Why Isn't My Brain Working?


Datis Kharrazian - 2013
    Modern diets, a stressful lifestyle, and environmental toxins all take their toll on the brain. This doesn't just happen to seniors-brain disorders and degeneration are on the rise for young and old alike. The good news is the brain is extremely adaptable and wants to get well. You simply have to know how to feed and care for your brain. How do you know if your brain isn't working? See if some of these signs and symptoms of brain degeneration apply to you: Memory loss - brain fog - depression - anxiety - difficulty learning - lack of motivation, drive, or passion - tire easily - poor focus and concentration - fatigue in response to certain chemicals or foods Brain degeneration affects millions of Americans of all ages. The destruction sets in years or even decades before Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, or other serious neurological diseases can be diagnosed. Learn how to spot brain degeneration and stop it before it's too late. Why Isn't My Brain Working? will teach you strategies to save and improve brain function. You will learn how simple diet and lifestyle changes and nutritional therapy can profoundly impact your brain health and thus the quality of your life. Don't waste another day wondering why your brain is not working. Learn what you can and should do about it. Why Isn't My Brain Working? harnesses cutting-edge scientific research for safe, simple, and truly effective solutions to declining brain function.

From the Brink of the Drink: A Personal Story of Tribulations and Triumphs of Alcoholism


Karla Juvonen - 2020
    

Transdermal Magnesium Therapy: A New Modality for the Maintenance of Health


Mark Sircus - 2000
    The information presented here could even save your life. Magnesium is the lamp of life and one of the most important keys to overall health. When applied in the correct way, magnesium offers us a return to strength and vigor. When used in the emergency room, magnesium can save the day for both heart and stroke patients. What you will be introduced to is magnesium oil, a natural concentrated form of magnesium chloride that can be applied directly to the skin for intense effect.When we are deficient in magnesium, over three hundred enzymes in our body are unable to function properly.Magnesium deficiency has been scientifically identified as a critical factor in the onset of a wide variety of diseases. For various reasons and to varying degree, two-thirds or more of the population is magnesium deficient.Learn how to use this powerful secret to good health in Transdermal Magnesium Therapy.

Imagine: How Creativity Works


Jonah Lehrer - 2012
    Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative “types,” Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.Lehrer reveals the importance of embracing the rut, thinking like a child, daydreaming productively, and adopting an outsider’s perspective (travel helps). He unveils the optimal mix of old and new partners in any creative collaboration, and explains why criticism is essential to the process. Then he zooms out to show how we can make our neighborhoods more vibrant, our companies more productive, and our schools more effective.You’ll learn about Bob Dylan’s writing habits and the drug addictions of poets. You’ll meet a Manhattan bartender who thinks like a chemist, and an autistic surfer who invented an entirely new surfing move. You’ll see why Elizabethan England experienced a creative explosion, and how Pixar’s office space is designed to spark the next big leap in animation.Collapsing the layers separating the neuron from the finished symphony, Imagine reveals the deep inventiveness of the human mind, and its essential role in our increasingly complex world. http://www.jonahlehrer.com/

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion


Sam Harris - 2014
    Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experiences of such contemplatives—and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow.Waking Up is part seeker’s memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris—a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic—could write it.

Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love and Happiness


Bradley Nelson - 2007
    Releasing trapped emotions often results in the sudden disappearance of physical problems, self-sabotage, and recurring relationship difficulties. Filled with real-world examples from many years of clinical practice, The Emotion Code is a distinct and authoritative new work that is destined to become an instant classic on self-healing.

Why Do People Get Ill


David Corfield - 2007
    With case studies and advice for a fitter life, this is an intriguing and thought-provoking book, one which should be read by anyone who cares about their wellbeing.

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence


Michael Pollan - 2018
    It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counter-culture, all further research was banned. In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people? Diving deep into this extraordinary world and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of human consciousness.

Bipolar Happens! 35 Tips and Tricks to Manage Bipolar Disorder


Julie A. Fast - 2011
    Written with a very funny and riveting honesty as only a person with the illness can do, Bipolar Happens! offers practical knowledge and deep insights into what it is like to live with bipolar disorder.Compelling, insightful and never afraid to tell the truth , many of Julie’s readers credit this book as being their personal catalyst for change. “When I read this book I actually felt that someone really understood me, and it made me feel hope for the first time since my diagnosis. I didn’t know what it meant to be psychotic or why I got overwhelmed a lot in crowds. I learned how to manage mania much better than in the past. And now I can see that I’m not the only one who wakes up with depression. Julie is funny and so willing to say what many people won’t. This book talks about the stuff we go through that never gets put into books. The book is like reading fables. It’s not overwhelming, but you really learn a lot.”

Burnout Survival Kit


Imogen Dall - 2020
    What you need is some sane advice to get you through. Your body aches. Your brain feels like a mouldy wrung-out dishcloth. You can barely get anything done and, hang on, why are you even doing this anyway? Is there something wrong with you? Nope. You're just burnt out. Burnout Survival Kit offers practical advice for when things are already bad. There's no mystical magic about unleashing your inner corporate superhero, no weird productivity diagrams, and certainly no crap about working 'smarter'. Instead, this is the calm inner voice that you need, served with good sense and creativity. As well as helping you to take time to ground yourself, there are brilliant hacks for all the causes of stress and anxiety, from how to approach networking (no one likes it) to practical advice on sleeping better. And the humour helps too. This may not be a cure, but it really does offer instant relief and give you the chance to take a breath. So whether you're just starting to burn or fully scorched to a crisp, rest easy. You've got a Burnout Survival Kit.

Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength


Roy F. Baumeister - 2011
    Baumeister, teams with New York Times science writer John Tierney to reveal the secrets of self-control and how to master it. In Willpower, the pioneering researcher Roy F. Baumeister collaborates with renowned New York Times science writer John Tierney to revolutionize our understanding of the most coveted human virtue: self-control.In what became one of the most cited papers in social science literature, Baumeister discovered that willpower actually operates like a muscle: it can be strengthened with practice and fatigued by overuse. Willpower is fueled by glucose, and it can be bolstered simply by replenishing the brain's store of fuel. That's why eating and sleeping- and especially failing to do either of those-have such dramatic effects on self-control (and why dieters have such a hard time resisting temptation).Baumeister's latest research shows that we typically spend four hours every day resisting temptation. No wonder people around the world rank a lack of self-control as their biggest weakness. Willpower looks to the lives of entrepreneurs, parents, entertainers, and artists-including David Blaine, Eric Clapton, and others-who have flourished by improving their self-control.The lessons from their stories and psychologists' experiments can help anyone. You learn not only how to build willpower but also how to conserve it for crucial moments by setting the right goals and using the best new techniques for monitoring your progress. Once you master these techniques and establish the right habits, willpower gets easier: you'll need less conscious mental energy to avoid temptation. That's neither magic nor empty self-help sloganeering, but rather a solid path to a better life.Combining the best of modern social science with practical wisdom, Baumeister and Tierney here share the definitive compendium of modern lessons in willpower. As our society has moved away from the virtues of thrift and self-denial, it often feels helpless because we face more temptations than ever. But we also have more knowledge and better tools for taking control of our lives. However we define happiness-a close- knit family, a satisfying career, financial security-we won't reach it without mastering self-control.

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant


Daniel Tammet - 2006
    Tammet's ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. Besides being able to effortlessly multiply and divide huge sums in his head with the speed and accuracy of a computer, Tammet, the subject of the 2005 documentary Brainman, learned Icelandic in a single week and recited the number pi up to the 22,514th digit, breaking the European record. He also experiences synesthesia, an unusual neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as "shapes, colors, textures and motions." Tammet traces his life from a frustrating, withdrawn childhood and adolescence to his adult achievements, which include teaching in Lithuania, achieving financial independence with an educational Web site and sustaining a long-term romantic relationship. As one of only about 50 people living today with synesthesia and autism, Tammet's condition is intriguing to researchers; his ability to express himself clearly and with a surprisingly engaging tone (given his symptoms) makes for an account that will intrigue others as well.

Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma


Elizabeth A. Stanley - 2019
    Trauma is our response to an experience in which we feel powerless or lacking agency. Until now, researchers have treated these conditions as different, but they actually lie along a continuum. Dr. Elizabeth Stanley explains the significance of this continuum, how it affects our resilience in the face of challenge, and why an event that's stressful for one person can be traumatizing for another.This groundbreaking book examines the cultural norms that impede resilience in America, especially our collective tendency to disconnect stress from its potentially extreme consequences and override our need to recover. It explains the science of how to direct our attention to perform under stress and recover from trauma.With training, we can access agency, even in extreme-stress environments. In fact, any maladaptive behavior or response conditioned through stress or trauma can, with intentionality and understanding, be reconditioned and healed. The key is to use strategies that access not just the thinking brain but also the survival brain.By directing our attention in particular ways, we can widen the window within which our thinking brain and survival brain work together cooperatively. When we use awareness to regulate our biology this way, we can access our best, uniquely human qualities: our compassion, courage, curiosity, creativity, and connection with others. By building our resilience, we can train ourselves to make wise decisions and access choice--even during times of incredible stress, uncertainty, and change.With stories from men and women Dr. Stanley has trained in settings as varied as military bases, healthcare facilities, and Capitol Hill, as well as her own striking experiences with stress and trauma, she gives readers hands-on strategies they can use themselves, whether they want to perform under pressure or heal from traumatic experience, while at the same time pointing our understanding in a new direction.

Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self


Manoush Zomorodi - 2017
    Bored and Brilliant builds on that experiment to show us how to rethink our gadget use to live better and smarter in this new digital ecosystem. Manoush explains the connection between boredom and original thinking, exploring how we can harness boredom’s hidden benefits to become our most productive and creative selves without totally abandoning our gadgets in the process.Grounding the book in the neuroscience and cognitive psychology of “mind wandering”—what our brains do when we’re doing nothing at all—Manoush includes practical steps you can take to ease the nonstop busyness and enhance your ability to dream, wonder, and gain clarity in your work and life. The outcome is mind-blowing. Unplug and read on.

Available Parent: Expert Advice for Raising Successful and Resilient Teens and Tweens


John Duffy - 2014
    Dr. John Duffy's The Available Parent is a revolutionary approach to taking care of teens and tweens. Teenagers are often left feeling unheard and misunderstood, and parents are left feeling bewildered by the changes in their child at adolescence and their sudden lack of effectiveness as parents. The parent has become unavailable, the teen responds in kind, and a negative, often destructive cycle of communication begins. The available parent of a teenager is open to discussion, offering advice and solutions, but not insisting on them. He allows his child to make some mistakes, setting limits, primarily where health and safety are concerned. He never lectures -- he is available but not controlling. He is neither cruel nor dismissive, ever. The available parent is fun and funny, and can bring levity to the most stressful situation. All of that is to say, there are no conditions to his availability -- it is absolute.