Pilates for Parenting by Holli Kenley
Holli Kenley
Loving Healing Press (2019)
ISBN: 9781615994878
Reviewed by Rachel Dehning for Readers View (6/20)
Holli Kenley’s latest book, Pilates for Parenting, is an important and impactful read. I had never heard of the correlation made between exercise and parenting, but Kenley flows the two together effortlessly. Much like exercise is important for the positive functioning of your body, learning to “stretch,” “strengthen,” and “balance” your parenting techniques is important for the positive functioning of your relationships.
Understanding the importance of exercise to strengthen your body, it only makes sense that for something as important as parenting, there should be workouts for it as well. We should think of Kenley as our trainer; her routine initially includes a warmup, much like a personal pep talk, followed by a workout for each parenting topic, which includes two to three exercises to perform in each workout. The workouts are meant to be done purposefully, so rushing and not putting your heart into the work is not proper grounds to move forward.
Kenley includes research to back up her claims about the proper parenting styles and the obstacles that parents must overcome in this day and age, namely, technology and social media. She includes three Appendixes at the end to aid us parents who need her help and refreshingly speaks openly about personal experiences that pertain to each topic.
Holli Kenley’s “Pilates for Parenting” can be used by any parent raising children in today’s society. I love that in the book, she emphasizes the fact that even if the reader starts discovering things they need to work on, that you shouldn’t let that keep you down- learning to forgive and correct is part of the journey. She writes inclusively and with compassion. I can’t say enough good things about her and this book because if people will take her words to heart, it is true that not only family relationships will improve, but also relationships in the community and around the world.
Reprinted with permission from Reader Views
Jennifer Bonn
I recently retired from teaching after forty years. During that time, I have tried to balance my writing, my teaching, and my family life. Retirement is offering me the chance to spend more time with my writing and I could not be more grateful. Let me tell you about my passion for writing.
My years in the classroom have taught me lessons I have used in my writing. One of the things that teaching has taught me is that everyone needs some encouragement, even when life is full of blessings. I enjoy providing that encouragement for both my students and my readers. Teaching also taught me the importance of community and relationships. I hope I can help readers find the way to build the community and life they need to be happy.
Writing has always been an activity that gives me peace. I tell people I am usually smiling when I am writing. My specialties are parenting, running, education, and self-help. I self-published a teaching guide called Stay Away from the Girl’s Bathroom. (The girl’s bathroom at my school was where all the drama happened, so you entered at your own risk.) I write monthly essays for my local media in two magazines and our newspaper. I have been published in a variety of magazines from Trail Runner to Atlanta Parents. I have a blog that you can reach at www.jenniferswriting.org, a Pinterest page that is found at https://www.pinterest.com/jenniferbonn, and I can be found at medium.com.
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