Reviews for Wellmania : extreme misadventures in the search for wellness

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An Australian travel writer's exuberant sampling of wellness methods.After years of drinking, smoking, and carefree eating, Guardian senior writer Delaney (This Restless Life: Churning Through Love, Work, and Travel, 2009, etc.) sought to "reset my body and my life." Enticed by a magazine assignment, the author left Brooklyn for her native Australia to embark on a controversial, promise-laden 101-day fasting program and evaluate its effectiveness. Though the program's core clinician diagnosed her as "highly toxic," the author began the hardcore regimen with a mixture of enthusiasm, hopefulness, and skepticism. Though she didn't finish successfully, the process itself was by turns fascinating, grueling, and tedious. Her body revolted, her mind raced, and her breath became repulsive; she also suffered two bouts of frightening chest pain. Delaney expanded her wellness survey to include the extreme, sweat-dripping physical demands of Bikram yoga. She also opines on the addictive nature of the multibillion-dollar wellness industry and how it has replaced religion for some, and she evaluates its place in society as a commodity. She effectively explores the nuances of the "so-called healing crisis paradox" and, through her own anecdotes and experiences, probes how and why people feel the need to detoxify their bodies (and minds) and emerge "clean" from impurities. In the final section, Delaney delves into the art of coffee colonics, meditation, and the mindful serenity craze, chronicling her time at a silent retreat. While the author reached no profound epiphany, she admits that "the road to wellness has been my own personal stations of the cross," achieved with mixed results. Throughout the narrative, Delaney proves to be a witty tour guide across the wellness wonderland, and the book will certainly appeal to readers curious to dip their feet in.Eye-opening and entertainingly voyeuristic, this impressionistic taste test illustrates the struggles more than the benefits of detoxification techniques. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Delaney, a lifestyle journalist, takes the reader through her 12-year search for wellness in this amusing memoir. She belatedly realizes that navel-gazing may not be healthy as she relentlessly pursues all that the wellness industry offers in sections titled after the holy trinity of wellness goals: "Clean" (eating healthily), "Lean" (getting into shape), and "Serene" (finding happiness). In "Clean," the reader joins her in a grueling 101-day fast in Australia, her homeland. She combines vivid descriptions, such as of a required daily herb drink described as resembling, in taste, flat beer with 10 cigarettes mixed in; hysterical accounts, such as of her stealing breakfast from a business associate; and medical explanations of what's really happening to her body. "Lean" looks at the benefits of daily yoga as well as its drawbacks, such as rampant consumerism and commodification. The meatiest section, "Serene," explores meditation retreats, from a spooky monastery to an off-the-wall new age retreat where psychotherapy is practiced. Delaney is generous in sharing her experiences and skillful in weaving them into reported facts, but stingy in doling out conclusions. She offers only two paragraphs of concrete advice, which basically boils down to "build a routine." Still, the book gives copious examples of how one could start doing that. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

It seems like everywhere you turn, you are confronted by unsolicited tips on how to detox your mind, body, and soul in an effort to reach a state of blissful mindfulness and balanced wellness. But what does that even mean? Delaney found herself asking this very question and set out to achieve the holy trinity of wellness and become clean, lean, and serene. Delaney's aptly named misadventures offer insight into the billion-dollar wellness industry and the lives of those privileged enough to take part in it. She explains what worked for her and what went disastrously, and sometimes disgustingly, wrong on her quest for wellness. Over the years, Delaney has tried fasting, colonics, spiritual retreats, yoga retreats, and $12 cold-pressed juices, all in an effort to attain the seemingly unattainable. Her dry humor, self-deprecation, and relatable imperfections make for an enjoyable and surprisingly informative read. Commenting on both the negative and positive aspects of the wellness industry, Wellmania offers an entertaining introduction to this perennially buzzed-about topic.--Smith, Patricia Copyright 2018 Booklist

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