A thorough guide, but it positions its methodology as a panacea.
A self-help book that explores the transformative power of breathwork to unlock human potential.
Sipma combines personal stories and practical exercises in this guidebook that takes readers on a journey of self-discovery and emotional healing. The author experienced a seismic shift in her professional and personal lives following a breathwork retreat in Bali and wants to share her secret with others. “Breathing is much more than a binary, basic function of biological maintenance,” she writes; “it’s a channel through which you can activate your natural capacity for immense healing and personal growth.” If readers release their “blocks,” defined as “patterns, beliefs, or behaviors that prevent you from realizing your full potential,” they can achieve their wildest dreams, Sipma claims. To that end, she created a practice called “hypnobreathwork,” which involves setting an intention, discovering insights, and taking action. Dissolving triggers from childhood trauma and uncovering parental blocks are the primary focuses for healing. Next, she teaches readers how to identify purpose, engage with the shadow self (defined as “the undesirable parts of ourselves that we repress or deny”), and release financial anxiety. Steps for improving relationships include understanding attachment style, or the way one relates to others in relationships, often formed in childhood. Sipma believes one can identify and manifest one’s purpose by tapping into intuition and serving others, and she draws inspiration from thought leaders like Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins, and Bessel van der Kolk throughout the book. She also provides QR codes so readers can access guided audio breathwork sessions. The book’s strengths lie in its unique breathwork approach and structured exercises that provide readers with actionable steps to improve their lives. Similarly to other books that espouse the law of attraction, this guide tells readers to “breathe your way to abundance.” Other advice, like “shift to a state of gratitude” and “have a pure intention,” may seem recycled to avid self-help readers. Finally, some of Sipma’s familial and romantic frameworks are heteronormative and use binary gender roles, such as assuming every reader has a mother and a father. Statements like “life does not have to be about sacrifices” don’t acknowledge the impact that systemic inequalities have on people’s circumstances.
A thorough guide, but it positions its methodology as a panacea.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2024
ISBN: 9781608689262
Page Count: 272
Publisher: New World Library
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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