Anxiety, stress and panic – read your way free from the pressures of modern life

By Liz Lockhart

A new book has just hit the shelves and it is well worth a read. Reading, itself, is a great stress buster but if you couple it with a good book-choice then the benefits can be even greater.

‘Keeping Your Spirits Up: Lessons from the Creating Focus Coaching Programme is the work of author Sarah Dale. It is a wonderful book that inspires and challenges you. It shows how it is possible to re-gain control of your life and working practices.

If, like so many of us, you are juggling work, family and leisure time this book is a must.

Sarah is a chartered occupational psychologist and accredited coach, based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. She has designed a coaching programme called Creating Focus. She had a previous career as a chartered accountant.

Her blend of business and psychology has turned out to be a great combination although her eighteen year old self would not have envisaged (or welcomed such a round-the houses and exam-filled career path. But then hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Sarah told Mental Healthy ”The business experience is actually a very valuable thing to have as a psychologist. I used to audit a wide variety of companies and public sector organisations. This means I’ve seen many different types of workplace and seen and heard firsthand about many people’s experience of work and the rewards and pressures it can bring.”

Sarah lives with her husband, two daughters and step-son. It’s a mix of joy and challenge as you may expect in a family outnumbered by teenagers.

Her interests include reading, writing and walking when possible. Sarah and her husband have a long term plan to walk the South West Coast Path in it 630 mile entirety. This will be spread over many years and pubs, daydreaming, sitting in coffee shops and chatting.

Through her work in psychology Sarah Dale has met many people whose friends and colleagues see them as a successful person who is calm, professional and cheerful – while sometimes they feel far from it. These people often face daunting workloads, rapid change, uncertainty about the future and a sometimes impossible conflict between work, home and well-being.

This is a mix that can dampen your enthusiasm for a career you once loved and leave you too tired to enjoy your leisure time.

In an interview with Mental Healthy Sarah said “For many people, it’s not about finding a radical change in direction, although this can seem very attractive when you are stressed. Often it’s about remembering to look after yourself well enough to boost your energy and morale, and be kind to yourself, at the same time as getting back in touch with those interests or people that may have fallen by the wayside as you got busier. In this way, you nurture your ability to deal with some of the pressures you might face, and get a better perspective in order to make good decisions about what to do”

This book, drawing on sound research, suggests realistic ways of Keeping Your Spirits Up and, in my opinion, is a must read. If you are going on holiday 'Keeping Your Spirit Up' would be the perfect holiday book.