The Story behind the Book: 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas
Back Story of 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas
From the author:
The Story Behind the Book:
How Self-Care Helped Me
Achieve My Dream of Writing My First Book
Julie M. Gentile
It started between an inhale and an exhale on my yoga mat. My idea to write a book for other busy moms like me trying to live well was planted in the pause between both parts of the breath.
I had just had my second child and had become more aware of the options busy moms had to manage their full plates. One word about being a busy mom immediately came to mind: Overwhelmed.
I knew I couldn’t manage my own busy life without self-care by my side. Since becoming a yoga teacher in 2011, I was already practicing a variety of nourishing practices to feed my mind, body and soul: getting quality sleep, staying hydrated, practicing yoga, meditating, exercising, journaling, eating more plant-based foods and reading uplifting content.
These practices helped me pause enough to get glimpses of how I could help other moms like me live well amid the chaos of growing a career and raising a family at this unique time on the planet.
The idea to write a self-care book for busy moms energized me. I knew I wanted to merge all my worlds—full-time working mom, yoga teacher, writer and self-care advocate to give birth to this book.
I took action right away: I began writing my ideas, which turned into an outline. I listed my favorite self-care practices and included an introduction for each section as well as how to practice it, so that this content could come to life and be experienced by the reader. I organized the content into 108 self-care practices; 108 is considered a sacred number in yoga.
I was also inspired to include photos in my book to provide a visual element for the practices, which include journaling prompts, yoga poses, meditations and breathing exercises.
How did I find time to write a book as a full-time working mom? When my kids would sleep, I went straight to the computer, where I sat night after night, researching, writing, creating. I’d get home from work, eat dinner, teach a yoga class, get the kids ready for bed and go right to the computer to write. Every day, I manifested my book by working on it, meditating on it, and opening myself to receiving wisdom and inspiration from the universe.
When people talk about flow state, I was in it. I felt completely connected to universal consciousness, as if a portal was connecting the universe to my heart to share what people needed to read, see and practice. I also kept four journals, each with a different purpose, to keep the ideas flowing.
Less than 3 months later, I looked up from my keyboard and I had a book I knew I needed to share with the world.
My intuition told me that the next step was to get my book published. I researched different publishing options and decided to find a publisher that aligned well with my book. I also extensively researched how to create a book proposal because although my background is in journalism, publishing a book is a different skill set. That’s when I learned about MSI Press.
I am so grateful to MSI Press for providing the opportunity to share this work with the world.
The week in September 2018 when my advanced review copy went to the printer was one of the busiest weeks of my life. Knowing that your words would live forever in print is very different than posting a blog that can easily be edited.
We officially welcomed 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas into the world on February 1, 2019.
The book is 108 practices in 111 pages, which makes it super
digestible for busy people who have only have a few minutes a day to read.
This book served as inspiration for my second book, How to
Stay Calm in Chaos: An Everyday Self-Care Guide, which was written and
published in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- JG, November 18, 2022
IPPY LIVING NOW BRONZE MEDAL
BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD FINALIST
Book available at 25% discount with code FF25 at msipress.com/shop.
Read excerpts and other blog posts about Julie and her books HERE.
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