I've just done a course of CBT (cognitive based therapy) and looked up a book that my therapist recommended and saw this one too. Ive always liked her a lot and saw it mentioned mindfulness and thought it might be a good intro and not be so dry as so many self-help books are. Although Ruby calls this book a manual. From doing some research (i.e. I googled it!) it appears that CBT and mindfulness can complement each other.

Ruby uses her own life as a backdrop illustrating her battle with depression and how she chose to leave her life in showbusiness and go back to school to study the mind thus helping herself and so many others. Don't be put off by the idea that this book is solely for those who suffer from depression (I don't). It offers a really good background to how the mind works, how and why those pesky thoughts intrude telling us what to do and what we can't do and provides an intro as to what mindfulness is. It's really interesting and told with a nice dose of humour and lots of aha moments as I certainly recognised things that I do and think.

I'm not sure I'd say this book changed my life but it certainly has changed my views, and it always helps to know that you're not alone (1 in 4 suffer from some form of mental illness) and it's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. It is Ruby's crusade to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness.

I have already purchased her second book "A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled" which includes a 6 week mindfulness course.