Suffolk man who broke back in skiing accident to release new book about ‘kindfulness’

Tim Leach is launching his new book, Timinology next month. Picture: ANGELA WARD (Image: Archant)

A Suffolk man who broke his back whilst skiing is to release a book about mindfulness after the technique changed his life.

In 2007 Tim had an accident whilst skiing in France breaking his neck, his back.

He ended up in an induced coma for three weeks.

Tim’s accident had both physical and mental impacts. It reduced his ability to concentrate and left him unable to recognise faces.

Tim skiing before his accident. Picture: ANGELA WARD (Image: Archant)

“My life has completely changed. It took a long time to get my head around it,” says Tim.

“At the time, I genuinely believed I was the unluckiest person on earth – however, my injuries could have been significantly worse; I could easily have been completely paralysed or died.”

As Tim recovered physically he found that mentally he was still feeling negative. Many of his friends were starting to move on and get married.

Wanting to find love in his own life Tim took a day’s course with pick up artists (puas).

“Straightaway he seemed different from the other PUA’s we’d seen that day,” says Tim.

“His opening line, ‘none of you will successfully find your perfect match until you completely understand and find yourself’, reverberated within me.”

This chance meeting sent Tim down the path of mindfulness or rather what he calls ‘kindfulness’.

“Kindfulness is exactly how it sounds - being kind to yourself and others in a mindful way,” says Tim.

Tim now runs mindfulness courses and offers a life consultancy service.

His new book, Timinology, is a way of sharing what he has learnt in a way that is different from other similar books.

“A lot of self help books skirt around issues,” says Tim.

Rather than delve into what he describes as ‘spiritual elitism’ Tim hopes that his book is more concise and easier to read.

For Tim the key is to stop and think about why we do something but it’s not always easy.

“It’s not something that happens overnight,” says Tim, “We have to work on it.”

Timinology will be released on March to coincide with Brain Awareness Week. Tim will also be holding an event in Aldeburgh on March 31 to celebrate the release.