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  • Published: 2 September 2025
  • ISBN: 9780241747056
  • Imprint: Dorling Kindersley
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
Categories:

How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend

Simple Steps to a Kinder Mind





Neuroscientist and mental health advocate Dr. Rachel Barr invites you to know your brain better - and live a calmer more fulfilled life as a result

In today’s increasingly anxious age, it’s easy to be wooed by multi-step methods that promise us ultimate fulfilment. But what if society’s obsession with self-optimization actually stands at odds with the way we are wired?

For neuroscientist Dr. Rachel Barr, understanding our brains is not just a profession but an immensely personal endeavour. Having witnessed her own mother’s struggles with mental ill-health, Rachel embarked on studies that would help her understand and share the simple steps that we can all take to better our own mental well-being.

In stark contrast to the relentless effort and productivity of the multi-step optimization movement, Rachel offers a refreshing alternative: by simply aligning with our brain’s natural rhythms – from its need for sleep to rewiring its tendency towards negativity bias – we can all experience more peace in our day-to-day lives.

Offering a scientifically backed guide to harnessing what should come naturally (were it not for the success-driven society surrounding us), Rachel invites you to discover that true wellness might be less about pushing ourselves harder, and more about tuning into our own inherent patterns and becoming better friends with our brains.

  • Published: 2 September 2025
  • ISBN: 9780241747056
  • Imprint: Dorling Kindersley
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304
Categories:

About the author

Dr. Rachel Barr

Dr. Rachel Barr PhD is a neuroscientist specialising in the electrophysiology of sleep and memory. Outside of her research, she aims to bridge the gap between neuroscience and our everyday experiences, using social media to share these learnings with over one million followers.

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