The latest release by local author Johannes de Villiers is entering its third week as the number one bestseller at Stellenbosch Exclusive Books.
The book, Kalmte in die malle gejaag: Mindfulness vir besige mense, became the bestseller just two weeks after it was released on 28 February. It’s bestseller streak from 14th March, preceded its official launch event which took place on 27 March.
It can be found in bookstores across the country, from Exclusive Books in major cities to independent bookstores in Hermanus.
The book is a guide through the technique of mindfulness using the anecdotes and experiences of ordinary people who found it helped them to create calm and awe in every moment, even the difficult ones. De Villiers combines his background in journalism, mindfulness and yoga training to write a personal but researched insight into the topic.
The book has already landed de Villiers in Huisgenoot’s March issue, 4 radio show interviews, Book of the Month in Good Housekeeping magazine and an interview on Kwêla, a show about interesting South Africans.
The launch was attended by more than 40 people, half of whom bought a copy of the book on the evening. “There were all sorts of literati and glitterati – it was lovely. I felt very chuffed. Lina Spies, the poet, local celebrities and even three dominees attended – no complaints from me!” said De Villiers about the evening.
Antoinette Louw read an extract from the book and “…added a bit of glamour.,” said De Villiers.
De Villiers addresses the crowd at the launch of his new book. Aydn Parrott, Exclusive Books book seller, said an elderly woman had bought a copy before the launch to take to her ill husband who had found an extract to be an inspiration to get better. PHOTO: Supplied
When asked about the enthusiastic support of the town for his book he said, “It’s lovely and wonderful. It feels like being at your own funeral because people come and they say all these nice things about you. I went to bed with a big smile on my face.”
De Villiers says the time of people associating mindfulness with “hippies or weirdos” is coming to an end and many are realising that it can be useful to them. He says, “The book’s cover says ‘mindfulness for busy people’, but it should have maybe been mindfulness for ordinary people…
“We find that people come to us and they are people who are the staff at a retirement village, postgraduate students, homemakers or corporates – they all say they have heard about this thing and need it to cope. The book specifically does not focus on mindfulness for the traditional meditation set, but instead for regular people. We wanted to make it as approachable as possible for a general audience.”
Because of that, he says that the book purposefully has no English translation. He wanted the book to cater for an Afrikaans audience, who would be skeptical of mindfulness at first, but who could benefit from it if it was explained to them in their own language.
As an example he said, “I went to a book club in Paarl last week and it was all older ladies. They all said they’re okay with this mindfulness thing, but don’t say that ‘meditation’ word – it freaks them out.”
He says anyone can relate to the contemplative aspect of mindfulness because it is present in every culture. “Every culture has a contemplative tradition within it – Christianity has contemplative prayer, Islam has Sufism and even in the secular tradition there is contemplative neuroscience which studies what happens in the brain when you practice these things.
“You do not need to abandon your culture, religion or worldview and adopt another one in order to practice mindfulness. You can find something of that within your own culture and work with that. That is more effective than trying to put on a different hat – it wouldn’t be authentic.”
When asked if he is famous in town yet, de Villiers said “I am hopefully not famous! The book is hopefully famous- I just hope I can dodge the spotlight.” PHOTO: Christi Nortier
He has written two other books which focus on Science and History. He said that this book was a bit more personal as he didn’t have the scientific research and data as a buffer. “This is not ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ confessional journalism, but I used my own life as a washing line on which I could hang the stories of people I’ve met over the years,” he explained.
De Villiers is a journalist and has worked at Rapport and Huisgenoot, among others. He is a lecturer at the Department of Journalism at Stellenbosch University (SU) and is an owner and instructor at The Hot Yoga Studio in Stellenbosch.