I’m hosting today’s stop on the The Feeling Good Club blog tour, celebrating the first book in a new series for middle grade readers by author Kelly McKain, illustrated by Jenny Latham, published by Little Tiger. The Feeling Good Club celebrates mindfulness, using the stories of Bella and her friends to inspire young readers to share their feelings and worries, helping them navigate the trails and tribulations of every day life.
We follow the story through Bella’s diary entries, discovering her worries, her thoughts and feelings and a glimpse of every day mishaps and merriment that lots of readers on the cusp of teenager-dom will appreciate! Full of illustrations throughout and even opportunities for readers to share their thoughts and feelings, there’s also some mindfulness and positive mental health activities at the end to complete. I’m delighted to share a guest post from author Kelly today, sharing a brilliant activity that can help chase your worries away! Welcome to the blog Kelly!
“Hi everyone, it’s great to be talking to you from here, on thebookactivist blog! I’m Kelly McKain, the author of The Feeling Good Club. I loved writing about Bella, Archie and Shazmin in the books! They are three friends who set up a mindfulness club to help them understand and handle their feelings. I really hope the books help loads of readers to feel better and to have more resources at hand when the tough times comes along. If you haven’t tried mindfulness yet, it really is a fantastic way to get present, resilient and ready to face life – and to Feel Good! And guess what? Today I’m not feeling good. Not at all! I don’t feel well physically, and emotionally I’m a bit of a wreck, and to top that I’ve got some unhelpful thoughts going round and round in my mind, too. NOT much fun! I’m feeling sad and angry about some of the really difficult and terrible things going on in the world right now. And closer to home, I’m feeling worried and upset about a couple of tricky and awkward issues in my own life too. So, what can I do to help myself? I’ve got lots of brilliant mindfulness activities on my website at http://www.kellymckain.co.uk as well as in the back of The Feeling Good Club books (yes, if you enjoy Smash Your Worries, Bella!, more are on the way soon!).
So, I’ve decided to share one of the activities with you, for when you’re feeling down, or bleugh, or a little bit completely lost, like I am today. Of course, I hope you’re feeling great today! But we all feel bad, blue or downright rubbish sometimes, and that’s completely natural and normal. This activity is called Make a Happy List, and it comes from my brilliant friend and mindfulness coach Tosh Brittan. According to Tosh, a great way to make yourself feel happier and less worried is to write yourself a Happy List. This helps remind you of all the activities that can help you to feel better when you’ve had a tough or hard day. What you do it, write down seven happy activities that help you feel good, and pin your list up somewhere where you can see it. So, here’s my Happy List…
- Watching A Discovery of Witches or Better Things, with a cup of tea and chocolate, of course!
- Going for a walk on the amazing heathland here, and maybe seeing the beautiful wild ponies
- Chanting along to some of my favourite yoga chants – if you fancy a go, try this one: https://youtu.be/pOL66P0FdPQ
- Dancing! I love it! Even just a little dance around the living room works wonders!
- Playing catch with my son Freddie – so funny even though I’m terrible at it!
- Doing yoga, especially going upside down – that can really help shift and move your feelings too!
- Doing something with my lovely partner Tim – whether it’s setting a poem to music, or recording a video or painting the hallway, he’s really good at making things fun!
So that’s seven things! Has it worked? Well, you know what? Honestly? Yes, I feel much better than before I made the list! Not physically, but – wow, seriously, I am smiling! Maybe for the first time today. It won’t be long before I’m back to my usual cheerful self, I’m sure! I hope you enjoy making a Happy List if you give it a try, and that you enjoy The Feeling Good Club if you get to have a read!
Loads of love, Kelly xx
Find out more at www.kellymckain.co.uk and www.littletiger.co.uk. With thanks to Little Tiger for inviting me to participate in the blog tour! Check out the rest of the tour here:
thebookactivist 