathise

. Having recently been diagnosed with complex-PTSD, running is my best and

go-to therapy. I can think of bad things when running but before I know it

I am thinking of a hundred good things as well. There is an excellent section

on definitions of types of mental health issues to put things in perspective.

For example OCD is not just liking your towels folded in a particular way

. For anyone who thinks they have a little more than “ a little of the blues”

and for any runner this is a very interesting read.

A brave book and a brilliant one 5**

For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/

or follow me on Twitter @nickijmurphy1

Amazon Top 1000 reviewer.