Stress. It’s everywhere these days: a cry for help, the answer to why illnesses pop up (or won’t go away), an issue for students and workers, and a culprit when it comes to everything from car accidents to weight gain. Stress is one of those problems most of us are left to figure out and solve by ourselves (a warm bath with scented candle only goes so far).

Akbar walks worried readers through how to calm themselves by:

-understanding how your brain is wired and why its natural genius at problem-solving doesn’t help when it comes to stress
-creating space between you and your thoughts
-repeating worrisome words to sap them of meaning
-defusing “thought bombs”
-learning to avoid the CAGE (Control, Avoid, Get rid of, Eliminate) when it comes to feelings and training yourself to stop trying to shut down real pain
-scanning and labelling feelings
-the power of urge surfing
-accessing your own wisdom

There are tried-and-true techniques here, but many more fresh ways to consider the problem of stress. And every one of them is real-world: this book acknowledges that we all have responsibilities, that our time likely isn’t our own, and that the goal is to reduce stress rather than eliminate it altogether.

Dr. Akbar’s wise and experienced voice in this short and calming book will make readers relax into her content.