JAMES REEVES and GABRIELLE BROWN founded the yoga and meditation school Restful Being Ltd in 2014, specialising in yoga nidra, a transformative state of deep rest. James has been a practising yoga teacher since 2005 after completing his first teacher training in Kerala, India and is now recognised as a world-leading yoga nidra authority, delivering classes, workshops, retreats and teacher-training courses globally and online. Gabrielle is primarily involved in managing Restful Being’s content, from course materials to blog posts, having over two decades of experience in corporate communications and publishing. She has been a dedicated yoga practitioner since 2004 and qualified to teach in 2013 after studying classical yoga in India and yoga nidra in California, USA.
Thank you
Thanks to everyone at HQ for their enthusiasm and excitement at putting our work out there, specifically our publisher Lisa Milton and editor Kate Fox, and to our copyeditor Laura Herring for her invaluable observations. This book would not be happening if Anna Hogarty at Madeleine Milburn hadn’t envisioned the title and everything it stands for, and thanks also to Hayley Steed and Madeleine for their ongoing support and encouragement. Jessica Harvey, for casting her superlatively creative eye over the cover design.
James: To my father, for your desire to understand the deeper meaning of life, and my mother, for living it with discreet beauty. My brother, Simon, for his big heart, and his partner Wayne, for his quiet strength. To Jayson, Justin and all my friends who have provided laughter and lightness to balance introversion and intensity. To my beloved teacher, Richard Miller, for living these teachings with such grace and kindness, and the broader iRest community for your examples of how to be damn good human beings.
Gabrielle: Thanks to my mother, Marie-France, who introduced me not only to yoga but also to James. My father, Robin, who has always encouraged me to see how fundamental the written word is in understanding and augmenting our experience of being human. My siblings, Thomas, Scott and Sophie – my comrades in life. Filkins Book Club for over a decade of good company and making me read things I didn’t think I wanted to read. To all my yoga and meditation teachers for helping me feel comfortable in body and mind, and to Beth, Jude, and Jess for always being there.
The Book of Rest
James Reeves and Gabrielle Brown
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019
Copyright © James Reeves and Gabrielle Brown 2019
James Reeves and Gabrielle Brown asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © July 2019 ISBN: 9780008321642
Version: 2019-07-23
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Contents
For Poppy and Luca. You are perfect.
We’re going to take you on a journey to your most rested self.
We’re going to show you that whatever you have going on in your life right now, part of you is always at rest. Part of you is completely calm, completely balanced, completely satisfied and completely shatterproof.
This is a journey that anyone