Lola Tillyaeva seems to find success in a wide range of fields. She has been an award-winning film producer, an entrepreneur, an environmental activist and at one point, a delegate to UNESCO. While dealing with her different roles and responsibilities, Lola is often asked how she is able to manage it all. Publishing, Be Your Own Harmonist: Awakening Your Inner Wisdom for Physical, Mental and Emotional Wellbeing is her attempt to answer that question.

When writing this book, Lola effectively combined her formal, academic studies and doctorate degree with more eclectic sources of knowledge. The ancient Eastern philosophy of Feng Shui is employed throughout the book. Lola has a deep affinity for Feng Shui, and her perfume house The Harmonist was also found upon its teachings. Reviewing the book, Professor Kennedy of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in Singapore wrote:

“As the author Lola Till states, many great thinkers have tried to answer life’s great questions, using different knowledge bases to come to a range of answers. This journey is one everyone should take for themselves, and this book can serve as a roadmap for people to find their own answers to life’s essential questions.”

Lola describes the book as a ‘self-care guide.’ Her aim is to share some of the strategies she regularly makes use of to harmonize the competing demands upon her time and energy. She sees the book as “a merging of science and spirituality”. Lola considers this union as “crucial to the future of human progress. An all-encompassing solution for unlocking your intuition and living to your greatest potential.”

Besides her remarkable life experience, decades of research has also gone into writing Be Your Own Harmonist. The conclusion the book reaches is that the “delicate interplay between our physical, emotional and mental wellness are critical to leading a richer, more balanced and satisfying life”.

Lola begins the book by discussing physiological issues such as chronic inflammation and explores how yoga can be used to manage it. She also explores the crucial role of regular sleep routines and healthy eating habits. Next, she looks at psychological and emotional health by talking about the latest research on brain plasticity, meditation and breathwork. At this point she offers some practical applications she employs in her own life. Lola Tillyaeva then outlines how the reader can access their heart intelligence to build emotional resilience – something which can prove to be valuable while living in today’s competitive society. To conclude, Lola reflects on the underappreciated positive influence of forgiveness on our mental health

This relationship between forgiveness and positive mental health has been gaining widespread recognition. The American Psychological Association reports:

“Research has shown that forgiveness is linked to mental health outcomes such as reduced anxiety, depression and major psychiatric disorders, as well as with fewer physical health symptoms and lower mortality rates.”

Be Your Own Harmonist is a timely reminder that mental and emotional health is one of humanity’s oldest problems. It is perhaps then no surprise that the answers to these can be found in knowledge both ancient and new.