|
BOOKING HER WAY TO HEALTH
StarMag, June 4, 2006
EVERYONE knows that the key to being happy and working well is good health. This is especially important if you are a regular face on TV, or if you’re a stage actor – audiences and those who pay for your services always expect you to look good and perform well.
No one is more aware of that than Joanna Bessey, who starred in sitcoms Kopitiam and All Mixed Up.
|
|
Joanna Bessey: It's important to feel good, spiritually and mentally. |
|
Bessey says her current reference books for good health are The pH Miracle by Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young, as well as The Cure for all Diseases by Hulda Regehr Clark.
“The Cure for all Diseases is really interesting. You can actually cure yourself of almost anything through natural ingredients. This is not so much about diet but cleansing the body,” she explains enthusiastically.
“The theory is that all of our illnesses, when they’re not psychosomatic, come from parasites in the body and certain toxins that get into the body. Basically it’s about cleansing the body of them.
“This book is a bit extreme because it has cures for things like cancer, etc. But if you take it with a pinch of salt and use what applies to you, then that’s fine. Otherwise, when you first read it you get all freaked out.”
Bessey likes these kinds of books because, to her, it’s important to feel good, spiritually and mentally.
“If your body feels terrible, all your energy and concentration will be lost and you won’t be able to look outward and get on with what you really want to do.” One of her all-time favourites is a booklet called The Way to Happiness, printed by The Way to Happiness Foundation International (www.twth.org). According to her, after the booklet was distributed in Los Angeles, United States, its police department found that the crime rate in the city went down.
“It has things that we universally agree upon – how to be happy and how to look after the environment. Last year I got married and we gave this booklet as a gift with our picture on the front, together with chocolates.
“You can read it for free online.”
Another book she recommends is Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brookes, about an Australian journalist working in the Middle East.
“She writes from her perspective on what was going on in Iran when the Ayatollah (Khomeini) came in. She also analyses the translations of the Quran. It gives you another view of how the Quran is subject to interpretation.”
Bessey has just finished reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
“It’s a very good book. Apparently it’s based on a true story about a boy who was in a shipwreck and managed to survive for 227 days at sea. He’s on a lifeboat with a tiger, and he practises Islam, Christianity and Hinduism all at the same time. This book mixes fiction with reality. Sometimes you’re not sure when it’s fiction and when it’s not.”
She read a lot of fiction when she was young – Enid Blyton, classic tales, Nancy Drew, Roald Dahl and even Jeffrey Archer. Dahl was her favourite author as a child.
“I loved the fact that it was always fascinating that we learnt new things. When I was small I used to complain to my mum, ‘I’m bored, mum. I’m bored.’ Until I was eight, I was an only child. So, mum used to buy me books that helped me make arts and crafts. As a child, books help you learn about the world through other people’s experiences.”
As she grew older she became more interested in non-fiction stories. Books which are more biographical and based on reality appeal to her, as do those on humanity.
“Actually, books which are part fiction and part reality are probably the closest to fiction that I normally get. Real life fascinates me. How people live, what makes them do what they do, civilisations, what actually has occurred on this planet – these things fascinate me. To me that’s a lot more gripping than, say, science fiction.
“I don’t have any favourite authors. I don’t think I have read any one author enough to say that that’s my favourite because there are so many good writers out there and so many well-written books.”
Currently, Bessey is reading Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. She hasn’t watched the movie and doesn’t intend to until she’s finished the book.
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
ALSO:
Help for bad knees, September 25, 2006
One of the 'famous five', September 24, 2006
Tribal treasures on show, September 17, 2006
Common thread, September 11, 2006
Motivational tools, August 13, 2006
Thumbs up for Hammer and humour, July 9, 2006
How it all adds up, May 21, 2006
A web of interests, April 30, 2006
No limit to ideas, March 26, 2006
Small wonder, March 19, 2006
Powered by books, Feb 26, 2006
What's in a bag?, Jan 8, 2006
Making a list, checking it twice, Jan 1, 2006
Versatile reader, Dec 25, 2005
Memories of Xmas past, Dec 25, 2005
Affordable art by Masters, Dec 18, 2005
The alchemy of jewellery, Dec 18, 2005
Fantasy reigns supreme, Nov 6, 2005
Words to examine her soul by, Oct 23, 2005
Growing need for online remedy, Oct 9, 2005
Yearning for learning, Oct 9, 2005
Lim laughs and learns, Oct 2, 2005
From Thumbelina to Middlesex, Sept 25, 2005
Death of the local folktale?, Aug 28, 2005
Raving about retro, July 17, 2005
A Beary nice era, indeed, July 17, 2005
Λ back
to top |
|
