.png)
Dr. Jill Stoddard, author of Be Mighty: A Woman’s Guide to Liberation from Anxiety, Worry, and Stress Using Mindfulness and Acceptance, understands that women feel overwhelmed by the demands of juggling work and family. For many women, taking care of themselves falls to be the bottom of the endless to-do list, and maybe even falls off altogether.
In Be Mighty, Dr. Stoddard (a working mother of young children herself) draws on ideas and skills from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a therapy that emphasizes helping people develop their psychological flexibility. Dr. Stoddard describes steps that women, and men, can take to calm their nervous systems and live their lives based on what’s really important to them.
For example, women struggling with stress are often flooded by negative, anxious thoughts. In this book, readers learn that you can’t control your thoughts (that’s not your job!) but you can learn to respond differently when they show up in your mind. There are plenty of exercises to try, from mindfulness, to writing, to guided imagery. There’s something for everyone.
Although the book addresses a serious topic, Dr. Stoddard writes with humor and a sense that we all struggle with the same stuff. The book is fun to read, although you’ll learn more each time you go through it.
There’s no doubt that women are more stressed than ever during this COVID pandemic. They’re working from home while home-schooling their children, running after-school activities, caring for other relatives. You name it. They all need a dose of Be Mighty.