Unwind!: 7 Principles for a Stress-Free Life

This book by Michael Olpin, a top-notch stress expert, and Sam Bracken, a no longer stressed-out writer, stands out from other books on stress management in one significant way: its “whole-person” approach. Unwind! is about optimizing your body, heart, mind, and soul, recognizing that any and all of these dimensions of your life affect your anxiety level. It helps you get clear about who you are as well as your priorities and goals. The authors show you how to take charge of your life and how to make better choices that will prevent stress in the first place.

The authors explore seven key paradigm shifts, from reactive to proactive; unmotivated to inspired; pressured to prioritized; hassled to harmonious; anxious to empathic; defensive to diverse; and tense to tranquil. Delving deep into each of these paradigm shifts, readers learn how to prevent most of the daily stresses people typically experience, by getting at the roots of stressors.

Homeless at age fifteen, Sam Bracken graduated near the top of his Las Vegas high school class, landing a football scholarship to the Georgia Institute of Technology. On his arrival there, everything he owned fit in a duffel bag, hence the title of his renowned graphic mini-memoir, My Orange Duffel Bag. Sam lives with his wife and four children in Utah, where he serves as global director of media for FranklinCovey and leader of the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation, a nonprofit for rescuing at-risk youth.

Dr. Michael Olpin is director of the groundbreaking Stress Relief Center at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Coauthor of the popular college textbook Stress Management for Life: A Research-Based Experiential Approach, he runs the website StressManagementPlace.com to help people everywhere discover that “the world is not a stressful place.” A lifelong athlete, Michael is usually out biking and running in the beautiful mountains of northern Utah, where he lives with his wife and four kids.