Bookstrapping: Supermindful by Eliza Lay Ryan

In Supermindful, author Eliza Lay Ryan makes a strong point that 'ignoring what we don't like' is not a mindset that is helpful in every situation. Sometimes it puts us at risk. Far better to learn from what other people are doing. Or better still, 'human beings must think themselves into other people's places' and expand their own range of experiences.

This is echoed in a statement by artist Marcel Duchamp, "I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste." That was a good one.

Here are our five #BookStrapping insights-:

1- Try this! Smile with your eyes and the corners of your mouth and think 'life is horrible!" You really can't, can you?

2 - This is where acting "like something else' comes in. A quote by Meryl Streep features in the book, saying "I'm curious about people. That's the essence of my acting."

3 - Applying playfulness to adults, the author reminds us that we have the ability to go beyond ourselves to become more of ourselves and synthesise something new! A new us, perhaps?

4 - Offering a scientific definition of mindfulness, the author quotes Jon Kabat Zinn and says it's about paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally, in the service of self understanding and wisdom! Golly.

5 - The question therefore remains, is it highly possible that what is called 'talented behaviour' is simply a greater capacity for experiencing? From this point of view, does the increase of an individual's capacity to experience, unlock one's full potential.

This book brought to mind, a few interesting conversations on LinkedIn, about how all self help books tend to mostly be the same. And yet, every author finds their own audience and interprets concepts in their own way. There's also a section in the book on '52 ways to wonder' and cultivate super-mindfulness. Neat!

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’