I Want to be Calm: How to De-Stress

by Harriet Griffey

A beautiful and useful book on how to live a calmer, more peaceful, and mindful life. With the stress and strains of modern life, it is increasingly difficult to be the peaceful and serene spirit that we all wish to be. In I Want to Be Calm, Harriet Griffey explores the issues we may face in our day-to-day lives that make us feel stressed, anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed, and shares practical advice on how to overcome them. Covering topics such as the worry cycle, managing emotions, and mindful meditation, Harriet shows how to implement easy but effective approaches to find calm, looking at mindfulness at home and work, how to pursue better relationships, and more. Beautifully illustrated throughout, I Want to Be Calm will still the mind and relax the body, bringing you peace and happiness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Health, Mental Health

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

Reviews

[Devon Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can easily be read in a day and has a lot of useful information, processes, and steps to be calmer every day. A great book to read for anyone constantly anxious and overwhelmed!

[Vladka Nociarová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book, but if you expect something new or life-changing, you'll be disappointed. Otherwise it's a nice pocket edition of the tips on how to relax or breathe that you (probably) already know, but it's nicely written in one place with quotes and exercises.
3/5, but the illustrations the beautiful, kudos to the artist, so 4 stars for the aesthetics :)

[Tiia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teos on hyvä johdatus asian äärelle. Suosittelen lämpimästi sellaiselle, jolle mindfulness ei ole tuttu kuin naistenlehtien artikkeleista. Ei tämä sen syvemmälle mene kuin lehtiartikkelitkaan, mutta kattavasti koottuna useampi tietoteksti tärkeimmistä pointeista. Ideoihin on helppo tarttua yksi kerrallaan. Teos on aivan eri sarjaa laadullisesti, kuin saman kirjoittajan Kaipaan luomisvoimaa.

Tämän selailu ei nuuduta väsyneempääkään lukijaa, vaan on iskevästi saatettu esiin ydinasiat. Masentuneelle voi toki tuntua liiankin pirtsakalta.

Peruskirjaksi täyttää mielestäni paikkansa erinomaisesti, joten annan täydet viisi tähteä.

[Alexandra Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, is really easy to read... One of the thing that I liked most is that during the narration Harriet explains the physiology of the stress and why you should be calm to get truly benefits, almost everything in here is backup with articles and books. The illustrations made me feel the way it's supposed to, some of them made me recognize my own anxiety and some others made me understand the calm in life.... If you feel that your life needs peace and calm, I can truly recommend you this book 😁

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jednoznačne skvelá kniha pre tých, ktorí sa chcú zbaviť stresu. Myslím, že ak sa budete riadiť touto knihou, stres by z vás naozaj mohol opadnúť. Skvelá kniha, ak si chcete prečítať niečo sebapoznaní🙏🏻
(slovenský preklad je podľa mňa veľmi fajn a celkovo vizuálna strana knihy je perfektná💯)

[Jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pretty cover caught my eye, the simple to-the-point title too. And yes, I did / do want to be calm. But wasn't depending on this to be The answer.
Mostly obvious right-things-to-dos consolidated into this bite-sized book.
Hoping some to-dos stick because yes, I do.

[Gwendolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the aesthetic and research packed into this little book. Great reminders for yourself or family members. Makes a great gift too.

[Domi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moc pěkný kapesní shrnutí toho nejdůležitějšího. ♥

[Tiina Kallio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selkeä opas ja hyviä vinkkejä.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet. Fast (like 30 mins), easy read with good reminders. Great gift book for almost anyone.

[Chalthria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hauska, pieni kirja stressistä ja elämän kiireisyydestä.

[Angya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exactly what the title says. But it is itself also surprisingly calming: it tells you that yes, we are all stressed, all the time, always running to do the next task (don't get me started on multitasking), but there are ways to lessen that stress, and to experience situations in a different way. Most importantly, the book explains how to do that in a very down-to-earth way, very conscious of the everyday life in the western world, so that each of us could implement some of the advice which works best in the particular situation, and still achieve a higher level of calm. Overall a great book, it doesn't demand too much attention and concentration, so it really works as a little oasis of calm.

[brojreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for my anxiety! Probably will revisit this often throughout the year!

[Dettie Leestafel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoe zorg je dat je weer rust in je lijf en hoofd weet te krijgen? Daarvoor biedt dit boekje tal van oplossingen en/of mogelijkheden.
De aandacht gaat vooral naar de ademhaling. Want als je rustig ademt krijgen je hersens het signaal dat het veilig is en je lichaam ontspant. Er staat ook een ademhalingsoefening in het boek beschreven. Maar je kunt ook gaan mediteren, hoe je dat doet is ook in dit boekje te lezen, evenals een aantal tips rond mediteren.
Er zijn tips voor werk, school en thuissituaties. Er worden zelfs 'noodmaatregelen' gegeven voor het geval je rustig móet zijn zoals tijdens een belangrijke vergadering, een examen of sollicitatiegesprek.
Verder wordt gesteld dat hoe gehaaster je bezig bent, hoe meer dingen er vaak mis gaan. Je hebt gewoon niets aan al dat gestress. Als je rustig bent gaat alles beter, soepeler.
De tips zijn natuurlijk leuk maar er staat ook te lezen hoe je gas terug kunt nemen en voor minder stress kunt zorgen.

De uitvoering van dit boekje is aantrekkelijk, het speelt in op de momenteel zo populaire blogs die vaak de leestekst afwisselen met spreuken en prettige, vrij moderne afbeeldingen. De leestekst is kort maar krachtig. Het boekje geeft allerlei tips die direct toepasbaar zijn en laat je inzien waarom rust zo belangrijk is. Achterin het boekje staan nog boekentips voor mensen die meer willen weten over de besproken onderwerpen. Ook wordt verwezen naar enkele websites en apps.

Kortom, een prettig, vriendelijk geprijst, boekje boordevol handreikingen om tot een rustiger leven te komen.

In dezelfde serie is ook het boekje Ik wil slapen uitgegeven.

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graficky veľmi pútavá kniha, s hodnotným obsahom. Pomohla mi uvedomiť si niektoré veci z môjho správania a života. Vypísala som si viacero poznámok a “návodov”, ktoré mi dávajú zmysel a verím, že mi pomôžu znížiť hladinu stresu, ktorú denne zažívam.

Najviac sa ma dotkol úvod poslednej kapitoly, ktorá má názov Upokojte sa:
“Vystresovanými sa často stávame preto, lebo prehliadame znaky toho, že život nás začína preťažovať. Tento stav sa k nám prikráda krok za krokom, až napokon akoby po špirále klesáme k bodu, kde naše vzťahy trpia. Alebo ochorieme, prípadne na nás doľahne silná úzkosť a život pre nás stratií zmysel. Ako živočíšny druh sme mimoriadne prispôsobiví – dlho sa premáhame, aj keď sme na konci so silami, vykonávame viacero úloh naraz a sľuby plníme chaotickým spôsobom. Často to ani nevyvolá významná udalosť. Takýto stav sa vyvíja pozvoľna. Najskôr má podobu vyčerpanosti, odrazu však nastane malá zmena, ktorá nás z okraja zhodí rovno do priepasti.”

Stalo sa mi to už viackrát, a zhodou okolností aj teraz som chorá a zažívam podobné pocity úzkosti a vyčerpania.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely little book packed full of tips about learning to be and staying calm in all aspects of life. It has gorgeous illustrations and thoughtful quotes and is presented in such a way that you can dip in and out of it or read it straight through, whichever you prefer. I think that little book would make a great gift for a loved one who may be struggling.

[Niamh Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an informative wee book. A gentle yet focused read on the various ways in which we can introduce more calm into our daily lives, be it home, work or college. Topics are presented in small pockets which allows the ease of dipping in and out of the book. Great practical tips on de-stressing.

[Natalie Krecmerova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just forgot to add this book to my bookshelf! I got it last Christmas from my mom to help me with stress and everything... It´s a very lovely book and It really helped me with stress, I recommend it as a gift!

[Rachel (aka Ms4Tune)]

Not read this yet but it's just arrived and the book is so tiny and cute and is beautifully embossed in places. Even the colours are well considered and balanced! Well done whoever designed this!