A conversation with Elena Iacono: What insights can we bring to our post-pandemic lives?

Audiobook Reviews in Five Minutes

In today’s extended episode, I chat with Elena Iacono. Elena is a professional colleague of mine who helps empower people to support their well-being and mental health, including flexible resources and compassionate workplace practices. Elena has inspired me with her passion for exploring food and gardening. When her grandmother died in April 2020 during the early days of the pandemic, Elena lovingly replicated her Nonna’s cherished recipes in a cookbook, which she used to raise more than $60,000 for Food Banks Canada, roughly the equivalent of 200,000 meals.

Elena and I share a love of non-fiction, especially evidence-based work about well-being and managing mental health. Our conversation includes highlights of our favourite recent books, our reflections on leaving the pandemic with new insights about what it means to care for ourselves, and the power of curiosity and our environment to lift our spirits.

Follow Elena on Instagram @ epiacono

Sign up for Elena’s newsletter: https://www.elenaiacono.com/

Elena recommends:

· Mental Health Commission of Canada (resource hub)

· Mental Health First Aid

· Canadian Mental Health Association

· Anxiety Canada

· Root in Nature programs

· Kids Help Phone

· The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature by Sue Stuart-Smith

· Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan

Books we mention during this podcast:

· The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

· Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer

· Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life by Francesca Gino

· The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stone

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· Audiobook Reviews in Five Minutes website: https://podcast.jannastam.com/

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jannastam

Audio production by Graham Stephenson

Episode music: Caprese by Blue Dot Sessions

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