This book provides so many ways to deal with stress. Not only does it give you various ways to deal with stress, but it also goes into detail about all of the various options. The book also details the reasoning behind why each strategy will assist with reducing stress levels. I love that there is scientific research to back up each strategy. There are great tips in this book. While a lot of therm weren't new to me, the scientific data that backs up each idea was new information to me. This is a book for everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book has an easy and simple approach on how to ease stress in our daily lives. Even though the author lists many activities and suggestions to reduce stress that are not new, some were unique and made me want to try it. I’ve also enjoyed the short and objective chapters. Overall it was a very interesting audio book with a very good narration.

I think this book is very important and perfect for anyone who suffers from anxiety. I’m also glad that the author decided to have the book in the form of audio.

50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress: Scientifically Proven Ways to Relieve Anxiety & Boost Your Mental Health Using Your Five Senses by Megy Karydes offers readers an assortment of ways to decrease anxiety and promote a healthier happier life. The book is divided into five sections for the senses which is interesting, and I could see that being beneficial for anyone using this as a resource for targeted anxiety events. None of the fifty methods seemed like new ideas to me but everything was well supported with external information and citations. There are certainly a lot of good tips that would make this a helpful read for everyone (including those that are looking for ways to be supportive of loved ones with anxiety).

Thank you @netgalley @tantoraudio @sourcebooks and @megykarydes for the Audiobook ARC.

Such a fun helpful listen to implement calm into your life! This was a read I would recommend to people looking to implement some self-care or minimize stress in their day to day life.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you to NetGalley as I received the audiobook in exchange for an honest review*

I usually don't read non fiction at all so I was wary going into this. But I didn't need to worry because it was actually fairly easy to listen to. The author finds a way to keep you engaged while sharing scientific facts. Most of the methods presented in here may not be groundbreaking, but it was nice to have help going through them mindfully. While all methods rely on our senses, some are more simple and less time consuming, others require more effort and would benefit long term.
This won't be the last time I'll read a book like this.

4/5 Stars

Megy Karydes 50 WAYS TO MORE CALM, LESS STRESS is a general review of anxiety-reducing activities based on the five main senses (touch, taste, smell, hear, and see). Within each sense, the author provides a number of different suggestions, which I appreciated since I'm not a gardener (for example) but like to write and doodle.

As a mental health provider, I do not believe this book would be helpful for those with severe mental health concerns - some activities requiring having the mental and physical energy to get up and do things, which is often impossible for those with severe depression and anxiety. For those with more mild symptoms who are looking for simple suggestions to pull themselves out of the fog, this book is probably going to be very helpful.

Unfortunately, I did not like the narrator (Siiri Scott) at all. Her narration was very robotic and uninspiring. I typically prefer to listen to self-help books, but switched to the ebook early on because I had so much trouble with the narrator. I would definitely recommend the ebook, but not the audio.

I rated the ebook 4 stars, but dropped the audio to 3-3.5 because of the narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio ARC of the book.

A lot of the tips to reduce stress in this book were common knowledge, such as move more by taking a walk or journaling, but I think the beauty of this book is that it has so many options. Anyone can find some way to decompress and relax from this book. Overall, this book was a quick and easy listen and I think the narrator did a great job.

Read this book, not because you are stressed, but, to be aware of all the options you can try to come out of a stressful situation. The book presents you with several alternative pathways to choose from and find out what works for you. Though you may feel that such solutions are just a Google away, the book goes in-depth to explain why a particular method works (by mentioning the details of brain messaging and receptive systems). It also backs its statements with validated scientific research, which at least for me added a sense of trust towards the pointers mentioned here.

Along with all this, if there is a particular trajectory you wish to pick, the author went into the details of a step-by-step guide for the best way to do so.
The only con here was that I felt that a few ways discussed in the book were very similar. if not repetitive. For instance, gardening and house planting OR Doodling, drawing, painting and colouring by numbers - that were strategically placed apart towards the start and end of the book 😜. I only noticed them as I was making notes for future implementation. Overall a pretty helpful book and is worth reading at least once for all.

Important learning from the book: Physical Clutter = Mental Clutter

Genre: #nonfiction #selfhelp
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

Thank you @netgalley @tantoraudio @sourcebooks and @megykarydes for the Audiobook ARC. The narrator: Siiri Scott also did a great job, of conveying the overall essence of the book in a great voice.

#50WaystoMoreCalmLessStress #NetGalley

Did not expect to be impressed by another book on stress. Karydes impressively acknowledges we are all different and calming looks different for each of us. Grateful for the acknowledgement that being still is not the magic for everyone. Full of new ideas that help us with a variety of stressors including slow food movement.
VERDICT- strong self help addition for teen and adult libraries.

I’m always trying to find ways to reduce stress. As someone who gets bored during yoga and distracted during meditation, this immediately piqued my interest! I listened to the audiobook and it was delightful!

This is a great book that focuses on your senses, by highlighting alternative ways to relax and reduce stress. The author takes care to mention variations that can be made to some of the activities.

A few topics the author dives into include: gardening, journaling, doodling, and book binding. There’s even a whole section about cats and volunteering! There's something for everyone, and many of the ideas can be done for free or through community classes.

When I requested this audiobook from NetGalley, I wasn't sure if it would have anything new to offer me. I was pleasantly surprised! While many of the relaxation activities and strategies were either not new or were things I am already enjoying, there were quite a few that I had either never heard of or just hadn't connected to stress relief. I like that there were ideas to appeal to each of the five senses. I'll be checking out the print version from my library so I can make a list for future reference.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for a review copy of this audiobook.

#50WaystoMoreCalmLessStress #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this one! While some things feel like no-brainers (i.e. going for a walk), many others listed were quite enlightening. The author not only made a list, but made tangible steps for a person to get started on things like gardening (and knowing how to test soil, what plants to buy for your climate, etc) in ways that are helpful and more likely to work well and reduce anxiety for someone rather than cause more of it. Megy Karydes compiled well thought out research with methods that target each of the senses with plenty of options that can suit anyone, whether they need just a bit of daily calm, or if someone suffers from anxiety impacting much of their daily life.
I’ve gradually been more open about my struggles with anxiety, which got really bad this year, and have naturally gravitated toward needlework, cooking, and paint by numbers lately which I loved to see were all included.
Narrator Siiri Scott was a calming presence and very easy and interesting to listen to throughout the audiobook.
Thank you to RB Media for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

50 ways to more calm, less stress is a book that everyone should read. We all feel anxiety stress at one point of life. Our lives are so stressed with so much to do, so many things to achieve. I have already read the book and when I saw audiobook, I knew it was an even better way to revisit one of my favourite reads of 2023.

The introduction to this book is such a bang on that I had to listen to it several times and nodded with great pleasure. How people talk about yoga and meditation are so helpful and I so agree with them because there was a time on my life when I was suffering from anxiety and yoga helped me a lot but I did it under supervision of yoga teacher and I'm sure I would not be able to do it without outside help. So yes it is not for everyone is something I agree with even more.

I'm kind of person who can't sit (apart from reading) even when I'm not having anxiety. We are gifted with so much stress because of our fast lives. And doing yoga while you are at peak of anxiety just feels like a task, not something you can do to soothe yourself, atleast not for me.

Over a period of time, I have heard a lot many people tell me how yoga shaped their life and I want to say to them ,"I'm glad for you." But it is also true that I can not apply the same in my life because my mind is never still and I do not feel that I can do the correct poses in order to achieve the maximum benefits. Also My mind is always racing with or without anxiety. Even if I'm doing something, I'm lost in thoughts like driving when I have missed to take a turn, so basically I'm absent minded yet my mind is like a marathon runner.

This book helps you to find a calm state working through your various senses . Taste, smell, see , hear and touch. And it is so relatable because I always find my calm when I do gardening. There are 50 ways in the book and that's the best part because there might be something for everybody. Like writing and doodling are also mentioned in the list but it will never work for me because again my mind race but I know it works for many people as my personal experience.

Overall, this book makes a great read for those struggling to keep their daily life stress free. Although it really can not be totally stress free but the ways mentioned in the book will definitely help you.

A must read for every anxious mind out there.

Audiobook is amazing and narration is good which made it possible for me to again read the book. This book will stay with me longer than any other book I have came across for obvious reasons.


Thank you very much Netgalley and Magy Karydes and tantor audio for the audio ARC in exchange of an honest review. Definitely highly recommended book and highly helpful for anxious people out there.