This is Natto: Are you ready for the journey within?

by Daniel Erichsen

If you have struggled with a circular problem, one that gets more sticky the more you try to get away from it, this book is for you. Focused primarily on insomnia, but applicable to any circular problem, This is Natto explores the thoughts and habits that keep the problem going. Taking a look under the hood of your mind is often pretty uncomfortable. What you find may scare you. But the rewards can be remarkable. Because when you understand how the mind works, and you become more willing to experience the discomfort you have been avoiding, magic can happen!

Genres: Health, Psychology, Self Help

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 21, 2021

About the author

Daniel Erichsen is a graduate of the University of Chicago Sleep Medicine program and is currently faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Christopher Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Daniel for this wonderful book, which was a complete revelation for me. I had hit a particularly low point with my sleep and came across Dr. Erichsen on YouTube, which led me to this book.

Natto means 'Non-Attachment To The Outcomes' and is genuinely a revolutionary, and yet extremely simple, way of looking at sleep problems.

I had taken various sessions of CBT therapy, which helped somewhat, but Daniel's book is really what turned things around for me. It just explained so clearly what I had been experiencing for over 7 years. I cannot recommend this highly enough for people experiencing sleep issues (or should I say issues of being awake!) that are related to fear or anxiety.

Thank you once again Daniel. You deserve all the praise in the world.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by my therapist (healed king flex). Agree with the other reviews that the writing itself was not great and could have used an editor, but still giving five stars for the content.

I was looking into CBT for sleep and was told to try this instead, which is closer to ACT. Both can be great tools depending on the problem but with sleep, CBT is often too “active” — do this, do that — and causes people to think about it even more. Instead, the key is to get out of your own way and stop trying to control it, which does more harm than good. I already have found the lessons here to be valuable and am curious to see how things go, but not that curious because I accept whatever happens with openness and compassion lol.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything Daniel Erickson says about insomnia, both in this book and his YouTube channel, rings true to me. He gives me hope that I can finally find a way out of this persistent problem.

[Greg D · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is to trick your brain into not thinking you are in fight or flight mode. That when you wake up throughout the night, it's actually your brain telling you that something is wrong and you shouldn't sleep. The author's solution is to embrace wakefulness. And, when you do, then your brain will realize that it's okay to sleep more.

The author admittedly states that hyper-arousal or wakefulness throughout the night is symptomatic of a larger problem, namely anxiety. Well, not all anxiety is resolved by simply tricking your brain into thinking everything is okay. The author neglects to address that many forms of anxiety are a result of chemical imbalances in the brain and trauma that require corrective measures such as medication or deep therapy. Without which, anxiety will not just magically disappear over time.

So yes, while I embrace wakefulness and, as the author suggests, get up and do whatever you want to do, in the meantime my brain is completely mush and my body is sluggish throughout the entire day. My body is craving sleep. And, for some of us, there is no greater solution than medication to help put our mind and body at ease so that we can get the sleep we need.

Though it felt a bit idealistic, there were certainly some good practices and methods to put into place that could likely help some people break out of the insomnia cycle. But, it isn't for everyone. The only way to find out, is to try it out yourself. But, it does take a lot of discipline and sacrifice, and perhaps that's what I'm lacking.

[Bradley Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has really interesting content that it seems has been helpful for a lot of people. I’m still on my sleep journey personally and find this to be a helpful guide. The only reason I can’t give this 5 stars is that Daniel doesn’t seem to use an editor for the book. It’s full of typos and grammatical mistakes which at times leave the reader in confusion and can be seriously distracting

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU HAVE INSOMNIA!!! The idea that a self-help book could’ve helped so much with my sleep seemed highly unlikely to me, so I only tried reading this as a last-ditch effort, but it seriously helped SO much. It fixed my issues after struggling with 2-5 hours of sleep a night for almost a year. Seriously I recommend so frickin much!!

[Becca Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never written a review before, but I just had to let anyone battling insomnia know that this book is the only thing that has helped me. I know you've tried everything and you feel hopeless. I did too. This book addresses all of that. There is a way forward, I promise ❤️

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no secret to those who know me that I struggle with sleep. Ever since I was really into competitive swimming in 7th/8th grade I have been obsessed with getting 8+ hours of sleep every night, often missing social events, taking half a dozen supplements, and trying to optimize every moment of my life to do so. Unfortunately, as Erichsen points in this book, those activities actually tend to be counter productive, as they generate stress around sleep so it doesn't happen because your body think it has to be alert for imminent threats. Natto, which stands for not attached to the outcome (and for the Japanese fermented soy product), is Erichsen's strategy to combate this tendency. It's a very Buddhist idea that involves letting go of trying to control a process that cannot really be controlled, getting out of your own way in other words. Such a simple idea shouldn't really need a 200 page book to explain it, but Erichsen goes into a bunch of ways that we can trick ourselves into not practicing Natto while we think we are, which I found to be helpful. However, that being said, this book could have used with a good editor as a lot of it was quite redundant.

While I'm not entirely convinced that there aren't physical practices I could be doing to improve my sleep, the book did take immense pressure off of my chest. My body will sleep as much as it needs, I just need to get out of my own way (no clocks/alarms in the room, reducing hyperarousal around bedtime in general, etc.).

[Mariana Henao Ayora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read by Daniel, and it's the second time I've been pleasantly impressed and found his words so helpful. I haven't been a great "sleeper" for years, but these books have helped me make peace with the fact that sleep doesn't have to be perfect.

Thank you Daniel for explaining everything as for dummies, and especially for a book full of empathetic words.

I hope this book (and “set it and forget it”) helps as many people as it has helped me. I know this is journey in which I have 0 control, and the best part is that I have to d NOTHING (both things, letting go of control, and sit and wait for things to happen -instead of making them happen- very difficult for me, but also doable).

Thank you!

[Michelle Fararoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, as always!

Daniel is a wonderful coach. He’s walked me through my sleepless journey and has been an important part of it. His first book, Set It and Forget It, was a summary of what to do to get to a better sleep place. This one, however, goes more in depth, down into understanding why our minds do what they do and how this plays a role in insomnia. I highly recommend this book if you want a deeper understanding of what’s going on and how to become less attached to the outcome to get you where you want to be!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most insomnia advice focuses on sleep hygiene or knock-out medication. Erichsen's elegant approach cuts past all that to address the root issue: fear. Because insomnia is largely a self-fulfilling problem, he encourages readers to do away with attempts to control sleep and instead befriend wakefulness. Paradoxically, when one lets go of the need to control sleep, sleep often comes. While the writing style here is nothing special, the ideas were really helpful in my own sleep struggles. I recommend his podcast too.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most rational approach to insomnia that I've come across. I tried all sorts of things but nothing helped. My sleep started improving after I listened to some of Daniel's videos (on perimenopause, sleep maintenance, and his intro). I still wake up from crazy hormone heat but I don't struggle with being wide awake anymore, and am able to fall back asleep. I read the book but didn't need to...the videos were enough.

[John Dunphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible content that could use a technical editor.

As an editor, I was immediately drawn to the substantial number of poor grammar, incorrect word choices, and incorrect punctuation. But, so what? Mr. Erichsen has cracked the code on how to approach insomnia and I applaud him for that. Sooo, want to hire a freelance editor?

[Richard Sexton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for insomnia sufferers

I just can't say enough good things about this book. It has already fixed a 15 year struggle and I know I'll handle any speed bumps now. Thanks Daniel for saving my life.

[Chung Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful. Provides many good ways to look at insomnia, and how to improve sleep. Highly recommended.

[Tiffany Smetak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely helpful!

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of concepts were repeated from the first book but there were some new ideas/insights that I enjoyed and overall this book was also very helpful too.

[Jessica Anand · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that helped me tremendously with a random episode of acute insomnia. Wonderful tool to keep on hand.

[Jared Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good one to read and then never look at again.

[Shari Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful Work

Daniel’s work , study and research is unlike anything else out there. It goes against what you thought you needed to do in order to sleep. I began reading his latest two books and have had much more consistent sleep in the last 4 months. I highly recommend reading Set It and Forget It before you read this book. It gives the perfect backdrop to his latest work. Don’t miss his podcasts too!