My social and general anxiety disorders were also linked to Asperger’s syndrome, the PTSD I was also diagnosed with, and being extremely introverted. I still have anxious days occasionally, but I’ve learned a lot about dealing with it in the last decade.

One thing that helped my anxiety a lot was EMDR therapy. But, as is often the case with this blog, I also read a lot of great books for anxiety during my adventures in bibliotherapy. In a small 2022 study with Turkish high school students, researchers found that reading fiction might reduce symptoms of anxiety by promoting awareness of other people’s feelings and improving problem-solving skills.

The best books for anxiety to soothe your nerves

I tend to think about three types of books to read when you have anxiety: self-help books about anxiety, books you can’t put down to lose yourself in, and calming books to help you take a deep breath and relax. I’ll share a few from each section below.

So here we go, my selection of the best books for anxiety, which I hope you’ll find useful too.

1. Hope and Help for Your Nerves: End Anxiety Now by Claire Weekes

My heart beats too fast. My hands tremble and sweat. I feel like there’s a weight on my chest. My stomach churns. I have terrible headaches. I can’t sleep. Sometimes I can’t even leave my house…

This bestselling step-by-step guide – based on the author’s years of experience treating real patients – will show you how to break the cycle of anxiety and feel more calm and balanced every day, no matter what life throws at you. With Dr Weekes’s simple guidance, you can analyse your own symptoms of anxiety and understand exactly how to overcome them for good.

In a Reddit post on the best books for anxiety, amanda_l3ee shares that, “Claire Weekes’ Hope and Help for Your Nerves helped me a great deal. She talks about how your brain can trick your body into feeling things and then those things make your brain spiral deeper until you are caught in a loop of anxiety. Just understanding that this happens and I’m not crazy has helped me manage my anxiety.”

2. Zen: The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyō Masuno

This isn’t a guidebook for anxiety per se, but it is extremely peaceful and soothing – and simple pleasures can be a powerful antidote to slow down and feel less anxious. Find them in Shunmyō Masuno’s gorgeous little book, Zen: The Art of Simple Living. Here are some more of my thoughts on this beautifully illustrated book for self-care.

Read more: 12 relaxing books to calm your mind and soothe your soul

3. The Anxiety Journal: Exercises to Soothe Stress and Eliminate Anxiety Wherever You Are by Corinne Sweet

With this grounding and soothing journal for anxiety, psychologist Corinne Sweet helps you to manage your anxiety with inspiring quotes, mindful exercises, helpful coping mechanisms, and writing prompts backed by cognitive behavioural therapy.

It’s a beautiful little book that’s perfect to carry on the go, complete with a heavy cover to endure wear and tear and lined pages to record your thoughts and track your progress.

4. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

In a Reddit thread about books for anxiety, IntrovertiraniKreten shares that, “Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to stop worrying and start living’ tackles [this] problem more than any book I have ever encountered. That is the go to book I would [advise for] anyone struggling with anxiety, worry or similar mental struggle.”

5. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

If you’re looking for a wholesome and comforting book to soothe your anxiety, The Enchanted April is one of my all-time favourite recommendations. An advertisement in The Times addressed to “Those who Appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine” is the impetus for a revelatory month for four very different women in The Enchanted April.

Mrs Wilkins, Mrs Arbuthnot, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a break from rainy England, come together to unwind and enjoy the Mediterranean spirit, building friendships they had all longed for in a medieval castle high above the bay on the Italian Riviera.

The Enchanted April is a perfect novel to help you to unwind and ease your anxiety, wherever you are in the world.

6. Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

One of the best authors to read when you have anxiety or depression is Matt Haig. He’ll ease your worries, help you be kinder towards yourself, and show you a gentle way of improving your mental health.

Notes on a Nervous Planet is one of the best books for anxiety, and Reasons to Stay Alive is one of the best books for depression. I’d recommend them both to anyone who is human.

Here’s one of my favourite pieces of advice for anxiety from Notes on a Nervous Planet:

“Panic is physical as well as mental. For me, running and yoga help more than anything. Yoga, especially. My body tightens, from hours of being hunched over a laptop, and yoga stretches it out again.”

Read more: Finding balance in an anxious world: Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

7. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne, PhD

When I first started therapy for anxiety when I was about sixteen, my therapist told me to buy this book. It was an earlier edition than the one pictured below, but I remember it being a useful part of my toolkit for managing my anxiety.

That said, overall I found more comfort and guidance for my own anxious feelings from fiction. But therapeutic books for anxiety like this one can make all the difference for a lot of people. I’d definitely recommend getting your own workbook for anxiety and spending some time with it each day.

8. Don’t F*cking Panic: The Shit They Don’t Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression by Kelsey Darragh

If you don’t mind bad language, Kelsey Darragh’s aptly-named Don’t F*cking Panic is probably the most laid-back and informal book you can read for anxiety.

9. How to Relax by Thich Nhat Hanh

Oh, all the things we can learn from Thich Nhat Hanh… I love the Buddhist monk’s “How to” books, especially How to Love – which improved my relationship in so many ways with its timeless wisdom – and this book, How to Relax.

On Reddit, Kj_90 recommends for anxiety: “You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh, or any other of his books. His teachings are really grounding and helpful for anxiety.”

10. Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton

Life isn’t always perfect. But for those of us with anxiety, sometimes we think it should be… and that causes even more anxiety. This beautiful book is an ode to the gifts of imperfection. Relax and unwind with the best Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life in Beth Kempton’s lovely little book, Wabi Sabi.

11. Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks by Barry McDonagh

If you’re tired of just “managing” your anxiety through self-help tactics or medication, Barry McDonagh aims to help you actually break free from anxiety. Based on science and his years of coaching, DARE offers a new way to overcome panic and anxiety disorders. There’s also a popular and well-regarded anxiety workbook by the author to accompany this book if you want some more practical exercises.

One Amazon reviewer says of the book, “Coming from the worst of the worst and a non-reader, this book changed my life overnight”, adding that: “It completely changed my perspective on anxiety and even life. It’s true–YOU are the cure. You just need the right tools. And this book is it”.

12. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

I’ve talked a lot about this book on the blog, and I know a lot of my readers love it too. Read The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down to slow down, breathe deeply, open your heart, and calm your anxiety.

It’s one of my favourite self-help books for anxiety: gentle, soothing, and beautifully illustrated. I’ve shared some more about the simple and timeless wisdom of Haenim Sunim here.

13. The Hobbit: Illustrated Edition by J. R. R. Tolkien

When you’re feeling anxious, sometimes one of the best things to read can be the books that have brought you comfort before. Maybe for you that means re-reading Harry Potter or listening to it as an audiobook before bed, or perhaps there’s a feel-good novel you loved reading a few years ago that you can return to.

When I’m anxious, I love to head off on an adventure into new worlds and leave my anxieties behind with The Hobbit. For an extra dose of relaxation, choose this illustrated edition by Jemima Catlin for beautiful images to take in alongside Tolkien’s timeless words.

14. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

When looking for books for anxiety, it’s hard to go wrong with Bill Bryson. A Walk in the Woods is his feel-good story of hiking some of the most breathtaking terrain in America, spanning towering mountains, peaceful forests, and sparkling lakes from Georgia to Maine. Pick up a copy to hear about Bill’s time on the trail and the memorable faces – human and otherwise – he meets along the way.

15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

“If life could write, it would write like Tolstoy,” wrote Isaac Babel. War and Peace will forever feature on most of my lists of recommended books, especially when they’re books for anxiety. I first read it during the most anxious part of my life, and it unexpectedly brought me so much peace and timeless guidance.

Read War and Peace to learn about life, appreciate its details, and glimpse new dimensions of our humanity. It’s a huge book that can be intimidating, but my comparison of the best translations (short answer: I love the Anthony Briggs version) and guide to getting started with War and Peace should make it easier.

Read more: What Leo Tolstoy Can Teach Us About Overcoming Anxiety

The post 15 of the best books to read when you have anxiety appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Generally I sleep well – and a lot. But not always. And it doesn’t take long for mild insomnia to start stressing me out.

My sleep tactics cover all sorts of bases: including a warm bath with a few drops of neroli oil, a bedtime tea blend, the Calm app, and especially reading or listening to a relaxing book. If you haven’t tried it already, the Audible app has a great sleep timer to turn off after a set amount of time – I give it 40 minutes on a day I’m struggling to wind down.

If you’re not sure what to read before bed, here are some of the most relaxing books to help you sleep if you need a little help drifting off.

(Looking for audiobooks to help you fall asleep? You might like my list of the best bedtime audiobooks to help you drift off to sleep.)

The best books to read before bed

1. How to Read Nature: Awaken Your Senses to the Outdoors You’ve Never Noticed by Tristan Gooley 

Tristan Gooley is one of the best guides to the details and patterns of the natural world. He’s also one of my favourite authors to enjoy via audiobooks, especially How to Read Nature; one of my go-to recommendations of books to help you fall asleep. You’ll drift off dreaming about country fields, mountains, and trickling streams.

2. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Although Donna Tartt is best known for The Goldfinch, her earlier novel The Secret History is an incredible book about a group of classics students with a cult-like following. It also contains one of my favourite quotes about insomnia (and some motivation to try reading The Great Gatsby to help you sleep, too):

“Nothing is lonelier or more disorienting than insomnia. I spent the nights reading Greek until four in the morning, until my eyes burned and my head swam, until the only light burning in Monmouth House was my own. When I could no longer concentrate on Greek and the alphabet began to transmute itself into incoherent triangles and pitchforks, I read The Great Gatsby. It is one of my favourite books and I had taken it out of the library in hopes that it would cheer me up; of course, it only made me feel worse, since in my own humorless state I failed to see anything except what I construed as certain tragic similarities between Gatsby and myself.”

The Secret History

3. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

In a thread about the books to read to fall asleep, Reddit user qiuel writes: “Bit of a weird one, but Norse Mythology. I can’t quite explain it but, as violent as it is at times, there’s something so comfy about Gaiman’s writing.”

This is Neil Gaiman’s retelling of the great Norse myths, breathing new life into the captivating ancient tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki among others.

For other cosy reads (without murder and aggression) to help you fall asleep, head over to my recommendations of the most wholesome comfort reads for a hug from a book.

4. The Bear by Andrew Krivak

I’ve been reading The Bear before bed recently and it’s been the perfect book to help me fall asleep. The book reads like a dream, even though it’s ultimately about loss: it’s a story of the last two humans on earth, a father and daughter living in an Edenic future close to nature. Drift off dreaming of lone mountains, whispering forests, handfuls of foraged herbs, and bears with poignant life lessons if we only stop to listen.

5. The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry’s poems are gorgeous love letters to the land that offer the perfect nighttime reading. Before bed, delve into these short, simple, and profoundly wise hymns to the cycles of nature and hope, love, healing, death, friendship, and belonging. If you already love Mary Oliver’s writing, I think you’ll adore Wendell Berry too.

6. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

When I decided to reread Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights did a fantastic job at helping me to fall asleep more easily. Read about Lyra’s adventures, mythical beasts, and the beautiful aurora in the North as you wind down from the day and prepare for sleep.

7. Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

“Deliberate rest,” as Pang calls it, is the true key to productivity, and will give us more energy, sharper ideas, and a better life. Rest offers a roadmap to rediscovering the importance of rest in our lives, and a convincing argument that we need to relax more if we actually want to get more done.

8. The Collected Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It’s hard to beat a visit to the world of Sherlock Holmes for bedtime reading. Talking about favourite books to read before bed on Reddit, eleganthaunt shares: “Sherlock Holmes is my favorite. I have a volume with all the stories in it, so if I feel like a short story I’ll read that, but if I have more time I’ll start a novel. Takes me back to the wonderfully cozy world of 221b Baker Street every time.”

9. What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey

I read this back in the summer of 2018 after leaving my job and adored it. What I Know For Sure is a compilation of the wisdom shared in Oprah’s widely popular “What I Know For Sure” column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation.

While it’s inspiring, it won’t make you too motivated and excited to take action like many other self-improvement books. So it’s a great book for relaxing with before bed.

10. Nothing Much Happens: Calming Stories to Soothe Your Mind & Help You Sleep

If you struggle with insomnia, you might have heard of the podcast Nothing Much Happens. It’s one of those excellent creations with a title that lets you know exactly what you’re getting: in this case, stories where nothing much happens.

Creator and host Kathryn Nicolai has created this companion book of calming stories to soothe your mind and help you sleep as a wonderfully relaxing bedtime book for adults.

Accompanied by cosy and relaxing illustrations, the unnamed, gender-neutral narrators recount their days and evoke the distinct comforts offered by each of the four seasons as they gently guide you towards sleep.

11. The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane

I’ve been recommending Robert Macfarlane quite a lot recently, and The Old Ways is one of the best starting points for one of Britain’s best-loved nature writers.

Before falling asleep, immerse yourself in his journeys on foot following the ancient routes that crisscross the landscape of the British Isles and its waters and territories beyond. The Old Ways was chosen by Slate as one of the 50 best nonfiction books of the past 25 years.

12. Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

I would give everyone a copy of Oliver Sacks’s essays if I could. Gratitude is my favourite book by neurosurgeon and writer Oliver Sacks, available as a lovely hardcover which I’ve given to several friends I wanted to thank.

Written during the last few months of his life, this set of essays was Oliver Sacks’s way of exploring his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death, offering an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the gift of living.

It’s a lovely book to read in small moments, especially before bed. Sacks’s autobiography, On the Move, is also fantastic.

“My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved. I have been given much and I have given something in return. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”

Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

The post 12 of the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Carving out regular reading time with a good book (even if you have to force yourself to sit still) can be one of the best ways to help you rebalance and get back on track when you’re stressed out.

Note to self-improvement junkies: business books and most personal development books aren’t calming. I love these books, but I know they’ll make me want to start a new project and feel bad about sitting doing nothing. They don’t help me to wind down before bed and sleep soundly, so I save them for my morning reading time and other breaks during the day.

When we need to chill out, especially before bed, we can turn to calming books that slow our heart rate, reduce anxiety, and help us to check in with ourselves.

The selection below is a mix of relaxing fiction, memoirs, non-fiction, and poetry. I hope you can calm your mind and unwind with these peaceful books too.

12 of the best calming books to help you relax when you’re stressed

1. The Bear by Andrew Krivak

I’m reading The Bear at the moment and want to recommend it to everyone (including my husband, who I’ve been reading sections to aloud at every opportunity). It’s a gorgeous book set in an Edenic future of calm streams, towering forests, and windflower-covered mountainsides that offers a wonderfully poetic tribute to nature’s dominion.

This relaxing fiction book is about the two last inhabitants on Earth, a girl and her father living in the shadow of a lone mountain. The father is preparing his daughter for adulthood close to nature, teaching her how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons, and how to read stars. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through the vast wilderness. His greatest message to her is that there are lessons all around, if only she can learn to listen.

“One morning, they found a patch of goldenrod in a meadow, blooming like the sun, and the bear stopped and watched as bees drifted from flower to flower, then flew off with their lading of pollen. Each one he followed with his snout and stared in the distance after them, as if content with observing their labor alone, until he said to the girl, This way.”

The Bear

2. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World by Haemin Sunim

In this relaxing book that you’ll want to return to again and again, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the US, shares his advice for wellbeing, mindfulness and joy in eight areas, including love, friendship, work, and spirituality.

The book is beautiful, and not just for its writing: it contains over thirty full-page colourful and calming illustrations to help you slow down. To best enjoy these, get the little hardback edition if you can.

“What our mind focuses on becomes our world. Seen this way, the mind does not seem so insignificant in relation to the world out there, does it?”

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

3. Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga by Sylvain Tesson

Walden is easily on my shortlist of calming books to help me relax. But what about other books that talk about escaping into the woods and leaving society for a while? My top vote is Consolations of the Forest by Sylvain Tesson, “a meditation on escaping the chaos of modern life and rediscovering the luxury of solitude”.

Sylvain Tesson takes it to the extreme by exiling himself to a wooden cabin on Siberia’s Lake Baikal. He lives a full day’s hike from any neighbour, with his thoughts, his books, a couple of dogs, and many bottles of vodka for company.

Writing from February to July, Sylvain Tesson celebrates the ultimate freedom of owning your own time, recording his impressions, struggles, and joy in the face of silence.

“As long as there is a cabin deep in the woods, nothing is completely lost.“

Consolations of the Forest

4. Collected Poems by William Wordsworth

When you’re feeling stressed, take a step into the world of the English Romantics. Join them in marvelling at the powerful natural world and take a big deep breath. Alongside W. B. Yeats and Edward Thomas, Wordsworth will always be one of my go-to poets; I find so much magic in his writing.

I’ve also memorised a few of his poems to mull over on train journeys, while hiking in beautiful places, or when I need some time out – I think there are far worse ways I could use up my mental space.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety

William Wordsworth

5. How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh has a selection of these “Mindfulness Essentials” books – including How to Relax, How to Focus, and How to Fight – and I think they’re perfect for relaxing reading when you’re stressed.

How to Relax would have been a more obvious choice to include in this list, but How to Love has got to be my favourite (read more of my thoughts here). I think Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing will always be calming, and I especially enjoy it when he’s talking about our connections with others.

“Our true home is inside, but it’s also in our loved ones around us. When you’re in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other. In Vietnamese, the nickname for a person’s life partner is ‘my home.'”

How to Love

6. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

The podcast On Being with Krista Tippett has a lovely episode with poet Mary Oliver called “Listening to the World”. I would recommend giving it a listen and then diving into the universe of Oliver’s poems – her work is some of of the most perceptive and gently wise writing on the natural world and our place within it.

In any case, try to get a copy of one of Mary Oliver’s anthologies and head outside, find a lovely spot to sit, and take in her peaceful words surrounded by fresh air and with the sun on your face.

I Go Down To The Shore
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.

Mary Oliver

7. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers 1) by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers is writing some of the best feel-good books today, both in her new Monk & Robot series and in this earlier Wayfarers series.

Commenting on the first book of the series, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Reddit user Synney writes: “I can’t recommend this enough. It leaves you feeling incredibly warm and wholesome and like everything will be ok”.

“Humans’ preoccupation with ‘being happy’ was something he had never been able to figure out. No sapient could sustain happiness all of the time, just as no one could live permanently within anger, or boredom, or grief.”

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

8. A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy considered A Calendar of Wisdom to be his most important contribution to humanity, a compilation of “daily thoughts to nourish the soul” with one page of wisdom per day. 

Tolstoy gathered, translated, abbreviated and expanded on quotations from a huge range of sources, including the New Testament, the Koran, Greek philosophy, Lao-Tzu, Buddhist thought, and the poetry, novels, and essays of both ancient writers and contemporary thinkers.

It’s Tolstoy’s spiritual guide and collection of the quotes that formed his mind, but it leaves enough space and variety to help us to form our own. A Calendar of Wisdom is a superb book to keep lying around ready to be picked up for some calming reading instead of hidden away on a shelf.

9. Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki

Goodbye, Things is not only a remarkably peaceful book to read, but also a fantastic guide to decluttering your life and making room for what’s most important. Fumio Sasaki doesn’t claim to be a minimalism expert or a decluttering guru – he’s just a regular guy who wanted to say goodbye to everything he didn’t absolutely need. This book is the story of his journey and the results.

“Want to know how to make yourself instantly unhappy? Compare yourself with someone else.”

– Goodbye, Things

10. The Haiku of Bashō

There’s just something about reading a haiku to help to calm your mind and feel less stressed. I keep a collection of Bashō’s poetry near me when I’m working and often read a calming haiku or two when I need a break.

Sitting quietly,
doing nothing,
Spring comes,
and the grass grows, by itself.

Bashō

11. Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Dr. Qing Li

How much time do you spend in nature? Do you have a forest near you that you can escape to? Written by Dr. Qing Li, who specialises in forest medicine, this is his definitive guide to the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”: the art and science of how trees can promote health and happiness.

Like The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, it’s another book that’s beautifully designed, in this case showcasing the beauty of trees and the natural world.  

Another fantastic tree-celebration that’s also very relaxing to read is The Hidden Life of Trees: The International Bestseller – What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben.

12. Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

From the master of aviation writing, Wind, Sand and Stars is one of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s best-loved books (after The Little Prince, that is). It’s a great little book to take with you when travelling, or it can be the source of another adventure – sitting at home and leaping into a book.

I can’t help but feel calm when I read his descriptions of the natural world:

“When I opened my eyes I saw nothing but the pool of nocturnal sky, for I was lying on my back with out-stretched arms, face to face with that hatchery of stars. Only half awake, still unaware that those depths were sky, having no roof between those depths and me…“

Wind, Sand and Stars

For more hand-picked relaxing book recommendations, you might like my lists of books to read when you’re stressed, the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly, and calming coloring books for creative mindfulness.

The post 12 relaxing books to calm your mind and soothe your soul appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

It can seem counterintuitive that we get more done when we work less. But it’s not really a surprise at all. We can’t perform well with a depleted engine. We need to balance exertion with rejuvenation, otherwise we’re running off an empty tank – which isn’t going to get us far at all.

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is a wonderful reminder of the power of rest. And it’s a reminder I needed.

“If you want rest, you have to take it. You have to resist the lure of busyness, make time for rest, take it seriously, and protect it from a world that is intent on stealing it.”

I first came across Alex Soojung-Kim Pang via his masterclass on the Calm app; an app I use most days to help me unwind, meditate, or fall asleep. I listened to the masterclass as I closed my laptop for the day, put my coat on, and headed out for a walk around Glasgow where I was spending the last few weeks.

The author talked about how the creatives and scientists we look up to generally balance their impressive work output with deep rest and distance away from their work. They don’t sit at their desk for twenty hours a day, five days a week. They head out for a run, read a book, or hit the climbing gym with friends.

In a world where overwork is increasingly normal (and even expected), rest is more sacred than ever.

We can’t expect ourselves to produce our best work – in our careers, families, relationships, and creative projects – if we’re not taking our need for rest seriously.

After reading this book on a Friday, I ran a bath, soaked for half an hour, and had a relaxing evening of bedtime tea, yoga, and music before bed. I slept better than I had in weeks. That weekend I went to stay with my boyfriend’s family for a Burn’s Night dinner and didn’t touch my work.

On Monday, I got back to my desk and raced through an article I’d been seriously struggling to write the previous week. I poured a cup of tea and worked through more of my to-do list with far less resistance than I was expecting.

I needed the weekend of rest a lot more than I thought. At two o’clock, after getting enough done for the day, I closed my work tabs, called my boyfriend, and started the resting process again.

I’m more aware than ever that I need to keep this habit up. After all, if I don’t say no to overwork, my body will. (For more on this, read When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Dr. Gabor Maté.)

Are you getting enough rest? Are you giving your body the relaxation it needs, and your mind the variation it thrives on, to help you feel your best?

Get a copy of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less as a reminder of the power of rest throughout our lives, especially the busiest moments when we need it most.

The post A reminder to rest (and why we get more done when we do) appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

The post Allen Ginsberg on never working again (and living a “literary and quiet city-hermit existence” instead) appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Re-reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy has given me an interesting take on this – while the novel is often depicted as a romance or romantic tragedy (a little unfairly), there are essentially two sides to the story. There’s the better known affair of Anna and Count Vronksy, but there’s also the pure and uplifting love of Kitty and Levin. It’s this second partnership of Anna Karenina that becomes an ideal, or model of perfection, for so many readers.

I think that a large part of this model of perfection is Levin’s retreat into country life, or nature. We may aspire to roam the fields as he does, turn the hay with him in summer, and observe the seasons change. Good food, time for reading, and time spent outdoors is what his time is dedicated to.

At one stage of the novel Stepan Arkadych asks him, “Are you always in the country?” and, “I suppose it’s dull in winter?” to which Levin responds, ‘It’s not dull if you have things to do, and being on your own isn’t dull”. A nice summary, I’d say.

Here are some of the lessons that Levin gives us about the joy of escaping into nature, with quotes sourced from Rosamund Bartlett’s exciting new translation of the novel.

What we can learn from Levin’s retreat into nature

1. Levin spends time with his dog, Laska, and learns from her state of bliss

2. He remains mindful and notices the changes in the seasons

Meanwhile spring arrived—a beautiful, kind-hearted spring, without spring’s usual promises and deceptions, and one of those rare springs which plants, animals, and people rejoice in together. This beautiful spring energized Levin even more, and hardened his resolve to make a complete break with the past…

3. Levin retains a full life, despite, or because of, his solitude

6. He stays in the moment and cultivates gratitude, rather than grieving over loss

Have you read Anna Karenina and felt calmer after reading Tolstoy’s descriptions of nature?

Perhaps you’ve read another novel that’s helped you to escape into nature in order to reduce anxiety. Some of my favourites are listed on LitTherapy, my other website, and include The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng and Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

The post Levin on The Joy of Retreating into Nature (Reasons to Read Anna Karenina, Part II) appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.