9 Great Reads for Those Overcoming Anxiety
If you’re battling anxiety, diving headlong into a good life-giving book can feel like medicine for your very core. Reading is akin to meditation, helping your brain separate from present stressors and filling your focus with something refreshing and rejuvenating.
Reading has been shown to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety by calming our parasympathetic nervous system (in charge of that “fight or flight” feeling) and relaxing our heart rate and tension in our muscles. In a way, reading a good book is like sinking into a warm bath - why not try both at the same time!
Reading also has a magical way of helping us find relief in the middle of overwhelming seasons. As we head into spring, we encourage you to rekindle your love for the written word and curl up with a good book and a mug of something delicious, especially if feelings of stress or anxiety have felt overwhelming recently.
If anything, at the very least you’ll have a good story to warm you up and a comforting book waiting for you to sink into any time you feel anxiety bubbling up in your core.
9 Great Books for Those Overcoming Anxiety
We’ve put together a list of some great books - poetry, fiction and nonfiction - you can use as a starting point if you’re not sure what book to dive into first.
Poetry & Meditations
Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life. Written by poet Morgan Harper Nichols, this collection of poems guides you through releasing what is outside of your control and finding peace within.
A Walk in the Woods: Meditations on Mindfulness with a Bear Named Pooh. Slow down, take a moment and a deep breath with a beloved childhood character. Make it a family affair if you have little ones, and meditate in the 100 Acre Wood.
Goldenrod. A collection of poems from Maggie Smith, this book reminds us that there is magic in every moment, even in the mundane tasks of our everyday lives.
Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage. Anne Lamott asks the questions many of us may have been pondering these past few years, like how to cope in bleak and uncertain times. She answers, by accepting the beauty of our humanity.
Nonfiction
Wintering is a healing read about rest, resiliency, and self-care through difficult seasons and finding opportunity when life seems bleak.
The Gifts of Imperfection, written by social scientist and leader Brené Brown, this book reveals 10 guideposts for wholehearted living that helps the way we connect with ourselves and with those we love.
Fiction
The Late Bloomers Club. Written by Louise Miller and set in a picturesque small town, this story follows the path of two sisters and a lost dog and is a great, light-hearted read.
All Creatures Great and Small is a beloved story and television series, about a young and aspiring veterinarian in rural 1930’s Yorkshire, England. You’ll fall in love with these characters!
Anne of Green Gables is a great collection of stories to turn to when anxiety is feeling heavy. Anne has a way of finding joy in surprising places, and these books are a favorite to many!
We hope you find your next favorite book - whether nonfiction or poetry or even a great mystery. Curl up with a book and a cup of cocoa, tea or coffee and allow your mind to momentarily drift away from stress and anxiety and into the page.