Mountain Mantras: Wellness and Life Lessons from the Slopes

A vacation in Sun Valley inspires Kemp Guylay to leave the competitiveness and complexity of Chicago in search of a simpler, more wholesome life, in this guide on improving your life.

Mountain Mantras offers six attitude-changing mantras that the author created while learning to ski – an experience she found humbling and enlightening. These mantras, coupled with advice and techniques are designed to integrate decision-making resources such as the rational mind, the creative heart and the primal ‘gut’ instinct, to make choices that effectively lead us to an overall wellness.

While the author uses many skiing experiences and the mantras are designed around ski expressions, such as “planting your poles”, and “having a yard sale”, she acknowledges that this book is not about skiing per se, but a book to encourage behavior and attitude changes. The author’s positive tone and light, simple language encourages readers through the simple lessons and actionable steps in three areas –life, on the slopes and for general wellness. In the conclusion, the author showcases how each mantra can be applied to aspects of life, using the example of how each mantra specifically guided her with the writing of this book.

Kemp Guylay uses a wealth of metaphors and comparisons to convey the principles of each story. While these offer an assortment of ways to identify with the various points, at times they become redundant, and threaten the cohesiveness of the narrative. The motivational catchy phrases employed are also double-edged swords: highlighting points but also become gimmicky in their rhyming scheme that creates an inconsistent tone in the narrative.

Mountain Mantras provides a plethora of information on behavioral changes, mindfulness and much emphasis on diet, food practices and nutritional advice. In addition to the references to numerous authors in the narrative itself, Kemp Guylay includes a chapter on resources at the end of the book, which includes web links and QR codes on organizations and actionable steps one can take on their path to wellness. There is also a detailed breakdown on yoga poses one can use to achieve the goals for each mantra.

Mountain Mantras offers mantras inspired from the mountains and solid advice to nurture the body, mind and spirit.