The Narrowing

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What to expect

'A powerful reframing of anxiety' Anna Mathur, author of The Uncomfortable Truth

'Compassionate, thoughtful and nuanced . . . I loved this beautiful, brilliant book' Lucy Jones, author of Matrescence

'A transformative and compassionate exploration of anxiety' Galit Atlas, Ph.D., author of Emotional Inheritance

Most of us are intimately familiar with anxiety, and with its increasing hold on our minds, our hopes and plans, and our bodies. But how well do we really understand it, and what can we do to transform it into something new - into resilience, or courage, or creativity?

In this extraordinary book, Dr. Alexandra Shaker, a clinical psychologist, takes us on a journey through the body - from brain to blood to heart to guts - to examine the connections between our emotional, psychological, and physical lives. She unravels what the body can teach us about anxiety, and what we can learn from our long cultural history of the anxious impulse.

Melding psychology, neuroscience, history, and literature, she considers why-despite all the checklists and scientific advancements-we are still struggling to outrun our oldest terrors, and how a new approach focused on accepting anxiety as part of the human condition can help revolutionise our relationship with it.

Critics Review

A powerful reframing of anxiety
Anna Mathur
The Narrowing is a compassionate and accessible exploration of anxiety, illuminating how the body's threat responses can be gently reoriented toward safety and resilience. Consistent with the Polyvagal Theory, Alexandra Shaker empowers readers to understand anxiety as a dynamic, physiological process, fostering self-awareness, healing, and growth.
Stephen Porges PhD
The Narrowing is a transformative and compassionate exploration of anxiety. Integrating rigorous science with therapeutic insights, Eggers demystifies the intricate workings of anxiety, offering readers new perspectives on their mental landscape. For those ready to reclaim their calm, The Narrowing is an intelligent guide to a life of resilience.
Galit Atlas, Ph.D. author of Emotional Inheritance, faculty NYU Postdoctoral Program for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.
Dr. Alexandra Shaker speaks directly to our internal struggles and gives language to the paradoxes of our ever-growing anxieties in a time where we 'know' so much more than we ever did. She reminds us that while anxiety can feel incredibly personal and of the moment, it is also a historical struggle that is part of the fabric of humanity. This is a must-read for anyone interested in better understanding themselves and the challenges that we all face.
Lia Okun, PhD
Shaker masterfully weaves her own lived experience with a wide range of cutting-edge research to tell a story that is undeniably familiar yet also refreshingly unique. She normalizes anxiety as being fundamentally human, emphasizing the way it manifests both cognitively and physically, guiding us system by system. She highlights the ever-present nature of anxiety through the centuries, in art, in narrative, and in myth. Simultaneously, the narrative serves as a call to action - a recognition that, though anxiety is ubiquitous and can be enigmatic, it is not unmitigable. With an evocative title and powerful prose, this book is a must read for anyone who has or knows someone who has dealt with anxiety.
Aimee Milliken, PhD, RN, HEC-C Associate Professor of the Practice Connell School of Nursing Boston College
The Narrowing is a must read for anyone who has experienced anxiety, which is to say all of us! Dr Shaker expertly strikes the difficult balance of synthesizing research based information and illustrating with a relatable personal narrative. Her voice is a call forward; a much needed integration of the body to how we conceptualize and approach anxiety.
Meredith Carlisle, LCSW
Compassionate, thoughtful and nuanced, Alexandra Shaker asks astute and refreshing questions and weaves rich and fascinating ideas in this much-needed enquiry into anxiety, the body and the world. I loved this beautiful, brilliant book.
Lucy Jones, author of Matrescence
Dr. Alexandra Shaker's work is captivating, and comforting, too. She moves gracefully between the personal and social dimensions of anxiety, and gets insightfully at universal human paradoxes. With an eye toward both science and art, this is a book for everyone-those who know anxiety firsthand, and those who may come to know it.
Ari Aster

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