MSI Press Blog

  When times get tough and everyone has to look out for everyone else -- helping children, older parents, neighbors, and others, the most forgotten person is the self. Yet, taking care of the self can be the single most important thing you do in order to be able to care for all the others who need your help, regardless of your role in their lives or relationship to them. So, start out the week being good to yourself. Here are some books that can help.     Mama, do you find yourself too busy to take good care of yourself? Whatever your situation, you deserve spectacular health and wellness. With Julie M. Gentile as your personal wellness mentor, this book coaches you along your own authentic self-care path. Using 108 writing prompts and self-care practices, including yoga poses, meditations, and breathing exercises, Julie shows you practical ways to live well that only a mama modern would understand. Become the self-care goddess you truly want to be—you’re worth it! A Woman’s Guide to S

  Excerpt from 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas by Julie Gentile -  Introduction  I wrote what you are about to read at the center of my very full life as a mom of two young children, working full-time as a marketing and communications professional, and leading yoga classes as a certified and registered yoga teacher. At that time, my husband was also working and going to school full time. “Full” is the key word here. With full hearts and full plates, we were bursting with busyness.   Many days pushed me beyond my limits, bringing me to tears of exhaustion and left me wondering if I was living life to my maximum potential. I was overcome with responsibilities that pulled me in multiple directions, but in me remained my ultimate duty to take care of myself. How did I do that as a working mama in an era where I was available via text message, phone, email, and social media?  I called upon my yoga and meditation background to help. It responded loud and clear: Take i

  March is Women's History Month. We celebrate by recommending the following books for women. Order from our webstore and get a 25% discount with coupon code FF25.             108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas (Julie Gentile) Are you too busy for self-care? From a one-minute meditation to building a routine you love to wake up to, this quick read and everyday self-care resource gives you the energy to live a mindful, more nourished life by taking good care of yourself. With Julie M. Gentile, award-winning author, yoga teacher and Millennial mom, as your guide, you'll give birth to your highest self through self-care.  Book Excellence Awards Finalist IPPY Living Now Bronze Medal Read more posts about this book HERE . A Woman's Guide to Self-Nurturing (Joanna Romer) A Woman's Guide to Self-Nurturing offers a new perspective on how to comfort yourself while bolstering self-esteem. Using Bible stories as well as creative techniques for self-nurturing, the b

    (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is  about taking a self-published book to a traditional publisher in hopes of getting a contract.  At least a couple of times a month, a self-published author approaches MSI Press with a proposal to republish his or her self-published book. They all seem to think that their  poorly selling self-published book would soar to best-seller status if only a traditional publisher would take it on or that their self-published book with modest sales would not thrill a publisher by how many sales had been made or had many polite reviews simply re-stated the content and refrained from sayin

  (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is about assessing the hype for self-publishing. What should you believe and not believe? Hype abounds for self-publishing. Some of it is somewhat accurate, but many of the claims, while not necessarily false, are generally de-contextualized. We have friends and colleagues who have self-published books. While some of them are very nicely laid out and well-written, most can be easily discerned as self-published because of the quality. In one case, we were so appalled by the results of a friend who self-published through a vanity press, we offered to republish the book so that it had

  Your Self-Care Bucket: Fill It First  Self-care is anything you intentionally do to nourish and renew your mind, body, and spirit. It’s not like you practice it once and then you’re good to go for the next two years. It’s the accumulation and constant replenishment of sustainable self-care practices that can help you stay well physically, emotionally, spiritually, and beyond. I often describe this accumulation in terms of a self-care bucket. Visualize an empty bucket in your favorite color or pattern. We’ll call this your self-care bucket. Now visualize all the self-care practices you do every day or every week. Every self-care practice represents a drop that gets added to your bucket. For example, if you exercised today, add a drop to the bucket. If you got eight solid hours of sleep last night (way to go if that’s you!), sprinkle in another drop.  Eventually, your bucket will be so full of drops of self-care that the accumulation of drops overflows, spilling out into

Julie M.Gentile's 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices For Busy Mamas is an uplifting and inspirational book that will give confidence to moms out there to become their own wellness leaders by prioritizing self-care so they can make positive changes in their families, friends, coworkers, and the world. The author's ultimate wellness path shared in this book will help to create an easy transition from caring for others around the clock for caring more for you. The 108 (a sacred number in yoga) writing prompts, meditations, yoga poses, breathing exercises, and other wellness practices will inspire readers to walk a path of self-love.  The book will help readers kick start their self-care journey and readers who practice will see wellness coming into their lives. The life-changing practices can be incorporated into daily life and the tips and tools are good to getting started  and keeping the wellness inspiration flowing. Practicing yoga gives the resources and motivation to t

Name: Julie M. Gentile Book: 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas Date of Interview: June 10, 2019 Who are you? What do you want readers to know about you? I am a full-time working mom, certified and Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher, author of the book 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas (MSI Press), wellness speaker, and creator of the blog Stand Up for Your Self-Care . I am on a wellness mission to inspire other moms to have the courage to stand up for their self-care. Why are you qualified to write this book? I have two young children and I work full-time, so I understand what it means to be busy in the modern world raising little ones. I have been leading yoga classes since 2011, and I have authored numerous health and wellness articles for multiple publications and websites.   What is the message of your book? What should be the take-away by readers? Everyone deserves more self-care. Whether you dedicate an hour to exerc

  From Julie Gentile -  May Is the Month for Moms to Begin Prioritizing Self-Care May is an important month for moms. In honor of Mother's Day, Mental Health Awareness Month and National Women's Health Week, May 14 to May 20, there are many reasons to start an exercise routine you've been thinking about to help you energize, or to spend an afternoon at your local bookstore to restore and reset.  As a yoga teacher, author and full-time working mom, I've learned over and over again that there is no such thing as a perfect schedule. Juggling multiple responsibilities is all about the art of prioritizing what needs your attention now. I structure my day by prioritizing what matters most, and self-care is at the top of my list.  I wrote my first book,  108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas ,  during the evenings when my youngest child was a baby. When my second book,  How to Stay Calm in Chaos: An Everyday Self-Care Guide , was published a year and a half later, we