Burnout: The Secret to Completing the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

Once again, not a Romance, but a book geared towards women! Burnout is a feminist non-fiction/self-help book focused on guiding women toward managing their stress not through the “task" of self-care but rather with awareness of the elements that contribute to stress and how to manage them and ground them in who you are.

As I read this book, a bunch of sections spoke to me. They gave suggestions for moving my body as a non-exerciser (moving your body is the #1 way to complete the stress cycle, rather than letting it build up into larger health issues). So now I do jumping jacks at work after a stressful meeting with a manager or a phone call with a customer. I just got a co-worker to do a set with me after some stressful news. I've also checked in on my Something Larger and got to pat myself on the back for shulking off society's expectations on my body and ignoring the Bikini Industrial Complex. I know I still have work to do in that area, but this book is great at reminding me that everything is an ebb and flow.

Often, I would read a chapter that I just wanted to thrust under a friend's nose. I saw so many tips that people I know and love could hear and help them. The biggest one is about the “Human Giver Syndrome” and how we’ve been forced into it’s little box by the patriarchy and how we can break out of that little box without losing the best parts of ourselves.

Basically, this book is the bomb. I highly suggest it for anyone tired of just shoving the stress down. -Ford