Member Reviews

It's a simple and concise book about self-care, with sections that make it easy to follow. It's not re-inventing the wheel as some of the ideas in it is "old", but it's anyway a reminder. It's also sometimes in disagreement with itself, one place telling you to lose weight, and another place to love your body (not that those examples are mutually exclusive of course, as it is possible to love your body, yet still wanting to improve). I also suspect that one can easily find a lot of the information in this book online if one search a bit.

Was this review helpful?

Quick review for a quick read. It's really nice to pick up a coffee-table type book that you can quickly read through and not only get a number of inspiring and helpful tips, but is also aesthetically pleasing to look at. I felt that way about reading through "The Complete Guide to Self-Care" by Kiki Ely. I think you could say for as many dimensions as there are to taking care of one's well being, this book hit all the base points in an engaging way.

Among the topics it covers: physical wellbeing, mental/intellectual self-care and expression, spiritual self-care, and social self-care. Each section is broken down in a series of steps, hobbies, and considerations that make sense. Each section is coupled with calming photos, bullet points breaking down questions to ask yourself and steps to take through each exercise, and even recipes/DIY homemade goods to follow through and create yourself. If I didn't receive this as a galley, I would have purchased a book this for myself because, while it may be collectively familiar information to me from my own background in health/wellness, it was still a nice holistic reminder of what to look for to treat each of the dimensions of self-care.

Overall score: 4/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher.

Was this review helpful?

A wonderful coffee table style of book. It provides Instagram style photos. Some of the 'self-care' ideas are more related to being a functioning adult rather indulgent self-time, however the types are helpful.

Was this review helpful?

The Complete Guide to Self Care is a great "how to" book on all aspects of life. It is very informative, concise and it makes you want to jump in and be more hands on.

This book covers all types of self care from creating a sleep schedule (which, let's face it, it something that we all need) to setting time specifically for you. It is a wonderful book and I have recommended it to several friends and family members. It definitely has a place on my book shelf.

5/5 stars.

Was this review helpful?

I recently read The Complete Guide to Self-Care: Best Practices for a Healthier and Happier You by Kiki Ely & I loved it. We all know that self-care is important & yet sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what else we need to do to alleviate recent or ongoing stress. Are you doing all you can to take good care of yourself? All of us could do a little more to bring our life into balance & this book will help with that.

The book is divided into sections that identify five major areas of focus & I really liked that organization. It worked really well for me to delve into all of one area before moving on to another area. The areas of focus for self-care are:
Physical: movement, touch, sunlight, being present, hydration, nourishment, beauty, & sleep
Intellectual: create, music, writing, reading, home, remaining child-like, efficiency, & social media
Emotional: self-love, ritual, boundaries, mindset, ‘you’ time
Spiritual: meditation, manifestation
Social: people

The author has done a great job of highlighting a few things within each category & subcategory so that it doesn’t seem overwhelming. It is a full exploration of the topic without being overwrought or self indulgent. Ely has written a fantastic & helpful book about self-care that might help you as it helped me. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Tips include things like yoga, meditation, nature, asking for help and more. Some recipes, exercises and good ideas - which are explained. Nice overall.

Was this review helpful?

One of very few books that I liked the cover of.
A great book for someone who works hard and needs a break. I particularly liked the part about crystal healing.

Was this review helpful?

Complete Guide to Self-Care is a manual and guide full of attractive and attainable suggestions for taking time out to care for ourselves, and evaluating and correcting the quality of our lives. Due out 2nd June from Quarto on their Chartwell Books. imprint, it's 168 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The book is split into different areas of care: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social. Each chapter includes both exercises to do, and information and tutorials to put into practice. This book doesn't contain recipes for bath bombs or cucumber skin toner; instead it concentrates on meditation, visualization, and grounding to help the reader attain tranquility and inner peace.

The book has a nice layout, with photographs interspersed with relevant highlighted text boxes. There are lots of prompts which could easily tie-in effortlessly for writing, journaling, and other creative pursuits. The book's aesthetic struck me as very feminine, though there's no reason it couldn't be utilized equally by men.

Really pretty book full of good advice (if a bit heavy on the pseudo-science woo side of the equation). Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Was this review helpful?

Love the layout of this book! While most of it is more basic ideas for self care, such as yoga and etc. there were a few more deep-diving sections that I enjoyed and learned something from. A really cute and nicely put together book, perfect for this self-quarantine time!

Was this review helpful?

• Title: Complete Guide to Self Care: Best Practices for a Healthier and Happier You
• Author: Kiki Ely
• Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group - Chartwell Books
• ISBN: 9780785838302
• Edition: E-Book
• Publication date: 02/06/2020

Content:
Self-care is more and more important these days. Taking our time and making space for ourselves is the best thing we can do. Not only the big things count, but also the little things we do for our own good. This book contains encouraging reminders, inspiring thoughts, practical advices and a whole lot of activities and tips for taking care of ourselves. It is not a strict bible but more like an adviser and strengthener for mental health. From only saying no to certain things up to yoga, everything is in there. Also, there is no rule about where to start. You can just pick whatever you need right now.

Opinion:
I really enjoyed reading through this and doing stuff that is in there. It actually helped me to get more concentrated and to calm down. The notes and tips are inspiring and pretty helpful. I think I will use it more often now, because it also was funny and interesting to read. I’ve never read any adviser like this before and I’m glad I found this book. There is actually nothing I would change and nothing that was negative about it. In my opinion, it is perfect.

Conclusion:
All in all, I really, really liked this book a lot. It is so important these days to look after ourselves and this book is the perfect support and guide through self-care. So, I would totally advice it!

Was this review helpful?

Man, do we need this book right now.. It debunks the self-care is buying yourself an expensive bath bomb and taking a picture of your bath myth that seems to be all over social media. There are many types of self-care and this book does a fantastic job of explaining them in easy to understand terms. This is the kind of book I want to have on my nightstand. The photos are stunning. The self-care exercises/activities are bite sized and can be applied as needed. The author makes sure to have you understand that selfcare is multifaceted and not one size fits all. She does a wonderful job explaining concepts that most people are still unfamiliar with. If you have struggled with your self-care routine, get yourself a copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

The state of the world right now has just about everybody a little more on edge, and if you’re like me, and deal with an abnormal amount of anxiety on a good day, an expansive self-care guide could be just what the doctor ordered. The Complete Guide to Self-Care introduces a vast variety of self-care techniques that encompass everything from spa pampering to meditation.

There were several things I enjoyed about The Complete Guide to Self-Care. It was refreshing that Ely included self-care techniques that weren’t just tied to spa-like treatments, which tends to be what most people steer towards when they think of self-care. She included a lot of self-reflection and intellectual self-care strategies, such as reading, journaling and music therapy. All sections came with an explanation of the care type and the ways they could be incorporated into a self-care routine. Most sections also included exercises as ways for you to get started on your self-care journey.

I also enjoyed the section on chakras. I had heard about them before but had never taken the time to research any deeper, so having a brief introduction and description of the different types was extremely interesting to read. However, beyond that section, most of the information in this book was rather basic self-care info. The exercises were a nice touch, but if you’re a self-care veteran, you probably won’t gain too much from reading this book. If you’re new to self-care, this one's for you!

Was this review helpful?

This is a brilliant book for either yourself or to give as a gift. This really gives you so many ideas and inspiration for different types of self care. The book brings down self care into so many different sections such as yoga, beauty and cooking and includes positions for yoga and recipes to make your own face masks. All this is in a very aesthetically pleasing packaging.

Was this review helpful?

A soothing, brightly colored volume on self-care, that much-used term for maintaining your physical, mental, and spiritual health. The layout is reminiscent of a lifestyle magazine (especially Real Simple), with punchy headlines, numbered lists, still-life photography, and pink pages. (This is not a bad thing--I love Real Simple, and find it very calming to read, even if I won't put 90% of it into practice right away.) Includes recipes, yoga stretches, writing prompts, decluttering tips, and more. Very timely for our current quarantine--I only wish the book was available now!

Was this review helpful?

The Complete Guide to Self Care is a timely topic and much needed for anyone struggling with making it through any kind of personal stress or a pandemic.
We hear all of the time that to take care of others we have to take care of ourselves first. This book is a well written and illustrated example of being good to yourself so you can do good for others.

Step One in Self Care...read this book and put it into practice.

Was this review helpful?

This is an all inclusive how to manual to some easy self care techniques such as how to make your own soaps and other relaxing techniques.

Was this review helpful?

The Complete Guide to Self Care by Kiki Elton is a beautifully formatted book with lovely graphics and helpful information. The books gives readers practical advice for all areas of self care.

Was this review helpful?

It's a simple and concise book about self-care, with sections that make it easy to follow. It's not re-inventing the wheel as some of the ideas in it is "old", but it's anyway a reminder. It's also sometimes in disagreement with itself, one place telling you to lose weight, and another place to love your body (not that those examples are mutually exclusive of course, as it is possible to love your body, yet still wanting to improve). I also suspect that one can easily find a lot of the information in this book online if one search a bit.

Was this review helpful?

This book is simple to understand and concise with regards to concepts and explanations. Some ideas here may not be new but reminders of what you should be doing for your physical and mental well-being. As with most self-help books, I say chew the meat and spit out the bones. That means either apply these suggestions you feel you can incorporate into your life now, save some to attack later, or ignore. Good book to own so you will be able to make notes and keep yourself on track.
I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for my volunteer review.

Was this review helpful?

A very basic book on self-care and frequently in disagreement with itself. Simultaneously asking you to streamline your life as much as possible, and to do nothing. Asking you to love your body more and telling you to lose weight.
If you aren't familiar with meditation, the importance of taking time for yourself and moving your body, then this is a decent introduction, but otherwise skip it.

Was this review helpful?