Judson Brewer - Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind

Praise for Unwinding Anxiety

One of the hardest things about tackling a bad habit is confronting the anxiety behind it. Judson Brewer has given us a breakthrough program with great tips and hacks that anyone can use to feel better. We all need this book!

B. J. FOGG, PHD, NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLING AUTHOR OF TINY HABITS

Unwinding Anxiety provides a step-by-step guide to Judson Brewers personally designed, clinically proven path that can alleviate your mind from anxiety, obsessive thinking, addiction, and more. It guides your brain to rewire in helpful ways as it inspires your mind to understand its inner processes more deeply and to live with more freedom, gratitude, interpersonal connection, and joy.

DANIEL J. SIEGEL, MD, NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLING AUTHOR OF AWARE

You cannot thrive if youre perpetually anxious. Its that simple. Judson Brewer has given us a plan that can help us overcome our anxious thoughts, feelings, and habits to create true well-being. It is absolutely game-changing.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THRIVE

Grounded in the best of current science and totally user-friendly, Unwinding Anxiety reveals how a powerful set of mindfulness tools can free us from the worry that rules our lives. This is the most helpful and informative book on anxiety Ive read!

TARA BRACH, PHD, AUTHOR OF RADICAL ACCEPTANCE

In a world that can be overwhelming, Judson Brewer has created a plan to stop the overwhelm. He shows us accessible ways to stop worry in its tracks and mindfulness techniques that can redirect our energy in positive, healing ways. Its exactly what we need right now.

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TIM RYAN (D-OH)

An incredibly relatable and practical guide to anxiety. Judson Brewers research has contributed greatly to our understanding of why anxiety is so hard to shake. This book gives us the tools to break free. Anxiety is at the root of so many of the habits we want to change. Unwinding Anxiety will not only help you deal with anxiety, but will also help you find freedom from the behaviors that hold you back.

KELLY MCGONIGAL, PHD, AUTHOR OF THE JOY OF MOVEMENT

Brewer weaves together science from his lab and stories from his clinic to expertly illustrate how anxiety develops, becomes a habit loop, and why our anti-anxiety strategies continue to fail us. Unwinding Anxiety provides actionable steps that you can implement into your own life to stop this cycle. Compellingly written, this compassionate book is full of insights that couldnt have come at a better time.

JEWEL

This may be the only book on anxiety youll ever need. Drawing on his labs latest neuroscience and clinically proven techniques, Dr. Brewer ingeniously reveals why anxiety loops are so hard to break. Showing clearly how and why worry is so addictive, he guides you in how to shift through the gears to break the old habits that keep anxiety going, and to unwind the rope thats been coiled around your life. With new insights on every page, this is evidence-based psychological science at its best.

MARK WILLIAMS, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, COAUTHOR OF MINDFULNESS

In Unwinding Anxiety neuroscientist Judson Brewer offers a brilliant breakthrough: brain-based methods for lessening our anxiety-driven habits. And anxiety, after all, is the common cold of our emotional life.

DANIEL GOLEMAN, AUTHOR OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Judson Brewer has written a relatable, introspective guide to overcoming anxiety. Backed by research and experience, Unwinding Anxiety is an exploration of how anxiety grows in our brains and offers a key to unwinding those habitual thought patterns. Much more than relaying research and science, this book offers user-friendly, practical steps to the possibility of managing worry!

SHARON SALZBERG, AUTHOR OF LOVINGKINDNESS AND REAL CHANGE

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

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Copyright 2021 by Judson A. Brewer

Illustrations by Julia Miroshnichenko

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Brewer, Judson, author.

Title: Unwinding anxiety: new science shows how to break the cycles of worry and fear to heal your mind / Judson Brewer, MD, PhD.

Description: New York: Avery, Penguin Random House LLC, 2021. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020041047 (print) | LCCN 2020041048 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593330449 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593330456 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Anxiety. | Habit breaking. | Change (Psychology). | Mindfulness (Psychology).

Classification: LCC BF575.A6 B74 2021 (print) | LCC BF575.A6 (ebook) | DDC 152.4/6dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041047

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041048

Neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book.

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