Download or read book Befriend Your Brain written by Faith G. Harper and published by Microcosm Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-04 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you freak out at small things? Do you yell at people when you don't mean to? Do you cry or get scared and you aren't sure why? Does it feel like your feelings control you? All of these feelings are a normal part of life for everybody, but sometimes they're just too much and it seems like you're the only one on the planet that feels them. Our brains are doing their best to help us out, but sometimes we get hurt instead. And sometimes we hurt people we love, too, because we just don't know what to do with all of our feelings. With humor and patience, Dr. Faith G. Harper shows you the science behind why your brain is acting up and ideas for new ways to respond when you're feeling scared, sad, anxious, or angry. You can train your brain to be your friend and help you live a happy, calm, and healthy life. If you have experienced trauma or if you have a hard time feeling good and getting along with other people, this book can help. This is an adaptation of Dr. Faith's bestselling book (which has an R-rated title), written for tweens, teens, and the adults trying to help them navigate it all.

Download or read book Unfuck Your Brain written by Faith G. Harper, PhD, LPC-S, ACS, ACN and published by Microcosm Publishing. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our brains are doing our best to help us out, but they can be real assholes sometimes. Sometimes it seems like your own brain is out to get you—melting down in the middle of the grocery store, picking fights with your date, getting you addicted to something, or shutting down completely at the worst possible moments. You already told your brain firmly that it isn't good to do these things. But your brain has a mind of its own. That's where this book comes in. With humor, patience, and lots of swearing, Dr. Faith shows you the science behind what's going on in your skull and talks you through the process of retraining your brain to respond appropriately to the non-emergencies of everyday life. If you're working to deal with old traumas, or if you just want to have a more measured and chill response to situations you face all the time, this book can help you put the pieces of the puzzle together and get your life and brain back.Here's an excerpt from the book:Knowing what’s going on up in your brain is HUGE. So much of how we interact with the world around us is a completely normal response when we take into account our past experiences and how our brains work. • Freaking the fuck out • Avoiding important shit we need to take care of • Feeling pissed off all the time • Being a dick to people we care about • Putting shit in our bodies that we know isn’t good for us • Doing shit we know is dumb or pointlessNone of these things are fucking helpful. But they all make sense.Your brain has adapted to the circumstances in your life and started doing things to protect you, bless it. It’s not TRYING to fuck you over (even though it totally is, at times).As we navigate the world, nasty shit happens. The brain stores info about the nasty shit to try to avoid it in the future. Sometimes these responses are helpful. Sometimes the responses become a bigger problem than the actual problem was. It’s called a trauma reaction.And even if you aren’t dealing with a specific trauma? Adaptive coping strategies, bad habits, and funky behaviors all wire in similar ways. And research is showing that these issues are actually some of the easier ones to treat in therapy … if we address what’s really going on, rather than just the symptoms.

Download or read book Befriending Your Body written by Ann Saffi Biasetti and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A step-by-step holistic approach to eating disorder recovery, using self-compassion and embodiment practices to reduce symptoms, increase body awareness and acceptance, reconnect to others, and step back into an integrated life. Those who struggle with disordered eating often find themselves in an unrelenting cycle of harsh self-judgment, painful emotions, and harmful behaviors. Seeing the body as an adversary, these patterns can lead many people to become withdrawn or isolated. Ann Saffi Biasetti’s powerful holistic approach to liberating people from disordered eating focuses on growing self-compassion and embodiment. This insight, informed by yoga and mindfulness meditation, views the body not just as something to be healed or restored but as a source of great wisdom and knowledge. Dr. Biasetti offers yoga-based movement, body-awareness practices, meditations, and journaling exercises to help release long-held habits of self-criticism and perfectionism. Her step-by-step program will rebuild self-compassion, self-care, body awareness, acceptance, and connection to the self and to others.

Download or read book The Body Keeps the Score written by Bessel A. Van der Kolk and published by Penguin Books. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published by Viking Penguin, 2014.

Download or read book Inviting a Monkey to Tea written by Nancy Colier and published by Books We Live by. This book was released on 2015-03-15 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To "invite a monkey to tea" is to befriend our own mind-which is often compared to a drunken monkey for all its mad twists and turns. A wild monkey is full of irrepressible desires, and thus chases its own tail in its search for happiness! This book is about learning to welcome the mind as ally without fear or resistance, thus relaxing that frantic search and resting in the joy of who we already are. As a psychotherapist, author Nancy Colier has accompanied hundreds of people in their "search for happiness" for nearly two decades. She has watched her clients try everything under the sun to be-and stay-happy. Witnessing and participating in this process, she has become an expert in happiness, or more specifically, in the monkey-mind's search and demand for it, and the unhappiness that all the striving ultimately creates. Along the way, the author has come to understand the workings of the mind-both from her clients and by her own diligent practice of meditation and self-observation. This book distills the wisdom and experience of her dedicated work, and offers readers a roadmap of the territory of mind, plus a toolbox of practical means for identifying and working gently with the unrealistic expectations that keep us from the enjoyment of who we are. Inviting a Monkey to Tea explains how to: * Identify addictive (and dead-end) approaches to happiness * Build a new relationship to self-caretaking, putting aside the tyranny of blame, fear, neglect and perfectionism * Befriend the mind, with gentleness and compassion * Enter and stay rooted in the present moment * Live with genuine wellbeing and lasting contentment This book takes the wisdom of Eastern philosophy and presents it in a way that people can feel safe to approach, understand, and ultimately apply within their lives. The book is a handshake between self-help and dharma (spiritual teaching). The author walks the reader, step by step, through the process of spiritual change toward and into a new identity-free from dependency on the idea of happiness as savior. Reading this book will generate its own profound metamorphosis. Readers will be softened, as they learn of others like themselves who have moved into this domain of self-acceptance. Nancy Colier is a brilliant guide who clearly marks this trail with her own presence, kindness and compassion. At this "tea party" the reader can relax, renew intention, self-examine, and choose a new road to lifelong contentment. "Nancy Colier reconsiders happiness in a way that dispels our illusions about it, bringing the joy we seek ever closer to us. Written from the perspective of someone who has walked the roads she takes us down." -- MARIANA CAPLAN, author Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path. "An outstanding guidebook for journeying beyond futile and superficial searches for happiness to cultivating deep and abiding sources of well-being and grounded presence." -- DIANE BERKE, Founder & Spiritual Director, One Spirit Learning Alliance/One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. "An engaging and readable guide to the process of befriending ourselves, discovering our intrinsic well-being, and beyond that, grounding in open, wakeful presence free from the grip of thought and emotion. The book's straightforward, unpretentious style makes this journey accessible to everyone. Highly recommended." -- JOHN WELWOOD, author Toward a Psychology of Awakening.

Download or read book How to Win Friends and Influence People written by Dale Carnegie and published by Sristhi Publishers & Distributors. This book was released on 2020-10-12 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you feel stuck in life, not knowing how to make it more successful? Do you wish to become more popular? Are you craving to earn more? Do you wish to expand your horizon, earn new clients and win people over with your ideas? How to Win Friends and Influence People is a well-researched and comprehensive guide that will help you through these everyday problems and make success look easier. You can learn to expand your social circle, polish your skill set, find ways to put forward your thoughts more clearly, and build mental strength to counter all hurdles that you may come across on the path to success. Having helped millions of readers from the world over achieve their goals, the clearly listed techniques and principles will be the answers to all your questions.

Download or read book Unlocking the Emotional Brain written by Bruce Ecker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlocking the Emotional Brain offers psychotherapists and counselors methods at the forefront of clinical and neurobiological knowledge for creating profound change regularly in day-to-day practice.

Download or read book You Are Not Your Brain written by Jeffrey Schwartz MD and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two neuroscience experts explain how their 4-Step Method can help identify negative thoughts and change bad habits for good. A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions. Schwartz works with psychiatrist Rebecca Gladding to refine a program that successfully explains how the brain works and why we often feel besieged by overactive brain circuits (i.e. bad habits, social anxieties, etc.) the key to making life changes that you want—to make your brain work for you—is to consciously choose to “starve” these circuits of focused attention, thereby decreasing their influence and strength. You Are Not Your Brain carefully outlines their program, showing readers how to identify negative impulses, channel them through the power of focused attention, and ultimately lead more fulfilling and empowered lives.

Download or read book Rewire Your Anxious Brain written by Catherine M Pittman and published by New Harbinger Publications. This book was released on 2015-01-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you ever wonder what is happening inside your brain when you feel anxious, panicked, and worried? In Rewire Your Anxious Brain, psychologist Catherine Pittman and author Elizabeth Karle offer a unique, evidence-based solution to overcoming anxiety based in cutting-edge neuroscience and research. In the book, you will learn how the amygdala and cortex (both important parts of the brain) are essential players in the neuropsychology of anxiety. The amygdala acts as a primal response, and oftentimes, when this part of the brain processes fear, you may not even understand why you are afraid. By comparison, the cortex is the center of “worry.” That is, obsessing, ruminating, and dwelling on things that may or may not happen. In the book, Pittman and Karle make it simple by offering specific examples of how to manage fear by tapping into both of these pathways in the brain. As you read, you’ll gain a greater understanding how anxiety is created in the brain, and as a result, you will feel empowered and motivated to overcome it. The brain is a powerful tool, and the more you work to change the way you respond to fear, the more resilient you will become. Using the practical self-assessments and proven-effective techniques in this book, you will learn to literally “rewire” the brain processes that lie at the root of your fears.

Download or read book Brain On Fire My Month of Madness written by Susannah Cahalan and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2012-11-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'My first serious blackout marked the line between sanity and insanity. Though I would have moments of lucidity over the coming days and weeks, I would never again be the same person ...' Susannah Cahalan was a happy, clever, healthy twenty-four-year old. Then one day she woke up in hospital, with no memory of what had happened or how she had got there. Within weeks, she would be transformed into someone unrecognizable, descending into a state of acute psychosis, undergoing rages and convulsions, hallucinating that her father had murdered his wife; that she could control time with her mind. Everything she had taken for granted about her life, and who she was, was wiped out. Brain on Fire is Susannah's story of her terrifying descent into madness and the desperate hunt for a diagnosis, as, after dozens of tests and scans, baffled doctors concluded she should be confined in a psychiatric ward. It is also the story of how one brilliant man, Syria-born Dr Najar, finally proved - using a simple pen and paper - that Susannah's psychotic behaviour was caused by a rare autoimmune disease attacking her brain. His diagnosis of this little-known condition, thought to have been the real cause of devil-possessions through history, saved her life, and possibly the lives of many others. Cahalan takes readers inside this newly-discovered disease through the progress of her own harrowing journey, piecing it together using memories, journals, hospital videos and records. Written with passionate honesty and intelligence, Brain on Fire is a searingly personal yet universal book, which asks what happens when your identity is suddenly destroyed, and how you get it back. 'With eagle-eye precision and brutal honesty, Susannah Cahalan turns her journalistic gaze on herself as she bravely looks back on one of the most harrowing and unimaginable experiences one could ever face: the loss of mind, body and self. Brain on Fire is a mesmerizing story' -Mira Bartók, New York Times bestselling author of The Memory Palace Susannah Cahalan is a reporter on the New York Post, and the recipient of the 2010 Silurian Award of Excellence in Journalism for Feature Writing. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, and is frequently picked up by the Daily Mail, Gawker, Gothamist, AOL and Yahoo among other news aggregrator sites.

Download or read book Widen the Window written by Elizabeth A. Stanley, PhD and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I don't think I've ever read a book that paints such a complex and accurate landscape of what it is like to live with the legacy of trauma as this book does, while offering a comprehensive approach to healing." --from the foreword by Bessel van der Kolk A pioneering researcher gives us a new understanding of stress and trauma, as well as the tools to heal and thrive Stress is our internal response to an experience that our brain perceives as threatening or challenging. 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.

Download or read book Good Anxiety written by Wendy Suzuki and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World-renowned neuroscientist and author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life has developed an “absolute game-changer” (Conscious Conversations podcast) for managing unwarranted anxiety and turning it into a powerful asset. We are living in the age of anxiety, a situation that often makes us feel as if we are locked into an endless cycle of stress, sleeplessness, and worry. But what if we had a way to leverage our anxiety to help us solve problems and fortify our well-being? What if, instead of seeing anxiety as a curse, we could recognize it for the unique gift that it is? As a neuroscientist, Dr. Wendy Suzuki has discovered a paradigm-shifting truth about anxiety: yes, it is uncomfortable, but it is also essential for our survival. In fact, anxiety is a key component of our ability to live optimally. Every emotion we experience has an evolutionary purpose, and anxiety is designed to draw our attention to a number of negative emotions. If we simply approach anxiety as something to avoid, get rid of, or dampen, we actually miss an opportunity to not only manage the symptoms of anxiety better but also discover ways to improve our lives. Listening to our worries from a place of curiosity, instead of fear, can actually guide us onto a path that leads to joy. “Suzuki draws on decades of neuroscience, including her own research, and leavens her learning with a little personal storytelling to create a practical, science-backed guidebook for those seeking such a transformation” (The Wall Street Journal).

Download or read book Anchored written by Deborah Dana and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover your body’s neural pathways to calmness, safety, and connection. An intense conversation, a spat with a partner, or even an obnoxious tweet—these situations aren’t life-or-death, yet we often react as if they are. That’s because our bodies treat most perceived threats the same way. Yet one approach has proven to be incredibly effective in training our nervous system to stop overreacting and start responding to the world with greater safety and ease: Polyvagal Theory. In Anchored, expert teacher Deb Dana shares a down-to-earth presentation of Polyvagal Theory, then brings the science to life with practical, everyday ways to transform your relationship with your body. Using field-tested techniques, Dana helps you master the skills to become more aware of your nervous system moment to moment—and change the way you respond to the great and small challenges of life. Here, you’ll explore: • Polyvagal Theory—get to know the biology and function of your vagus nerve, the highway of the nervous system • Befriending Your Nervous System—attune to what’s going on in your body by developing your “neuroception” • Using Your Vagal Brake—discover key techniques to consciously regulate the intensity of your emotions • Connection and Protection—learn to recognize and influence your internal cues for safety and danger • Your Social Engagement System—find ways to create nourishing relationships with others and the world around you • Practices and guidance to gently shape your nervous system for greater resilience, intuition, safety, and wonder Through guided imagery, meditation, self-inquiry, and more, Anchored offers a practical user’s manual for moving from a place of fear and panic into a grounded space of balance and confidence. “Once we know how our nervous system works, we can work with it,” teaches Deb Dana. “We can learn to access an embodied, biological resource that is always present, available, and there to guide us toward well-being.”

Download or read book How to Be Yourself written by Ellen Hendriksen and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2018-03-13 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Picking up where Quiet ended, How to Be Yourself is the best book you’ll ever read about how to conquer social anxiety. “This book is also a groundbreaking road map to finally being your true, authentic self.” —Susan Cain, New York Times, USA Today and nationally bestselling author of Quiet Up to 40% of people consider themselves shy. You might say you’re introverted or awkward, or that you're fine around friends but just can't speak up in a meeting or at a party. Maybe you're usually confident but have recently moved or started a new job, only to feel isolated and unsure. If you get nervous in social situations—meeting your partner's friends, public speaking, standing awkwardly in the elevator with your boss—you've probably been told, “Just be yourself!” But that's easier said than done—especially if you're prone to social anxiety. Weaving together cutting-edge science, concrete tips, and the compelling stories of real people who have risen above their social anxiety, Dr. Ellen Hendriksen proposes a groundbreaking idea: you already have everything you need to succeed in any unfamiliar social situation. As someone who lives with social anxiety, Dr. Hendriksen has devoted her career to helping her clients overcome the same obstacles she has. With familiarity, humor, and authority, Dr. Hendriksen takes the reader through the roots of social anxiety and why it endures, how we can rewire our brains through our behavior, and—at long last—exactly how to quiet your Inner Critic, the pesky voice that whispers, "Everyone will judge you." Using her techniques to develop confidence, think through the buzz of anxiety, and feel comfortable in any situation, you can finally be your true, authentic self.

Download or read book Befriend the Unknown written by Ken Foo and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2013-03-08 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BOOK SUMMARY Many may get a chill in the spine because they are not here simply to live it up but on a scared mission to purify the planet. If you failed to do your bit during this life, you will come back again as another person and this ‘come and go’ scenario could be a hundred times if you are a slow learner! The ruins of our world are exposed in dirty politics and the Bible is also under the microscope for not telling the truth regarding the demise of Jesus Christ. A must read for those who want ‘truths’ to be unveiled. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING This book has everything; our missions on earth, mystics, karma, dirty politics, humor and how to balance your life. After reading this book, it’s like being reborn again; this time more to love, serve and laugh again. History is likely to be rewritten as very compelling evidence have surfaced that Jesus Christ was not crucified.

Download or read book The Mindful Way through Depression written by Mark Williams and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 2012-06-04 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you’ve ever struggled with depression, take heart. Mindfulness, a simple yet powerful way of paying attention to your most difficult emotions and life experiences, can help you break the cycle of chronic unhappiness once and for all. In The Mindful Way through Depression, four uniquely qualified experts explain why our usual attempts to “think” our way out of a bad mood or just “snap out of it” lead us deeper into the downward spiral. Through insightful lessons drawn from both Eastern meditative traditions and cognitive therapy, they demonstrate how to sidestep the mental habits that lead to despair, including rumination and self-blame, so you can face life’s challenges with greater resilience. This e-book includes an audio program of guided meditations, narrated by Jon Kabat-Zinn, for purchasers to stream or download from the web. See also the authors' Mindful Way Workbook, which provides step-by-step guidance for building your mindfulness practice in 8 weeks. Plus, mental health professionals, see also the authors' bestselling therapy guide: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Self-Help Book of Merit

Download or read book Performing Under Pressure written by Hendrie Weisinger and published by Currency. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobody performs better under pressure. Regardless of the task, pressure ruthlessly diminishes our judgment, decision-making, attention, dexterity, and performance in every professional and personal arena. In Performing Under Pressure, Drs. Hendrie Weisinger and J.P. Pawliw-Fry introduce us to the concept of pressure management, offering empirically tested short term and long term solutions to help us overcome the debilitating effects of pressure. Performing Under Pressure tackles the greatest obstacle to personal success, whether in a sales presentation, at home, on the golf course, interviewing for a job, or performing onstage at Carnegie Hall. Despite sports mythology, no one "rises to the occasion" under pressure and does better than they do in practice. The reality is pressure makes us do worse, and sometimes leads us to fail utterly. But there are things we can do to diminish its effects on our performance. Performing Under Pressure draws on research from over 12,000 people, and features the latest research from neuroscience and from the frontline experiences of Fortune 500 employees and managers, Navy SEALS, Olympic and other elite athletes, and others. It offers 22 specific strategies each of us can use to reduce pressure in our personal and professional lives and allow us to better excel in whatever we do. Whether you’re a corporate manager, a basketball player, or a student preparing for the SAT, Performing Under Pressure will help you to do your best when it matters most.