I’m delighted to welcome author, Tamara Donn, to my blog for a chat about her debut book, Frazzled to Fabulous in 5 Minutes a Day, being bitten by a wild gerbil in the Israeli desert, and helping hundreds of mums get their sanity back!
Tamara is an international speaker, author, EFT Master Trainer, family constellation and parenting mentor. Her book, Frazzled to Fabulous in 5 Minutes a Day, is the essential book for mums who are fed up with feeling stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted and want to learn a brilliantly simple way to stay calm, enjoy your kids more and get more done in just 5 minutes a day for 30 days.
Together with her husband, Peter Donn, they run the EFT training Centre, training people to become EFT practitioners internationally. They won the Janey Lee Grace Platinum Award for excellence of training.
Tamara’s presentations include several mental health conferences for adults and children, police force welling events, Association of Median Therapies (now known as GOE) Conference, Association of Peri and Pre Natal Psychology Congress and the Womb To World Conference.
Tamara lives in Hertfordshire, UK with her husband and daughter and in her spare time, you will find her hanging out at her allotment, jogging mindfully while listening to inspiring talks or dancing round the kitchen!
Tell us a little about yourself. (How did you get started writing? What do you do when you’re not writing?)
My husband, Peter, has been pestering me to write a book for a long as I can remember! For a while I ignored him, then a told him never to mention the B word and finally it came to me that actually it would be a good idea. I will share the moment of inspiration later! The writing process has been a very long drawn out affair that started 5 years ago. Each year after that I thought that this would be the year I finally published my book. But no, life got in the way!
It has literally felt like a very long pregnancy followed by a very long stop-start labour and finally I feel as if I’m about to give birth. The birth of my daughter was a week long stop start journey (which is long for humans) so maybe that is just my creative pattern of birthing.
Is this your first book? How many books have you written prior (if any?)
It’s my first book. I hope I want to write more but we shall see. I am publishing a workbook to go along side my book but not sure if that really counts!
What genre is it, and what is it about?
It’s a self help book for stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted mums who want to regain their calm, enjoy their kids and get more done.
What or who inspired you to write this book?
I was motivated to write this book after I took a few hundred mums on a 30 day challenge journey to “get their sanity back”. It involved taking 5 minutes of their 1440 minutes per day to watch a 5 minute video of mine every day for 30 days.
I told them that if they followed my instructions they would lay the foundations to a calmer, more productive and fulfilling life for themselves and their families. Having worked with hundreds of mums before this, I knew that this was possible but what I was not expecting were the brilliant side-effects such as:
- not needing a glass of wine or bar of chocolate at the end of the day
- waking up feeling great again
- period pains and other aches and pains disappearing
- not spending money on themselves to make them feel better because they felt so good
- partners asking them what they’ve been doing because they seem so happy!
At the end of the challenge, I was so blown away by the life-changing results that I wanted to be able to share this process with other mums. Realising that the best way to get the information out there, would be to write a book, I gave it a shot.
So what was on the videos that was so life-changing? Each video contained a process to follow on topics such as stress, exhaustion, having no time, not being able to change, guilt and more. The process is a little known powerful stress-relief technique called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping which is like acupuncture for emotions without the use of needles. It is easy to learn, quick to apply often with fast results.
What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
Having found the process hard work, I would encourage other aspiring authors to get help. Having an accountability partner or a coach at various points on the journey were the times I made most progress. Take yourself away on a personal writer’s retreat. I did that a few times and it really helped to remove all the distractions of daily life.
What do you enjoy most about writing and why?
Writing feels quite therapeutic, a way of expressing myself and helping me get my thoughts in order. On my morning walks or jogs I often find new insights or realisations arise and I can’t wait to put my ideas down on paper or on my blog.
List three interesting facts about yourself
In 2012, I took part in the Olympics Opening Ceremony in London. I was one of the maidens in the green and pleasant land of England. My responsibility was to look after 5 children who danced around the maypole. The moment when I was standing in the middle of the stadium, watching and listening to the countdown, surrounded a huge live audience and millions of people worldwide who had all come together in peace, was literally one of the highlights of my life.
I went on a spiritual journey to Egypt with a small group led by my meditation teacher. She hired out the great pyramid at 6am one morning for us to meditate inside.
I got bitten by a wild gerbil in the Israeli desert which managed to sneak up my trouser leg without me noticing. I needed to have 6 rabies injections as a result!
What is your least favourite part of the publishing/writing process?
Definitely going over the edits and proofs again and again and again. I didn’t realise what I massive job writing a book is and that there is so much more work to do even once the book is written.
What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?
Follow the instructions in the book, share your experiences either in my support group (details in the book), tell your friends and spread the word that being a mum does not have to be a struggle. Once the techniques described in the book become a habit, use them with your children so that they grow up with this powerful self-help stress relief technique that they will have access to for the rest of their lives. My dream is that if enough mums read the book, practice the techniques, and share them with their children, we can change our children to be a calmer, happier and kinder generation.
What is your next project?
My next project is to populate and popularise my new Frazzled to Fabulous Club for Mums which runs along side the book for extra motivation, support and lots of EFT videos to watch on all stressful mum matters.
Connect with Tamara here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamaradonneft/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamaraDonnEFT
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tamara27uk
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/TamaraDonn/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamaraDonn
Book Blurb:
“All the stress and chaos that felt insurmountable became manageable in a very calming way. It was life-changing for me in so many ways.” – Natalie Bachiri
Who knew that being a mum would involve juggling so many balls that it was impossible to keep them in the air at the same time?
Find out how to manage the juggle without feeling overwhelmed with a powerful 30-day system to lay the foundations for:
- A great relationship with your children
- Being productive with your time
- Abundant energy
- Creating ‘time out’ for yourself – without feeling guilty or undeserving.
All you need is at least 5 minutes a day to create a calmer, happier, easier life for you and your children.
What are you waiting for?
Shelley Wilson Author 