Whether you’re working out a way to take more time to yourself, become more confident, or kick start your productivity, we’ve got the wellness audiobooks and podcasts for you.
Finding calm and connection
Seeking shelter from the hustle and bustle of daily life can be a challenge, but if you can do so, it will lead to a more fulfilled life. These audiobooks all share practical tips on connecting with your inner self (and with others) and pursuing a quieter life.
American writer and lecturer Susan Cain explores how we can find depth and meaning in a world that is often overwhelming and filled with distraction in her new audiobook.
In seven steps, Susan helps listeners connect with the part of yourself that is drawn to the quiet, the deep, the beautiful, and the kind. Calling on experts from poets to sages from across the centuries, Susan will share practical takeaways, exercises, and meditations.
World-renowned author Brené Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human in Atlas of the Heart.
Atlas of the Heart draws on Brené’s two decades of research into the experiences that make us who we are. In the audbiobook, she maps the necessary skills and the language and tools we need to create meaningful connections, share our vulnerabilities and never lose ourselves.
Getting in touch with nature
In the rush of modern life, it can be difficult to stop and appreciate the world around us. But, as we become more aware of how our world is being damaged by climate change, we also need to learn to appreciate it more, especially as our physical and mental wellbeing are deeply connected to the land we live on. These listens all help us tap into the natural world.
In this podcast, environmental psychologist Alex Smalley and the BBC Studios Natural History Unit have teamed up to create immersive natural soundscapes and give insights into the benefits of listening to the natural world. From the awe-inspiring power of thunderstorms to replenishing your attention with the sound of the rainforest, each episode helps to unlock mental health benefits that are grounded in academic research. When benefits include helping tired minds recover, boosting feelings of positivity, and making us kinder to the people around us, we know it’s time to stop and listen to the world around us.
Taking listeners across the world – from forest schools in East London and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to primeval woodlands, Californian laboratories and ecotherapists' couches – Losing Eden explores how and why connecting with the living world can so drastically affect our health.
Journalist Lucy Jones tells us what happens if we completely lose our bond with the natural world, looks into evidence that confirms nature is at the heart of our psychological wellbeing, and shares new ways of understanding our increasingly dysfunctional relationship with the earth.
The Well Gardened Mind investigates the magic that many gardeners have known for years: working with nature can radically transform our health, wellbeing and confidence.
Sue Stuart-Smith’s book includes the stories of how people struggling with stress, depression, trauma and addiction can change their lives through gardening, and combines contemporary neuroscience, psychoanalysis and storytelling. Whether you have a green thumb or not, The Well Gardened Mind will help you understand that nature and its restorative powers are crucial to everyone.
Productivity without pain
In today’s world there are always errands to run, emails to be answered, forms to be filled out and something to be cleaned. Our endless to-do lists can sometimes make us feel like we’re achieving nothing, and our productivity can become stifled as more and more things pile up.
But the secrets to being productive without it being a laborious and soul-destroying experience are out there, and they’re not so hidden that finding them is another task on your to-do list. These audiobooks will give you practical tips on how to be more productive and, crucially, happier and healthier while doing so.
Dr Ali Abdaal, a YouTuber and productivity expert, draws on decades of psychological research to discuss how the key to productivity and success isn’t discipline, but instead feeling good.
In Feel-Good Productivity, he introduces three hidden 'energisers' that underpin enjoyable productivity, three 'blockers' we must overcome to beat procrastination, and three 'sustainers' that prevent burnout and help us achieve lasting fulfilment. Put together, these help listeners to find joy and fulfilment in getting things done.
How many times have you started a task, only to get distracted by something else – an incoming text message, a TikTok, a rerun of your favourite daytime auction show – and fail to finish? Well, you’re not the only one. In Deep Work, blogger Cal Newport shares the methods and mind-set that foster a practice of distraction-free productivity at work. Narrated by Jeff Bottoms, Deep Work looks at how historical and modern-day thinkers, academics and leaders in the fields of technology, science and culture use deep work and will leave you with the skills you need to focus in an increasingly distracted world, whatever you’re doing.
Chris Bailey is the author of The Productivity Project, in which he distils findings from his year-long search for the most powerful productivity tactics. He is also the author of Hyperfocus, a practical guide to managing your attention. In Hyperfocus, Chris shows how working fewer hours can increase our productivity, how we get more done by making our work harder, not easier, and how we do our best creative work when we're the most tired. He advocates for combining hyper focus (a deep concentration mode) and scatterfocus (a creative, reflective mode) to access our most creative and efficient selves.
And if you like Chris’ methods, try his Audible Original How to Calm Your Mind, in which he shares the productivity benefits of meditation.
Better sleep
Is there anything more elusive in life than a good night’s sleep? And yet, sleep is the key to our mental and physical wellbeing. But don’t worry, these podcasts and audiobooks will help you access the best night’s sleep possible.
International broadcaster Maya Jama is among the famous voices to take on a season of Audible’s Sleep Sound podcast. In each episode, Jama puts listeners into a deep state of relaxation, while immersive soundscapes play. Sleep Sound with Maya Jama takes you from the rock pools surrounding Dunnottar Castle on a rugged Scottish cliffside to a hot summer day as the cicadas sing in the south of France.
Other seasons of Sleep Sound have been narrated by people including actors Jamie Dornan and Luke Evans, and TV personality Antoni Porowski.
The importance of sleep cannot be overestimated; as well as being crucial to our everyday health, good sleep is also key to our long-term well-being, as studies show that almost every major disease in the developed world has strong causal links to not getting enough shut eye.
Matthew Walker is Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, so he is definitely the person to listen to when it comes to sleep health. In Why We Sleep, narrated by John Sackville, Mathew explores 20 years of cutting-edge research on sleep, looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies. Illuminating exactly why sleep matters, Matthew’s audiobook teaches us how to appreciate the extraordinary phenomenon of sleep.
Toolkits for life
Forget hammers and spanners, the essential toolkit for a successful life includes tips on confidence, decreasing stress and more. These audiobooks will help you make small and simple changes that have big impacts on home, work and life.
In her audiobook Little Things, broadcaster Fearne Cotton imparts habits, tools and advice in to help you cope better with stress by understanding your own worries and pausing to take the time to respond rather than react. Fearne takes lessons she has learned from her Happy Place podcast and therapies she has tried, as well as advice she has received, and distilled the best into Little Things to help listeners decrease stress and unlock daily happiness.
Confidence is key to life but it can also be difficult to access, especially if you’re a woman.
Tiwalola Ogunlesi is a life coach and founder of Confident and Killing It, a company which runs workshops and talks, among other things, to help women gain confidence in all aspects of their lives. In her audiobook Confident and Killing It, Tiwalola shares stories from her own life as well as practical tips and tricks to help listeners overcome imposter syndrome and do away with negative thoughts.
For more than three decades, Paul McKenna has helped millions of people to improve their lives. In his new audiobook Success for Life, he’ll share the techniques you need to move on from whatever life has thrown at you and live a successful life. Paul uses the latest psychological techniques and downloadable audio content, and places the power to achieve success and happiness back in your hands, rather than waiting for outside forces to change.
You may not have heard of Chris Anderson, but you will definitely have engaged with his work: he’s been head of TED for the past 20 years, bringing us some of the world’s most significant thinkers and their bold ideas. And yet, it’s the simplest thing that Chris has identified is key to the success of many of those who have given TED Talks: generosity. In Infectious Generosity, Chris shows how the technologies that have been a catalyst for negativity in our world can be turned into an exponential force for good if we use them to create chain reactions of generous behaviour. And that begins on an individual level, with each of us having the potential and power to share our gifts of time, talent, connection and kindness.
