PSYCHOLOGY
A Brain That Breathes
Jodi Wilson
Murdoch Books, $34.99
Every few months, I temporarily delete an addictive but time-wasting, insecurity-festering app from my phone. The time away from it is wonderful: I feel lighter, I am more present with my kids, I spend less money. When people ask why, my response is always the same: “I feel like my brain wasn’t meant to handle all the information coming at it.”
You don’t have to be on an app to understand the sentiment. We’re all facing an onslaught of juggle and expectation. It could be the notifications on your phone, a constant stream of emails, the multitude of things to download or log into to stay on top of childcare/healthcare/bills. It’s exhausting, and it is, as Jodi Wilson notes in A Brain That Breathes, one reason for increased rates of burnout and mental illness.
A Brain That Breathes is the fourth book from the bestselling author, health journalist and postpartum doula, written in the trademark style that has helped her popular newsletter, Practising Simplicity, earn thousands of weekly readers keen on a slower, more intentional way of living. (A caveat: I endorsed the book as an author because I found it to be essential reading for my own mental health and creative work). In it, she posits that vague instructions to prioritise self-care (a concept whose origin she acknowledges was meaningful, ensuring “strength and vitality for Black feminist activists”) and abundant theories of how to make better use of our time are not the answers to our modern, chaotic predicaments. Instead, we need to consider our evolutionary biology and look to what our ancestors did: create space.
The book is split into two parts. The first looks at the merits of an uncluttered brain, calm nervous system, a body that moves and breathing space. The second, which offers practical advice for creating the conditions in which our brains and bodies can properly rest, considers our evolutionary biology, drawing on age-old habits that Wilson says are “biologically necessary”: living according to the seasons, seeking sunlight for regulation, eating for energy and vitality, resting for immune function, and moving to build strength and stability.
This is the part in which Wilson does her best work: simple and doable, with five feasible points in each section that don’t rely on any tools outside yourself and your environment, and which don’t require you to (impractically) overhaul your life. The merits of slow breathing, setting a timer, planning a potter and walking without headphones (and so much more) are explained; as are the benefits of unsubscribing, creating a meal plan and committing to a brain-healthy bedtime routine.
She utilises research and advice from psychologists, neuroscientists and sustainable-living experts to discuss such necessities as “befriend your vagus nerve” and “honour the season you’re in” and “restore your attention” without the empty motivational buzzwords that are sometimes found in wellness content and self-help culture. She reminds us that the most meaningful life practices “aren’t particularly bright new ideas” but ways of living that still yield results as they did 10,000 years ago.
Those starting this new year with a resolution to live a little more calmly, to buy less and move more, and to break up with their phones will find it helpful and reassuring. After all, most of us already know that something’s off, and A Brain That Breathes helps to identify why and how to fix it.
With essential habits for mental clarity, increased creativity and real, beneficial rest, A Brain That Breathes fosters the building of awe, slowness and appreciation for what is already there, and invites us to subtract what doesn’t naturally serve us. It’s the perfect book for those wanting to make good on their goals, whether they’re about letting go, taking stock, or slowing down. Aspirational and actionable, it is a balm for the pressures of modern life.
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