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Meditations for Mortals: A Four Week Guide to Doing What Counts by Oliver Burkeman (Paperback)

“Full of wisdom and comfort…a really important book about embracing truth and reality which will help a lot of people leave their fantasies and dive into real life”
— Chris Van Tulleken , author of Ultra-Processed People
“Oliver Burkeman has a way of giving you the most unexpected productivity advice exactly when you need it”
— Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.
“Meditations for Mortals offers a practical path toward personal transformation … A must-read”
— Cal Newport, author of Slow Productivity

Meditations for Mortals:

A Four Week Guide to Doing What Counts

by Oliver Burkeman
Vintage / Paperback (£10.99) / ebook / audio 1 May 2025

Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman’s breakout international bestseller, touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of readers. Inspired and moved by Burkeman’s investigation into how to live unblinkingly in the face of our limited time on earth, some of them changed their lives: they made big decisions to rethink careers, relationships, priorities, and misguided assumptions about productivity.

Meditations for Mortals takes us on a liberating journey towards a more meaningful life – one that begins not with fantasies of the ideal existence, but with the reality in which we actually find ourselves. Designed as a four-week ‘retreat of the mind’, it offers daily wisdom, solace and inspiration to aid a saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled way of living.

Addressing the fundamental questions about how to live, Oliver Burkeman proposes a powerful new guiding philosophy of ‘imperfectionism’. How can we embrace our limitations? Or make good decisions when there’s always too much to do? What if being truly productive means letting things happen, not making them happen?

Reflecting philosophy, religion, literature, psychology, and self-help, Burkeman explores practical tools and shifts in perspective. The result is a profound yet entertaining crash course in living more fully.

ABOUT OLIVER Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Four Thousand Weeks and The Antidote, and for many years wrote a popular weekly column on psychology for the Guardian, 'This Column Will Change Your Life'. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Psychologies and New Philosopher.

He has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment. For more information - oliverburkeman.com

Selected praise for Meditations for Mortals

 ‘I love this book, and I loved it from the get go…[it's] awesome.’ - Chris Evans, Virgin Radio

‘Thoughtful, level-headed and useful…This is a book to meditate upon.’ - Times

 ‘illuminating’ Guardian

 ‘one of the best books I’ve read this year’ - Psychologies

‘A bracing read’ - Financial Times

 ‘[Meditations for Mortals] teems with good sense, sensibly dispensed’ - iPaper

Selected Praise for Four Thousand Weeks

 'Perfectly pitched somewhere between practical self-help and philosophical quest' - Observer

'Full of such sage and sane advice, delivered with dry wit and a benevolent tone' - Guardian

'Life is finite. You don't have to fit everything in... Read this book and wake up to a new way of thinking and living’ - Emma Gannon

'Every sentence is riven with gold’ - Chris Evans

'Comforting, fascinating, engaging, inspiring and useful' - Marian Keyes

‘Four Thousand Weeks is a book to read and re-read, to absorb and reflect on. Compassionate, funny and wise, it has not left my mind since I read it. The modern world teaches us to pretend to be immortal - this book is a dip in the cold, clear waters of reality, returning us refreshed and alive.’ - Naomi Alderman, author of The Power

Oliver will be speaking at more events in 2025:

·  Intelligence Squared – at Union Chapel, London – 29 April

·  Backstory, Balham, London – 30 April

·  Hay on Wye Literary Festival – 28 May 2025

With more to follow

For further information please contact:

EMMA FINNIGAN PR

07870 210468 | emma@emmafinniganpr.co.uk | @emmafinnigan | www.emmafinniganpr.co.uk

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Visualise: Think, Feel, Perform Like the Top 1% by Maya Raichoora

Do you know how to manage your emotions? Do you know how to rewire your brain to be more confident? Can you reach your goals without burning out? 

Visualisation is a neurological mental training technique that rewires the brain using your thoughts and imagination for a deliberate outcome. 

It has been used by elite athletes and performers for decades and now #1 visualisation expert Maya Raichoora will teach you the five visualisation techniques to retrain your brain.  In just 7-10 minutes a day, you can take control of the way you think, feel and perform.

Visualise

Think, Feel, Perform Like the Top 1%

by Maya Raichoora

Hardback non-fiction / Rider Books, Ebury / 27 March 2025 / £16.99

FIVE VISUALISATION TECHNIQUES TO MASTER YOUR MIND, BUILD CONFIDENCE AND ENHANCE PERFORMANCE

We all have habits, thoughts and behaviours that hold us back from reaching our fullest potential. In Visualise, Maya Raichoora shows you how to harness the power of visualisation to rewire and retrain your brain so you can take control of the way you think, feel and perform.

 Drawing on neuroscience, sports psychology, the author’s personal experience and compelling case studies, this book presents five tangible and easy-to-implement visualisation techniques that will help you boost your productivity, achieve your goals and create the best version of yourself. If the best athletes in the world can use it, why can’t we?

ABOUT Maya Raichoora

Maya Raichoora is one of the UK’s leading mental fitness and visualisation experts. She is an award-winning entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Remap Mental Fitness and host of monthly Mental Fitness Live.

 Maya has also just signed as Nike’s first ever mental fitness and visualisation trainer. Day to day she works with global companies like Amex, LEGO, PWC and Puig. Because of her unique expertise and experience, she is also a coach to elite athletes, executives and business owners. 

 Maya has a decade of experience mastering the technique of visualisation and is on a mission to share it with others. As a two-time TEDx speaker and public figure, her story and expertise has the power to inspire, empower and educate the masses. She currently reaches 10 million people online each month. Maya lives in London and is available for interview, features and events. Follow Maya on instagram at @maya.mental.fitness

Talking points / feature ideas:

  • Maya’s personal story – how her mindset and visualisation techniques helped her reframe the management of her chronic pain

  • From the changing rooms at Wimbledon to the sidelines of premier league football matches, how Maya coaches athletes to succeed

  • From Tiger Woods and Mo Salah to Walt Disney and Nikola Tesla - the science behind visualising your goals to achieve success – and how it will re-wire your brain

  • The potential power of Negative Visualisation and why ‘always think positive’ is a myth

  • How to build a visualisation habit

  • The scientific power of self-belief 

  • Why visualisation is the new manifesting

  • Visualisation versus meditation, mindfulness and manifestation

  • Mental health versus Mental Fitness, and why it’s crucial to train our minds as well as our bodies

  • Why high performance is not just about achieving extraordinary results, it is about process, sustainability and balance

  • How to use visualisation techniques in your relationships, to reduce stress and manage tricky conversations

The 5 Techniques:

  • Process: Mentally rehearsing a task to make it faster/easier/smarter. E.g. a golf swing, rehearsing your to-do list, public speaking.

  • Creative: Using visualisation to make an emotion/feeling/sensation tangible. This is extremely beneficial for managing emotions, reducing pain and working on a cellular level.

  • Negative: Visualising the worst-case scenario/challenges to help you feel more prepared and motivated. This one is used with caution. Included in this is the death bed visualisation which helps you to make life-changing decisions.

  • Explorative/Receptive: This is where there is no specific goal or outcome, you are using your mind like a whiteboard. Used by the likes of Walt Disney/Nikola Tesla – it is great for creating content, ideas and pursuing goals.

  • Outcome: Mentally rehearsing the results in advance. When repeated, this rewires the brain and increases motivation.

For further information please contact:

EMMA FINNIGAN PR

07870 210468 | emma@emmafinniganpr.co.uk | @emmafinnigan | www.emmafinniganpr.co.uk

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Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman

“Full of wisdom and comfort…a really important book about embracing truth and reality which will help a lot of people leave their fantasies and dive into real life”
— Chris Van Tulleken , author of Ultra-Processed People
“Oliver Burkeman has a way of giving you the most unexpected productivity advice exactly when you need it”
— Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.
“Meditations for Mortals offers a practical path toward personal transformation … A must-read”
— Cal Newport, author of Slow Productivity

Meditations for Mortals:

Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts

by Oliver Burkeman
Hardback / 12 September 2024 / Vintage

Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman’s breakout international bestseller, touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of readers. Inspired and moved by Burkeman’s investigation into how to live unblinkingly in the face of our limited time on earth, some of them changed their lives: they made big decisions to rethink careers, relationships, priorities, and misguided assumptions about productivity.

Meditations for Mortals takes us on a liberating journey towards a more meaningful life – one that begins not with fantasies of the ideal existence, but with the reality in which we actually find ourselves.

Addressing the fundamental questions about how to live, it offers a powerful new way to take action on what counts: a guiding philosophy of life Oliver Burkeman calls ‘imperfectionism’. How can we embrace our non-negotiable limitations? Or make good decisions when there’s always too much to do? What if purposeful productivity were often about letting things happen, not making them happen?

Reflecting on ideas drawn from philosophy, religion, literature, psychology, and self-help, Burkeman explores practical tools and shifts in perspective. The result is a bracing challenge to much familiar advice, and a profound yet entertaining crash course in living more fully.

To be read either as a four-week ‘retreat of the mind’ or devoured in one or two sittings, Meditations for Mortals will be a source of solace and inspiration, and an aid to a saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled life. In anxiety-inducing times, it is rich in truths we have never needed more.

ABOUT OLIVER Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Four Thousand Weeks and The Antidote, and for many years wrote a popular weekly column on psychology for the Guardian, 'This Column Will Change Your Life'. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Psychologies and New Philosopher.

He has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment. For more information - oliverburkeman.com

Selected Praise for Four Thousand Weeks

 'Perfectly pitched somewhere between practical self-help and philosophical quest' - Observer

'Full of such sage and sane advice, delivered with dry wit and a benevolent tone' - Guardian

'Life is finite. You don't have to fit everything in... Read this book and wake up to a new way of thinking and living’ - Emma Gannon

'Every sentence is riven with gold’ - Chris Evans

'Comforting, fascinating, engaging, inspiring and useful' - Marian Keyes

‘Four Thousand Weeks is a book to read and re-read, to absorb and reflect on. Compassionate, funny and wise, it has not left my mind since I read it. The modern world teaches us to pretend to be immortal - this book is a dip in the cold, clear waters of reality, returning us refreshed and alive.’ - Naomi Alderman, author of The Power

Oliver will be speaking at events around publication:

  • Edinburgh International Festival – 24 August

  • City Screen Picturehouse, York (Waterstones) – 10 September

  • Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, Bath – 11 September

  • How To Academy (at the Royal Geographical Society) – 12 September

  • Cambridge Literary Festival – 17 September

  • Cheltenham Literary Festival – 8 October

  • Durham Literary Festival – 13 October

  • Wimbledon BookFest – 20 October

  • Toppings, Edinburgh – 6 November

  • Stroud Festival – 7 November

  • Berwins Salon North – 13 February 2025

With more to be confirmed

For further information please contact:

EMMA FINNIGAN PR

07870 210468 | emma@emmafinniganpr.co.uk | @emmafinnigan | www.emmafinniganpr.co.uk

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Genius Gut by Dr Emily Leeming

“In an ocean of much needed books on health, I’m so glad I’ve got Dr Emily’s Genius Gut. As a fellow ex private chef, I love how she writes practically and deliciously on food. And as someone who is also always trying to offer suggestions to busy people, I adore the clever BGBGs menu planning reminder - you’ll have to buy the book to find out what that is!” - ”
— Melissa Hemsley
“The gut is the gateway to the brain - and this is the go-to guide. This brilliant book goes into the details of how and what to eat to empower your gut to boost your mood, mental health, resilience to stress and access to intuition.
”
— Dr Tara Swart, neuroscientist

Genius Gut

The Life-Changing Science of Eating for Your Second Brain

By Dr Emily Leeming

Penguin Michael Joseph | 25th July 2024 | Trade paperback | £18.99

10 New Gut-Brain Hacks to Revolutionise Your Energy, Mood and Brainpower

Ever experienced ‘gut feelings’ or ‘butterflies in your stomach’? Turns out there’s real science behind them. Your gut isn’t just a digestive system, it’s a powerhouse - your second brain.

 In new book Genius Gut, microbiome scientist and registered dietitian Dr Emily Leeming explains the ground-breaking new evidence on the relationship between food and mood, unveiling the powerful gut-brain connection…and exciting new links to your gut bacteria.

Understand how the food you eat and the habits surrounding it can elevate your mood, sharpen your focus, and make you feel amazing through the Genius Gut method.

Say goodbye to food-related stress. No more cutting out foods, feeling hungry, or worrying about what you ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ eat. Genius Gut cuts through the nutritional noise to get you to achieve a healthy balance - without restriction and with plenty of science-backed tips.

Dr Emily has translated complex science into 10 actionable gut-brain hacks to boost your health, mood, and brainpower. Packed with ready-to-go tips and expert advice, Genius Gut is your ultimate ally for everyday gut (and brain) health that will make the world of difference.

“An essential and refreshing read.”
— Joshua Fletcher, the Anxiety Therapist and author of And How Does That Make You Feel?
“Apart from being an exceptional academic, Emily’s talent and passion for disseminating the science into digestible nuggets is second to none. I devoured this book.
”
— Alana Macfarlane, author of The Gut Stuff
“Dr Emily Leeming masterfully distils emerging and complex science into easy and actionable reading, dispelling common myths along the way. Everyone should own a copy!”
— Angela Foster, High Performance Health Podcast
“This truly is a gut health bible. Emily’s storytelling in this book about the gut breaks down everything you need to know into easily digestible tips, tricks, and recommendations, delving into the science to separate facts from fads. It’s a comprehensive go-to guide for anyone looking to improve their gut health with no-nonsense advice, all backed by science.”
— Kaitlin Colucci, gut health dietitian
“With so much conflicting health advice out there, this book stands out as a beacon of clarity. Emily expertly debunks common health myths, simply explains complex ideas and tells you exactly how to use food to boost your mood, health and brainpower! A definitive guide!”
— Dr Sophie Mort, Clinical Psychologist and Sunday Times bestselling author of A Manual For Being Human
“Genius Gut demystifies the science of gut-brain signalling and offers a wealth of practical solutions for individuals hoping to increase their overall wellbeing”
”
— Prof. John Cryan, Neuroscientist & Co-Author of The Psychobiotic Revolution

Dr Emily Leeming PhD MSc RD is a microbiome scientist, registered dietitian, and chef. She is a Research Fellow at King’s College London. Dr Emily writes for The Daily Mail and frequently appears in media outlets such as BBC Radio 4, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, and The Guardian. She authors the popular weekly Substack newsletter Second Brain and regularly gives talks, translating new research findings into actionable everyday advice. Genius Gut is her first book.

www.emilyleeming.com
Substack newsletter - Second Brain           
Instagram - @dremilyleeming

Dr Emily Leeming - Credit: Breeana Dunbar

Tips, stats and hacks…

  • Your gut microbiome influences every aspect of your health and has the capacity to signal to your brain influencing your mood and how well you think.

  • Your thoughts and moods can influence the biology of the rest of your body.

  • Children - Scientists have been able to predict whether a two-year-old child is likely to have early symptoms of anxiousness if the mum had a less diverse gut microbiome during her third trimester. In the microbiome of children from two months to ten years old, differences in gut bacteria have been related to both how well they think and the size of multiple parts of the brain.

  • Your gut bacteria are a key factor in healthy ageing, and they influence your immune systems response, for better or worse.

  • Male Bias - only 0.5% of neuroscience research is female focussed, and 2% of all medical research.

  • Sex hormones influence your microbiome and vice versa – for women when your oestrogen levels are high your microbiome tends to be more diverse, with lower diversity of bacteria in menopause and later life.

  • Research shows that antibiotic use is linked to early puberty in girls, but not boys.

  • Menopause - Women in Asia tend to experience fewer menopause symptoms than Western women, and this could be down to their gut microbiome.

  • Neurodiversity and gut microbiome - we don’t yet know if ADHD and Autism are partly caused by the gut microbiome, but research does highlight that the microbiome might be relevant in ADHD and Autism.

  • Importance of fibre – if starved of fibre bacteria chew through our inner lining of mucus to reach our skin cells, triggering a red alert to our immune system. Our gut-barrier lining becomes inflamed, damaged, and susceptible to ‘bad’ bacteria leaking from the gut into our circulation. The connection between fibre and your health is powerful - it’s linked to a 30 per cent lower risk of death.

  • The science behind current advice to eat '30 plants a week for your gut microbiome' is surprisingly weak - it's based on one small part of a large study. It's not the new '5 a day' it's being proclaimed to be, but diversity in your diet is still important. You can eat more diverse for your gut bacteria by thinking of 5 colours of fruit and veg and the BGBGs, rather than stressing about hitting the 30 plants a week target that can be expensive and cause food waste.

  • Air pollution has been shown to change the make-up of the gut microbiome to produce dangerous metabolites, disrupting the gut barrier lining and triggering excess inflammation.  Air pollution can also be linked to behavioural changes, mental health issues and neurodegenerative diseases.

  • Loneliness is a huge problem for our gut microbiome - we get new bacteria into our gut microbiome from those we interact with - sharing bacteria back and forth when we hug, shake hands and kiss. Those who are lonely tend to have lower diversity of gut bacteria, often linked with poor health.

  • Certain gut bacteria are thought to be involved in the release of oxytocin, potentially influencing how social you are. Human studies have found links between gut bacteria and personality traits like how conscientious you are and how much empathy you have.

  • Your gut bacteria influence how your body makes your ‘happy' hormone serotonin, and your reward neurotransmitter dopamine - influencing your mood, motivation, and behaviour.

  • IBS - There’s a clear link between the gut and the brain in IBS. Stress often triggers symptoms: 38% of people with IBS have anxiety, and over 27% have depression.
    Non-diet strategies targeting the gut-brain connection, like gut-directed hypnotherapy and ·        yoga have also been shown to be just as effective for managing IBS symptoms as dietary treatment.

  • A number of studies have linked cognitive performance to your gut microbiome, in particular to your learning and memory in both health and disease - there’s early but convincing evidence that Parkinson’s disease begins in the gut not the brain.

  • A healthy balanced diet can significantly help with your mood and anxiety. The Mediterranean diet is also linked with being able to think faster and problem-solve better, and a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia. People who eat more fibre tend to perform far better in cognitive tests, involving memory and problem solving.

  • People experience low mood on a continuum towards depression. People with depression have a different gut microbiome and tend to have lower levels of short-chain fatty acids, special healthy molecules that are produced by the gut bacteria when you eat fibre, the roughage from plant foods.

  • Importance of nature - As little as ten minutes a day walking or sitting in nature is related to better mental well-being. Being outside is also an opportunity for your gut bacteria. One teaspoon of soil contains more microbes than there are humans in the world.

  • Habits - Small, easy changes are the secret to success. We have the power to rewire our own brains, forming new neural pathways by repeating actions over and over again until it becomes natural and easy.

Genius Gut Method Hacks

  • Make half your plate veggies
    Veggies are bright, colourful, packed with flavour and textures; they also contain the double whammy of fibre and polyphenols, rocket fuel for your gut bacteria. They’re proven to make you happier too!
    Having two or more servings of veggies a day is linked to having the cognitive age of someone five years younger in later life.

  • Go for the colourful 5
    A more diverse gut microbiome is linked to better health, and for those with certain gut bacteria – with better emotional well-being.
    Try mixed bags of stir fry veg; mixed bags of salad leaves; mixed frozen vegetables; frozen forest fruits; mixed bags of nuts and sees; cans of mixed beans…

  • Have your dinner early
    Eating at regular times and early before bed (and ideally in an eating window of ten hours) can help in sleeping better at night, being less likely to feel hungry; and is linked to more energy, better mood, higher diversity of gut bacteria, better blood sugar and fat control, and improved blood pressure.

  • Oily fish twice a week
    Regular fish eaters tend to have more grey matter in key brain regions like the hippocampus and pre-frontal cortex, linked with better cognitive function.

  • Bring on the fibre-protein breakfast
    Breakfast is a prime opportunity to add in some fibre and polyphenols for your gut bacteria; it also seems to make us happier too. Make sure to add in protein too, keeping you feeling fuller and more energised for longer, and dramatically easing sweet and savoury cravings later in the day.

  • Drink Up!

    Two cups of coffee a day is related to better brain health and function than having no coffee or drinking decaf.

For copies and publicity enquiries please contact

Ella on ewatkins@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk or Emma on emma@emmafinniganpr.co.uk

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This Book May Save Your Life by Dr Karan Rajan

The hilarious, myth-busting survival guide to the human body from the internet’s favourite General Surgeon, Dr Karan Rajan

This Book May Save Your Life

by Dr Karan Rajan

Everyday health hacks to worry less and live better

Hardback non-fiction / 28 December 2023 / Century / £18.99

'When you want to sort medical fact from medical fiction, Dr Karan is your man. This is the only book that will have you laughing and learning in equal measure’ - Dr Julie Smith, bestselling author of Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before

Though the odds are stacked against us, the human body has an extraordinary tendency to survive. In This Book May Save Your Life, Dr Karan Rajan explains the weird and wonderful bodily functions that keep us going and offers practical advice to help you thrive.

Full of everyday health hacks to worry less and live better, it will teach you:

  • The dangers of plucking your nose hairs

  • You untapped natural reflexes to combat stress

  • How to manage pain with simple mind tricks

  • How to slow cognitive decline

  • And why you should never hold in a fart

 

‘I’m here to guide you safely around your body’s biological barbs, traps, slides and pitfalls to improve your quality of life.’ Dr Karan Rajan

'I'll never look at my anus the same way' Hayley Morris, bestselling author of Me Vs Brain

ABOUT DR karan rajan

Dr Karan Rajan is an NHS surgeon and one of the biggest health and science creators on social media, with over 8.5 million followers across his social media channels. His refreshingly frank medical myth-busting and health advice videos combine education, entertainment, and generous servings of dark humour.

Dr Rajan has been featured on news programmes all over the world including BBC Morning Live, This Morning, Good Morning Britain, BBC News, Sky News and national radio, with coverage in the Guardian, Independent, Washington Post, New York Post, Metro, Sun, LADBible and the Daily Mail. A former weekly health columnist for Mail+, Dr Rajan was also a co-presenter on BBC Two’s six-part series Your Body Uncovered

Over the past few years, as well as being a regular advocate of health promotion on behalf of the NHS and the UK government, he has also worked closely with the UN, the WHO and the British Red Cross in an ambassadorial capacity. He is also a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Sunderland Medical School and formerly at Imperial College London. He brings his passion for education, health and science to life in speaking engagements and has delivered keynote speeches and talks at Oxford University, Imperial College London, Birmingham University, Uber, Peloton, TikTok and General Electric.

Dr Karan Rajan is available for interviews, features and events.

For further information please contact:

EMMA FINNIGAN PR

07870 210468 | emma@emmafinniganpr.co.uk | @emmafinnigan | www.emmafinniganpr.co.uk

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