Book Plug - Dancing Through Life: A Guide to Living Well by Ann Parkinson | Footsteps Festival

Book Plug – Dancing Through Life: A Guide to Living Well by Ann Parkinson

23/02/2022

POSTPONED! sadly we have had to postpone this event on compassionate grounds – we will rearrange soon!

Join us for this Footsteps Festival Book Plug to discuss the fascinating book “Dancing through Life: A Guide to Living Well” written by Ann Parkinson (Pain Specialist Physiotherapist & Wellness Coach). It will be held via Zoom on Tuesday 22nd February at 7pm GMT.

Book Plugs provide an opportunity to showcase new books in the area of pain management and science. The author and host discuss the book and then there is an opportunity for a relaxed and interesting question and answer session for participants. It is not necessary to have read the book before the Book Plug!

Ann has been helping people struggling with pain for over 10 years and has learnt to live well with pain and fatigue herself. This book aims to empower people to live well through an integrative approach to nurturing health & wellbeing as part of life.

This Book Plug is discussing “Dancing through Life: A Guide to Living Well” written by Ann Parkinson (Pain Specialist Physiotherapist & Wellness Coach). Ann has been helping people struggling with pain for over 10 years and has learnt to live well with pain and fatigue herself.

This book aims to empower people to live well through an integrative approach to nurturing health & wellbeing as part of life. It covers different aspects that can help us live well with the things that we can struggle with, such as, pain, fatigue, stress and anxiety. The PACE’s & SIM’s are the key concepts in the book that provide a framework for wellness. It is a combination of professional expertise, evidenced based practice and personal experiences. It is a practical guide that explores different aspects and concepts that help us all to look after our health and wellbeing.

Ann has a particular interest in compassion, compassion has so many benefits for our wellbeing and that of others, including that it can help people who are struggling with pain. There is a chapter on compassion in the book and as one of the reviews on amazon mentions ‘there’s a golden thread of compassion running throughout the whole book.’

Some of the book reviews:

‘…As a person in pain I find her style empowering, her information supportive all wrapped up in a kind approach. An approach to writing and communicating complex information on pain in an accessible format. The section on PACE’s & SIM’s is full of practical, achievable ideas. These are inspiring. A unique inspiration to finding a positive outlook for life. I’d say these nuggets of advice would be achievable and realistic for all life whether in pain or not.

The personal story of Ann brings authenticity to her compassion and understanding of pain. As a person also in pain the most attractive part of Ann’s writing is the interactive element. The inviting practices are a key element to living in a life with pain, but without suffering.

The message that flows throughout is undeniably helpful; compassion, flexible persistence, movement and practice.’ Ruth Barber, Yoga Teacher, living with pain.

‘…In this book, Ann skilfully and compassionately outlines how it is possible to continue to live a fulfilling and meaningful life without the fight against symptoms that can sometimes take up all of our energy. The book brings together expertise in exercise and health with up to date neuroscience and the wisdom of ancient traditions. All of this diverse information is woven together in an accessible way to provide good advice from an author who has extensive experience of using the approaches that she outlines both with her own personal pain and that of people who seek her help. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anybody who is looking for a new way of negotiating life in the best way possible despite physical challenges – it is likely to provide you with new insights at each reading.’ Dr Chris Penlington, Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer, Newcastle University.

‘Dancing through Life is a book I would love all my patients and health care mentees to read. It is a step towards humanizing health care, a beacon of human resilience, and a practical guide to living well.’ Neil Pearson, Physiotherapist, Yoga Therapist, Professor.

Dancing through life book cover

examples of the illustrations and diagrams in the book pretty blurry and just for pretty

Some of the illustrations and diagrams that make the book so engaging.

Ann Parkinson

Ann is a physiotherapist who, since graduation, has specialised in helping people with persistent pain & those with neurological conditions. She is also trained as a coach and NLP practitioner, these are integrated with acceptance and commitment therapy, compassionate mind training, yoga and physiotherapy to help create whole person individualised care. Ann founded and runs Unity Physiotherapy & Wellbeing (www.unityphysio.co.uk). Ann believes compassion needs to be at the heart of all healthcare and that compassion, connection, meaning and living a values aligned life are all important factors in looking after our health & wellbeing as well as in recovery from suffering with pain.

Ann Parkinson white woman with grey brown long hair smiling