Member Reviews

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Rooted Families Workbook is one of the best workbooks/self-help books I've come across so far with the aim of fostering and maintaining closer family bonds. Each family is different, and I love how this book is for everyone; families, parents, teens, carers, grandparents, single parents, etc.
The cover looks like a book for children, but don't be deceived by its simplistic illustrated cover.
The book itself is easy to follow, use, and understand, making it very accessible to almost everyone and the topics included are; mindfulness, emotional intelligence/understanding, triggers and working with them, behaviour, relationships, concious parenting, going back to your familial roots and so much more. There's many exercises to do and a notes section to use too.
Such a handy and supportive book for all families.

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I'm very much high in emotions right now but equally less in words for how to explain this amazing book which works for all readers as a guide or atleast a practical psychology manual on learning to keep our visions clear towards our families & personal-mental upliftment. This is not just for adults but for teenagers too. For married and unmarried, both categories of readers, to somewhere guiding them to make sure they always do things right and be empathetic.

If one goes with this therapeutic work of hers, he/she will surely get relaxed in their moral senses and even for starters her ‘Regulation Reward Wheel’ from this book is in itself comprises of all the pin points one need to know about in brief detail to find inner peace. The aims she put in initial stage of book, she committedly put forth value to each of the noted ones in the list.

However, I’m very much in touch with the types of meditation, as all the meditation ways were evolved in ancient India only, along with the spiritual discipline that our mind requires, we called ‘Yoga’. World realises on 21st Jun’14 to mark it as an ‘International Day of Yoga’, suggested by Indian PM Mr. Narendra Modi in his UN address. 197 countries hailed and approved his call. In addition though, we all Indians or say most inhabitants in India, are very much familiar to these yoga techniques already. Yoga proved to be a success to us all even in deepest of hard times resulting to stay calm and meditated be it in CORONA times or great depression of West affecting east too and for say, the frequent recessions of Jobs.

Pictorial representations of many of her content were also so much catchy for anyone to understand what she expressed with words. One of the epitome among all was the ‘Child behaviour vs parents’.

Best of the entire topics that author mentioned, I liked primarily the one on “Relationships”. In-between the poetries were also good, specially “Come back to your own roots”. ‘Myth boosters’ were good realizations for those who follow societal traits and do not want to try their own brains to handle situations.
Chapter on ‘Conscious Parenting’ was my most favourite. Some best takeaways from it are:
• Engaging in conscious parenting creates a foundation for our children built on trust, empathy, and mutual respect.
• Journaling Exercise
• Ancestral wisdom of sharing stories. Gather as a family to share stories about your ancestors or cultural heritage. This helps children connect with their roots and understand the values and traditions that shape your family.
• Take a moment each day to reflect on your progress—as an individual separate from being a parent, as your parent’s child, and as a parent yourself. Look back and see how far you’ve come. Celebrate your successes, no matter how small, and be gentle with yourself when you stumble.

I would like to highlight few points here out of numerous Bonnie chose to mentioned here which are universal factors working factually in all of our cases, one way or another:
• Children don’t need to constantly be surrounded by the newest toys or activities.
• We are hard-wired for connection. The opposite of dysregulation is connection, so it makes sense that when we were pushed out of our tribe —which kept us safe—we faced a heightened risk of harm and struggled to survive. When we feel disconnected, it intrinsically links to feelings of dysregulation. It is an innate need to gather in tribes.
• Creating something tangible, especially when it’s for personal reflection, connection, and Self-awareness, brings a sense of accomplishment and can help alleviate difficulties with Self-esteem.

There are many facts that readers read and might never knew earlier, like about: -
• Vagus nerve
• The darkness and the moon support melatonin production, helping us sleep.
• Parasympathetic Activation
• Unlearning the Pressure of Play
• For millennia, diverse cultures from all across the earth gathered and learnt the gift of the breath to create balance and harmony within families. From the yogis of India and their pranayama breath teachings to the breathing rituals sound within indigenous tribes, the healing power of the breath if the true beginning and foundation of wellness.

Activities mentioned/asked to perform are very much engaging one must try for sure to lighten their minds. ‘Dream Mapping’ & ‘Nature Weaving’ were two of them. Meditation stories were so calm.

I have read Bonnie before from her debut work “The Seasons of Me”. She is so good in putting emotions and her way to make connection with her readers is amazing. She is a trained Pregnancy/Post-partum Yoga Teacher, as well as a Hypnobirthing Teacher. Her way to bring or channelizing the transformation in one’s lifestyle as a human being for a family is worth appreciable.

For me this is 5.0/5.0, full on.

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This is such a wonderful family book. My husband and I loved to read to this together. It had such wonderful points, and beautiful topics. It was very helpful in all the different areas it discussed.

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