Reading List Books/Mags
Three guides that will help heal the effects of chronic exhaustion, build your body’s
resistance to cancer, and boost your baseline happiness.
Get Your Groove Back
Spent: End Exhaustion and Feel
Great Again by Frank Lipman, MD, with
Mollie Doyle (Fireside, 2009)
Schedules that are overfull, minds
that are constantly ticking off to-do
lists, and bodies that are running on
too little rest and nourishment all
contribute to a widespread condition
that Dr. Frank Lipman calls “Spent”
— a combination of fatigue, crankiness and physical discomfort that is
all too common. Lipman, a New York
City naturopath, believes our collective
energy is being sapped by the chronic
disruption of our biological rhythms
— the ones that tell us to sleep when
it’s dark, eat food that nourishes us,
and spend a certain amount of time
stretching, and moving and laughing
with our loved ones. To treat Spent in
his patients, Lipman has created the
six-week program outlined in his book,
which provides daily guidance and
action steps to help realign the body’s
natural rhythms. Restorative activities
involve weaning off of sugar, caffeine and gluten; aligning sleep more
closely with light cycles; and temporarily suspending hard exercise in favor
of restorative yoga. Each phase is
coupled with informative explanations
for key ideas and references to relevant research, like studies that show
exactly how probiotics increase nutrient absorption or how a dark bedroom
aligns circadian rhythms. Whether
you’re feeling wiped or just in search
of a tune-up, this program could help
you regain your rightful vitality.
Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life
by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD
(Viking, 2008)
There are so many theories floating around about cancer prevention
and treatment it can make your head
spin, but this book cuts through
the hype and provides some much-needed clarity. Author David Servan-Schreiber, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh
and cofounder of its Center for
Integrative Medicine, offers what is
perhaps the most comprehensive synthesis of available studies on the role
of the body’s natural defenses against
cancer. A 15-year survivor of brain
cancer who was told by one of his
doctors that lifestyle changes would
not make a difference, Servan-Schreiber found this to be patently
untrue and responded by collecting all
the information in the book — from
studies on diet, exercise and environmental toxins, to experiments with
meditation, massage and talk therapy.
Each shows how lifestyle changes can
alter the body’s “terrain” and make it
more hostile to the proliferation of
cancer cells. His research is coupled
with powerful stories of patient remissions (including his own) and easy
directions for lifestyle changes, including an “anti-cancer shopping list.” An
excellent complement to conventional
therapies, this book is a great
resource — whether you’re curious
about prevention or seeking a more
holistic approach to treatment.
The How of Happiness: A Scientific
Approach to Getting the Life You
Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD
(Penguin, 2008)
Lasting happiness may be more
likely to come from a habit of heartfelt gratitude than from a job promotion or winning the lottery, according
to University of California research
psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky and
her colleagues, who’ve spent 18
years looking into the nature of
this sometimes-elusive feeling. Their
most surprising discovery is that true
happiness depends far more on how
we live our lives than what happens
to us: About 50 percent of a person’s
happiness comes from his or her
“biological set point,” while only
10 percent of happiness seems to
depend on circumstances, like finding
a great spouse or losing 10 pounds.
That leaves 40 percent of happiness
dependent on intentional activities,
which this book is designed to teach.
Lyubomirsky’s research-based “
happiness program” includes a dozen
activities that studies have shown to
qualitatively improve the happiness
bottom line: everything from practicing gratitude and ending overthink-ing to cultivating optimism and practicing acts of kindness. The book also
includes happiness assessment tests,
guidance for finding the exercises
that will best suit you and a useful
supplement on depression. A satisfying read that will help even the most
skeptically inclined feel better than
they knew they could.
