Free samples

Here are three pamphlets you can read in full, right here: small ways to start the morning, a gentle practice for racing thoughts, and a gentler way to talk to yourself on low days. They’re free, and they don’t ask for your email.

Each pamphlet is complete on its own page, so there’s no file to download and no form to fill in. Each one takes about 10 to 15 minutes to read and gives you a practice you can try the same day, with step-by-step instructions, sentences you can borrow, and what to do if the practice doesn’t help.

The three pamphlets

• Getting your life back

  Small ways to start the morning

  This one is for mornings at home on your own, when nobody else is setting the pace of the day. It walks you through three small acts you can still do: find your keys, put the kettle on, and do one kind thing for yourself. It also shows you how to set them up the night before, what a good week looks like, and what to do on mornings when the weight feels heavier than an empty room.

• Meditation

  A gentle practice when thoughts race

  This is a short practice for a mind that won’t settle. It lasts as long as the kettle takes, with a gentle count of your breath in an ordinary chair. It includes an eyes-open version by the window, a version for 3 a.m., and clear advice to stop if stillness makes you feel worse.

• Depression, beside care

  Talking with yourself gently when low

  This one offers a gentler way to talk to yourself when nobody else is home, alongside care from your doctor. It lists the lines a harsh inner voice tends to repeat, with a fair answer for each, plus a short evening check-in and a way to write letters you never have to send. It’s never a reason to stop a prescribed medicine, and it is not yet medically reviewed.

Which pamphlet to start with

Start with the one that matches the hardest hour of your day. If it’s the first hour, when the house is still and the day hasn’t found its shape, read the morning pamphlet. If it’s the hour your mind won’t stop running, whether that’s at the kitchen sink or at 3 a.m., read the practice for racing thoughts. If it’s an hour when you hear yourself saying hard things about your own life, read the one on talking with yourself gently.

The three work well together, too. Many people find that a calmer morning makes the inner voice a little easier to answer, and that a few minutes with the kettle helps on a low afternoon.

How to get the most from a pamphlet

Read it once all the way through, then pick one practice and try it the same day or the next morning. Try that practice daily for a week before you judge it, since most of these small habits take a few days to feel natural. You can print the page from your browser if you’d like to keep it on the counter or the refrigerator door.

If a practice makes you feel worse, stop. Each pamphlet says what to do instead, and none of them asks you to push through. If you’re finding that a low mood, poor sleep, or loneliness keeps coming back, please mention it to your doctor, and keep taking any prescribed medicine as prescribed.

More on the site

• Begin has four paths if you’re new here, each with a small step to try today.
• The Library groups the shorter pages by room.
• Getting your life back is about taking charge of your ordinary days.
• Meditation covers short practices of attention.
• Depression is education that goes alongside care, and it is not yet medically reviewed.
• Loneliness looks at long evenings and how people rebuild company over time.