Search results for ""Author Rachel Kelly""

Black Rainbow is the powerful first-person story of one woman's struggle with depression and how she managed to recover from it through the power of poetry.In 1997, Oxford graduate, working mother and Times journalist Rachel Kelly went from feeling mildly anxious to being completely unable to function within the space of just three days. Prescribed antidepressants by her doctor, and supported by her husband and her family, Rachel slowly began to get better, but her anxiety levels remained high, and six years later, as a stay-at-home mother, she suffered a second collapse even worse than the first.Throughout both of Rachel's periods of severe depression, the healing power of poetry became an integral part of her recovery. As someone who had always loved poetry, it became something for Rachel to cling on to in times of need - from repeating short mantras to learning and reciting entire poems - these words and verses became a powerful force for change in her life. In Black Rainbow Rachel analyses why poetry can be one answer to depression, and the book contains a selected 40 of the poems that provided Rachel with solace and comfort during her breakdown and recovery. At a time when mental health problems and depression are becoming more common, and the stigma around such issues is finally being lifted, this book offers a lifeline for anyone seeking to understand depression and seek new ways to treat it. Poetry is free, has no side-effects and, as Rachel can attest, 'prescribing words instead of pills' can be an incredibly powerful remedy.

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Walking on Sunshine offers 52 tips, tools and positive ideas (one for each week of the year) to guide you through the seasons and better manage the pressures of everyday life.In a diary of her year, Rachel Kelly shares the strategies that have helped her stay calm and happy after overcoming depression. Some of the steps relate to particular experiences and events, such as holidays, dramas at work and her children''s exams; others are useful at any time. Indeed this is an ideal book to dip into whenever the mood takes you.Written in the confidential, conversational style of a good friend and delightfully illustrated by Daily Mail cartoonist Jonathan Pugh, Walking on Sunshine will act as a constant, supportive companion through your ups and downs.

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Words can be a way to unlock our feelings. Poetry allows us to be in touch with our emotions and helps us unlock and explore our vulnerability.You'll Never Walk Alone is a collection of the kind of inspirational texts - mainly poems - that can accompany us, whatever we are feeling, from sorrow to delight. The texts are not just about words which can console us or comfort us - though they often do this too. Rather these are poems that allow us to enjoy a full range of emotions. The poems are organised according to the season in which they 'belong': we all have seasons of our minds, be they wintery and dark, or more spring-like and hopeful. Comprising 52 poems, with analysis by Rachel, You'll Never Walk Alone introduces a poem for each week of the year plus tips on bringing poetry into your life. This book will show you how to bring poetry into your everyday emotional reality, where it can be a new tool for wellbeing. And one that means you'll never walk alone.'Like Rachel Kelly, I passionately believe in the power of poetry to reach the soul. In times of heartache and joy, this wonderful anthology will help and delight all through the year. Kelly's brilliant introduction and explanations of each choice make this an indispensable companion, always.'- Bel Mooney, writer, journalist and broadcaster'Rachel's wonderful book offers a carefully curated and wisely annotated selection of poems designed to offer support and solace during the more heart-stopping, heartbreaking, exhilarating, joyful, and unpredictable times of our life.'-MindHealth 360'Healing words for quiet evenings.'- Culture Whisper

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