We have spent decades optimising our waking hours, but what about the precious hours after we doze off (or try to)? The Magic of Sleep tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about sleep but were too tired to ask. As the most active time for our brains and the most important element to a calmer, happier life, sleep has become the topic of our times. Drawing on the success of Calm, the #1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, Michael Acton Smith writes the ultimate guide to good sleep. Beautifully illustrated and packed with fascinating facts and anecdotes, this book contains life-changing tips. At once a bedside companion and a sleeping aide, The Magic of Sleep will be your solution to a better sleeping life, improving each of your waking hours. - Reduce your sleepless nights by finding the perfect soundtrack for dozing off - Learn the new science of sleep, including how to create ideas while you're asleep - Discover the best recipes for home-made drinks that will make you drowsy - Get to know your subconscious by starting a sleep journal and exploring lucid dreaming It's time to optimize sleep.

Join the Calm revolution. Modern life is hectic and relentless: trains delayed, endless emails filling the inbox, kids squabbling before bedtime... There has never been a more important time to rediscover your pause button. Calm is the book that will show you how to take back a little bit of peace, space and all-important calm. This book contains the simple tools, tricks and habits that will change the rest your life. It is a practical and pleasurable guide to twenty-first century mindfulness. Regular meditation is medically proven to be good for you - it increases focus and creativity, productivity and job satisfaction, mental and even physical health. But in reality most of us don't have time to sit on a cushion with our eyes closed for half an hour every day. And many people associate meditation with hard work and huge lifestyle shifts: you might be imagining Buddhist monks locked in a mountain retreat and living off gruel... This is where Calm comes in. Calm is about simple, achievable habits that work with the demands of your busy life instead of pretending those demands don't exist. Calm does not require specialist training: it uses abilities that every single one of us is born with, like creativity, spontaneity and simply noticing the world around you. Calm is not a set of rules that you need to worry about following or breaking. It is inspirational, practical and non-prescriptive. Onerous, time-consuming meditation might seem out of reach but everyone can achieve calm - including you. Calm combines extracts from fascinating neurological research with wisdom from history's great thinkers and the real-life experiences of individuals across the globe. It demystifies mindfulness and shows you the many simple ways to be mindful while carrying on with your life. It is also a beautifully crafted object, filled with artwork and artistry, that will change your perspective by showing you the pleasures of the world anew. Take a walk with nowhere to go, savour a chocolate on the tip of your tongue, plant a seed, doodle aimlessly, turn off your mobile phone for five short minutes. Smile, breathe and go slowly. Calm is divided into eight sections that everyone should have in their life: * Nature * Work * Creativity * Children * Travel * Relationships * Food * Sleep Each section contains a mixture of fascinating research, creative prompts, activities and instructions, sensory stimuli and inspiration. Pick up Calm whenever you need it, dip in and out, read it and choose which bits work best for you. Join the Calm revolution. Calm your mind; change your world. Calm.com @calm

The traditional arts of Taijiquan and Qi Gong are sophisticated expressions of Chinese martial. health and spiritual culture. Rooted in China's ancient past they are still practised by many people in China today to achieve good health, mental well-being and a long and active life; commonly called `Eternal Spring'. This book, written for a Western audience, explains the essential theories and strategies of Taijiquan and Qi Gong in an insightful and accessible way. It expounds their value in our daily lives as a most effective means of combating the stresses, strains and illnesses that are now so much a part of our modern lifestyle and positions these two disciplines as the most comprehensive strategies for health, happiness and rejuvenation currently available. Michael W. Acton guides the reader through core concepts with an insight and wisdom borne out of many years of practice, study and teaching. This book will be of use to anyone who is already on this path or who is interested in self-development, health and well-being or the fascinating philosophy and ideas that underpin these traditional Chinese disciplines.