About the Book
New York Times Bestseller
"Probably the best book on living with anxiety that I've ever read." - Mark Manson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
The Chinese believe that before you can conquer a beast, you must first make it beautiful.
Sarah Wilson first came across this Chinese proverb in psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir An Unquiet Mind, and it became the key to understanding her own lifelong struggle with anxiety. Wilson, bestselling author, journalist, and entrepreneur has helped over 1.5 million people worldwide to live better, healthier lives through her I Quit Sugar books and program. And all along, she has been managing chronic anxiety.
In First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, Wilson directs her intense focus and fierce investigating skills onto her lifetime companion, looking at the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism of her own experiences.
Wilson offers readers comfort, humor, companionship, and practical tips for living with the Beast:
Cultivate a "gratitude ritual." You can't be grateful and anxious at the same time.
Eat to curb anxiety. Real food is your best friend.
Just breathe. Embrace the healing power of meditation.
Make your bed. Every day. Simple outer order creates inner calm.
Study fellow fretters to know thyself. Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. all struggled with anxiety.
Actively practice missing out. Forget FOMO, curl up on the couch, and order takeout.
Practical and poetic, wise and funny, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful is a small book with a big heart. It will encourage the myriad souls who dance with this condition to embrace it as a part of who they are, and to explore the possibilities it offers for a richer, fuller life.
About the Author :
Sarah Wilson is the author of the New York Times bestsellers First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety, which redefined the mental health genre, and I Quit Sugar, along with eleven cookbooks that have been published in fifty-two countries. Previously, she was editor of Cosmopolitan Australia, host of MasterChef Australia and founder of iquitsugar.com, an 8-week program that has seen millions worldwide break their sugar addiction. In May 2018, Sarah committed to giving all proceeds from the business to charity. She now builds and enables charity projects that engage humans with one another, and campaigns on mental health, consumerism, and climate issues. Sarah lives in Sydney, Australia, is an obsessive hiker and spent eight years travelling the world with one bag.
Review :
"An affecting memoir of coping with anxiety over a busy lifetime. [...] Those who endure anxiety will find Wilson's thoughtful, often funny self-analysis to be just the right companion and affirmation." - Kirkus
"Uplifting, earnest [...] practical, and filled with delightful asides, this book will appeal to anxiety-prone readers, who will find much to calm them in these pages." - Publishers Weekly
"A tremendously entertaining, wise, and effective book on how to walk through anxiety and reclaim life. Sarah's battle and triumph over anxiety inspires and gives solutions that work. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful resides at the intersection of science and lived-experience. I know of nothing in the same league." - Xavier Amador, Ph.D., psychologist and founder of the LEAP Institute
Australian Praise for First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: "Quirky, edgy and brutally frank [...] You'll never read a more searingly honest account of mental illness than this." - Hugh Mackay, author of The Good Life and Beyond Belief Hugh Mackay, author of The Good Life and Beyond Belief
"A nomadic journey, a cri de coeur and a compendium of hard-won wisdom." - Professor Patrick McGorry, Professor of Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne
"I cannot recommend it highly enough. I found the beast indeed to be beautiful." - Dr. Mark Cross, consultant psychiatrist and author of Changing Minds
"Sarah speaks directly to my heart, articulating her journey in a language that is almost visceral. The words leap from the page and resonate so deeply with me, as they will for anyone who has walked the path of anxiety." - Aurelio Costarello, fashion designer and Lifeline Ambassador Aurelio Costarello, fashion designer and Lifeline Ambassador
"Sarah's story provides great insight into what I see people experiencing every day [...] She recognizes that the road to wellness is about embracing and living a life aligned to our values." - Dr. Jodie Lowinger, clinical psychologist, Sydney Anxiety Clinic for Adults, Children, and Adolescents
"Thank you Sarah Wilson. This book is a beacon of reality in a sea of avoidance." - Louise Androlia, writer and emotional mentor
"Probably the best book on living with anxiety that I've ever read, and I have (unfortunately) read many. Sarah is full of expert advice while remaining grounded and incredibly human. Her vulnerability is her strength. And after reading, it will hopefully be yours too." - Mark Manson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
"A witty, well-researched, and often insightful book about negotiating a new relationship to anxiety." - Andrew Solomon, New York Times Bestselling author of Far From the Tree
"Sarah's life mission is to help us all feel less lonely in our pain. These pages are filled with authenticity and clear direction for how to return to our spiritual truth." - Gabrielle Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of May Cause Miracles
"Sarah is a brilliant and agile writer, who takes aim at under-exposed affections, helps us to understand them and shows us path towards a solution. First with sugar addiction and now with anxiety, she curates the latest research and take readers on a journey that will change the way we think about the disease and the people who suffer from it." - Dan Buettner, New York Times Bestselling author of The Blue Zones
