As someone with a lifelong commitment to exercise and fitness, it was hard for me to adapt to my new reality when I was diagnosed with a serious disease a few years back. Uncurable is a hard word to accept, but fortunately my “affliction” is treatable, so after having treatment, I was kind of a …
I’ve known people who have attended Drs. Neff and Germer’s 8-week MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion) program and raved about it. And I have heard recently that I would never talk to or about a friend the way I talk to or about myself, so the opportunity provided by Guilford Press and NetGalley to read The …
I love good books that promote healthy eating/vegetarianism, so I was pleased to receive The Plant-Based Solution by Joel Kahn, M.D. from Sounds True Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. As a non-carnivore for 30+ years, I have had some concern about whether or not I am getting enough protein in my diet, …
Some years ago, I was the foster parent to a teenager whose adolescence had been filled with abuse by various people, including her father, brother, and even the man who played Santa Claus. Finally, some 25+ years after she left our home, she began working with therapists to deal with the consequences of her upbringing. …
Like many others, in the past when I had thought of mindfulness and meditation, what came to mind was the Transcendental Meditation of the 60s or, if not that exactly, possibly extremely long periods of silence sitting in an uncomfortable (or, for many of us, impossible) position. When I spent time at the Tassajara Zen …
My husband was heavily influenced to modify his eating after reading Dr. David Perlmutter’s book Grain Brain a couple of years ago. The follow-up title, The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan, is a practical book—much less theoretical than his previous books. As he states: “The main purpose of this book is to help you put …
Over the years, I have read several of Dr. Harriet Lerner’s “Dance” books (The Dance of Anger, Dance of Connection, Dance of Fear) and always appreciated her straightforward style and use of real-life examples to demonstrate the concepts she wanted to convey. When I read that she had a new book, Why Won’t You Apologize?, …
Reid Wilson, PhD, author of titles including Don’t Panic! and Playing With Anxiety, has written a book with a title that will resonate with many people. Frequently, we are told to turn to happy thoughts (“go to your happy place”) when the mental machinations seem overwhelming. Dr. Wilson’s approach is different: he encourages us to …
OK, to start with, I am a hardcore sugar addict, and have been reading about my drug of choice for years, going back to Sugar Blues in the 80s, then on through Sugar Crush, Sugar Nation, Grain Brain, blah blah blah right up through Pure, White and Deadly. And yes, I admit I wanted someone …
I was somewhat familiar with Dr. Pennebaker’s work through his 2014 title Expressive Writing: Words That Heal, and as a lifelong journal keeper, his ideas have always resonated with me. So I was pleased to receive an advance copy of Opening Up by Writing It Down, Third Edition: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and …
Melody Warnick’s This Is Where You Belong came to my attention at a great time! It was at the start of another gorgeous summer on the Central California coast, at the beginning of the tourist invasion — and we started thinking about how nice it would be to not get stuck in traffic or feel …
Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue By Amy Ferris For starters, this book is amazing. Amy Ferris has gathered writings about a subject that is close to my heart, and the result is a powerful, gut-wrenching, piercing look into a topic that is too often stigmatized, hidden, shame-based, you name it, …