Bird - LITTLE PEACE OF MIND: freedom from anxiety, panic attacks and stress

Nicola Bird is a force of nature a gentle but powerful rain shower of wisdom and insight, helping us wash away our anxious thinking and rediscover the peace of mind at the heart of who and what we really are.

MICHAEL NEILL, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE INSIDE-OUT REVOLUTION AND THE SPACE WITHIN

What a relief! Anxiety is not a problem to be fixed but a normal human feeling to be understood. And how comforting to realize that anyone can gain a healthy relationship to anxiety by simply realizing the new understanding presented in this book.

DICKEN BETTINGER, ED.D., RETIRED LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND CO-AUTHOR OF COMING HOME

In A Little Peace of Mind Nicola shares her journey from anxiety and panic to joy, love, peace and ease in her life. This book will awaken hope for the many whose diagnosis is a description of WHERE they are rather than WHO they are. Reading this book will bring significant value for all who desire a gentler experience and greater resilience in the face of lifes challenges.

DR WILLIAM (BILL) PETTIT JR., MULTI BOARD-CERTIFIED PSYCHIATRIST, AND STUDENT AND SHARER OF THE THREE PRINCIPLES UNDERSTANDING

I really appreciate how, into her personal experiences with anxiety, Nicola weaves stories of her clients and the powerful insights that have transformed their lives. This book is an inspiring look at our humanness. Nicola beautifully illustrates that anxiety is not a life sentence.

BARBARA PATTERSON, FOUNDER BEYOND LIMITS IN BUSINESS

This book is a game-changer. It presents a radically different understanding of anxiety and wellbeing which I believe will bring that long-fought struggle to an end.

AARON TURNER PHD, FOUNDER AND SENIOR PARTNER AT ONE THOUGHT

This book will change your understanding of what anxiety is, and youll find yourself effortlessly dropping into a place of peace. It was there all along, but this book will help you see that you were just innocently looking in the wrong place for it.

JOHN EL-MOKADEM, BREAKTHROUGH COACH

In her down-to-earth and laugh-out-loud style, Nic explores the fundamental shift in understanding that dissolved the limits of her own life, and the lives of thousands of her clients. She is an exceptional force of honesty and love, and her teaching and writing are a gift to us all.

CLARE DIMOND, AUTHOR OF REAL: THE INSIDE-OUT GUIDE TO BEING YOURSELF AND FREE: THE INSIDE-OUT GUIDE TO LIFE, UNLIMITED

Published in the United Kingdom by:
Hay House UK Ltd, Astley House, 33 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ
Tel: +44 (0)20 3675 2450; Fax: +44 (0)20 3675 2451; www.hayhouse.co.uk

Published in the United States of America by:
Hay House Inc., PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100
Tel: (1) 760 431 7695 or (800) 654 5126
Fax: (1) 760 431 6948 or (800) 650 5115; www.hayhouse.com

Published in Australia by:
Hay House Australia Ltd, 18/36 Ralph St, Alexandria NSW 2015
Tel: (61) 2 9669 4299; Fax: (61) 2 9669 4144; www.hayhouse.com.au

Published in India by:
Hay House Publishers India, Muskaan Complex,
Plot No.3, B-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 070
Tel: (91) 11 4176 1620; Fax: (91) 11 4176 1630; www.hayhouse.co.in

Text Nicola Bird, 2019

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise be copied for public or private use, other than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.

The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice; always consult a medical practitioner. Any use of information in this book is at the readers discretion and risk. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse, of the suggestions made, the failure to take medical advice or for any material on third-party websites.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-78817-304-9
Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-78817-351-3
E-book ISBN: 978-1-78817-306-3

Interior images: Sam Osborne (www.sam-osborne.co.uk)

To Tilly, Ned and Bea for being my best teachers while regularly showing me what it means to be filled up with love.

Theres a wonderful line in the sitcom Friends where Monicas new psychiatrist boyfriend meets Chandler for the first time. After spending a bit of time together, the psychiatrist comments, Youre a funny guy Id hate to be there when the laughter stops.

When I first met with Nicola Bird after an event Id been speaking at, I had a similar but perhaps more positively inclined thought. Youre an amazing, smart, insightful woman, I thought to myself. I wonder if youll ever slow down enough to realize it.

In the years that followed on from that first meeting, where Nicola progressed from client to student to friend and colleague, Ive been fortunate to witness the fruits of a brilliant mind slowing down to the speed of life. And now its your turn

Anxiety cant stop you from succeeding in the world, but it can take all the fun out of the game. And while the sweet feeling of the peace of mind is its own reward, it also tends to unleash a level of guiding wisdom in us that makes it easier for us to navigate our lives with less thinking on our mind and more love and compassion in our hearts.

Which is why this isnt, as Nicola points out often and well throughout, a book about anxiety. Its a wonderful book about the nature of human beings and our potential to find a little peace of mind in the midst of pretty much everything thats happening, and everything we think about what has happened in the past or might happen in the future.

In fact, its our ability to separate out what she describes as the smoke of our thinking from the smoke machine that produces it that is where we will ultimately find our peace and the wellbeing at the core of who and what we really are.

Whats on offer here is so much more than just relief from whatever anxious symptoms you may be suffering with, and even from whatever reality you think is causing them. Whats on offer is nothing more or less than an awakening to your true nature.

So, whether youre reading this through a haze of anxiety or a buzz of excitement, I encourage you to take your time, have fun, learn heaps and, as Nicola says

Prepare to be snargled!

With all my love,

Michael Neill

Bestselling author of The Inside-Out Revolution and The Space Within

Causeless joy, imperturbable peace, love that knows no opposite and freedom at the heart of all experience this is your ever-present nature under all circumstances.

RUPERT SPIRA

James lay in bed listening to the traffic roaring past in the street outside thinking, How could anyone sleepthrough that? He and his wife had saved up everything they had to buy this dream house and within days of moving in, he knew hed made a terrible mistake. How had he not noticed how loud the noise was? He looked over at his wife sleeping soundly beside him: How could she not be awake? How was he supposed to get up and go to work in the morning with so little sleep?