I’ve recommended various self-care products, books, and more on this blog and in my private practice.
Now, for convenience, I’ve consolidated some popular items on this page. These are goodies I recommend that can add to your knowledge, skills, and well-being.
Most links are to Amazon, and I get a small percentage of each sale to help offset my time and expense maintaining this blog. There’s no extra charge to you!
Please note the prices are subject to change.
Books for Well-Being
The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have, by Mark Nepo, 2020 (20th anniversary edition), $12.65 (paperback, Prime). This is a book to savor over time, with one reading for each day in the year. Each day’s reading is a reflection on life, followed by some suggestions that you can follow, or not. Full of inspiration, insight, humility, and compassion for the human condition, you may want to read it over after over, year after year. It makes a wonderful gift for someone who appreciates a poet’s sensibility, but in prose. It is also wonderful to read daily with a friend or family member. New York Times Bestseller.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor, 2020, $16.75 (hardcover, Prime). I listened to it twice on Audible and ordered a hard copy for the references. If you are curious about (or suffering from) breathing problems, snoring, sleep apnea, scoliosis, crooked teeth, weak jaw, mouth breathing, and/or other issues relating to the nose, mouth, jaw, and throat, the author dives deep into why we have these issues. He shares his experiences working on his own issues, which makes the book very relatable. New York Times Bestseller, Best Book of 2020 by NPR, and Best Science Book of 2020 by Amazon, among other accolades.
The Inner Bonding Workbook: Six Steps to Healing Yourself and Connecting with Your Divine Guidance by Margaret Paul, PhD, 2019, $21.77 (paperback, Prime). Margaret Paul is an amazing, energetic, brilliant 81-year-old psychotherapist who looks to be in her 50s. She created this workbook that many therapists recommend to their clients. This self-healing program teaches you how to fall in love with yourself by getting to know yourself better and working with your parts.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan, 2018, $16.99 (hardcover). It turns out that the strict prohibition of psychedelics that occurred in the 1970s may have been throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Michael Pollan investigates a new revolution — more grounded and responsible than the one in the 1960s — and finds that psychedelics have a place for enhancing wellness — for instance, dying people may find peace. Pollan tries three different psychedelics himself and relates his experiences, including his exploration of what a spiritual experience consists of to someone who’s an atheist.
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body by Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson, 2017, $15 (hardcover). Goleman and Davidson are old friends who went to graduate school at Harvard together, traveled in India in the 1970s meeting teachers and going on meditation retreats, and have collaborated through the years as well as worked separately. Davidson runs the lab at the University of Wisconsin that has studied the brainwaves of Tibetan monks. Goleman is a journalist whose book on emotional intelligence broke new ground. They’ve contributed to and elevated the science of studying the effects of meditation. They posit here that even a little meditation results in positive changes, and that long-term meditation turns those altered states into altered traits such as having more equanimity and compassion and being able to be more present.
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, 2015, $14. Dr. van der Kolk is a professor of psychiatry, founder and medical director of a trauma clinic, and director of a trauma treatment network. Arguing that trauma is an urgent public health issue, he draws on stories from his 30 years of experience working with people who have been traumatized, learning how trauma affects us, and finding what is most helpful. (He learned a lot from bodyworkers.) This isn’t a dry, technical psychology book. As one Amazon reviewer wrote, this book has become a bible for anyone affected by trauma or who works in the field.
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Maté, MD, 2010. $10. This book explores addiction with a holistic, compassionate approach. Dr. Maté declares addiction to be one of the most misunderstood phenomena in modern society, stating that it occurs not just from personal choice or medical conditions but that public policy plays a major role. He shares anecdotes from his own traumatic history as well as from his medical experience working with skid-row addicts. The “hungry ghosts” in the title come from Buddhist mythology: beings with tiny mouths, scrawny necks, and huge bellies that can never be filled. He says that addiction is an attempt to ease one’s suffering. Because of course it is.
Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom by Rick Hanson, 2009. $12. Change your brain, change your life. Describes how the flow of your thoughts actually sculpts your brain and includes neuroscience breakthroughs as well as ancient wisdom. Written in easily-understandable language, contains guided meditations and mindfulness exercises. Contains an appendix by the author’s acupuncturist wife on nutrition and supplements you can take for optimal brain health.
Starfish on the Beach by Tom and Lindy Schneider, 2012. $9. A children’s version of the starfish story in book form, with beautiful illustrations. The lesson in this story reminds me of Mr. Rogers relating that when a tragedy occurred when he was a child, his mother told him to “look to the helpers.” This story helps teach children that they can be helpers, that helping even one person — even when a problem seems overwhelming — will make a difference, and that doing something is better than doing nothing.
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness, by Peter A. Levine, 2010. $12. The latest book from the renowned trauma recovery pioneer. Trauma is an injury that can be healed through learning how to self-regulate intense experiences. The part I found most valuable was Levine’s recounting of being a pedestrian who was hit by a car. His moment-by-moment experience, which included feeling a wide range of intense emotions and physical responses, concluding with his realization that he was going to be okay, is affirming. Provides a template for how to process trauma and how bystanders and helpers can facilitate a trauma victim’s healing process so that they fully recover.
The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times by David Berceli, 2008. $14. David Berceli, a Catholic relief worker who worked in places torn and exhausted by war and disaster, developed these exercises to help people recover from trauma, especially where psychotherapy is not available, by releasing it from their bodies. The book includes photos and instructions for doing the exercises that help release the effects of trauma.
The Trauma Releasing Exercises, video instruction with demonstrations by David Berceli, 2008. $28. These exercises are helpful for those who’ve experienced trauma (especially when there’s no other help available), as well as for those living with chronic stress, in my opinion. The exercises help the body “shake off” the trauma and return the nervous system to equilibrium. If you learn better from watching a video, get this video instead of, or in addition to, the book.
Self-Care Products
The Therapeutica Sleeping Pillow is a product I recommend to my TMJ clients. It comes in several sizes, and you measure your shoulder width to find the right size for your body. It is the only pillow labeled “therapeutic” that comes in sizes. Its genius is that it keeps your head in line with your spine when side-sleeping on either side, and it supports your cervical curve when back-sleeping. Price varies per size — save on Amazon but use the measuring instructions on the website. If you find something better, let me know. I’ve had one for years. It makes a difference in preventing neck strain, which is closely related to jaw strain. Also supports jaw alignment when side-sleeping.
Weighted blankets soothe stress, calm the nervous system, and improve sleep quality. You can order different sizes and weights from this link. The 20-lb. weight is recommended for larger adults, with a 12-lb. or 15-lb. weight for recommended for smaller adults. I give my bodywork clients a choice of blankets, and the weighted blanket (12-lb.) is by far the most requested. The price of the one shown is $70.
The CranioCradle offers relief from head, neck, shoulder, and back pain. Made of polyfoam, it comes with instructions for placement. Try it to see how it can ease your pain. $49.95.
The Stillpoint Inducer is the original device designed to induce stillpoints, those pauses in the cranial rhythm when the body takes a little time to reorganize itself in a more optimal way. $19.50.
Have you heard of the Chi Machine? This is the original chi swing machine. You lie on your back on the floor with your ankles in the gray cradle. Turn it on with a remote control and let it produce a wave-like motion up your body, releasing muscle tension and stress. Shuts off automatically after 15 minutes — feel a surge of chi revitalizing your whole body! $138.
The Vriksasana Sacroiliac Belt helped me recover from SI joint pain after an automobile accident. Ligaments are not very elastic, and when they become hypermobile, it takes wearing a belt consistently over time to allow them to shorten and thus increase pelvic stability. It’s similar to putting a cast on a broken bone. Comes in two sizes and colors. $28.99.
The Well: bodymindheartspirit 