The post is based on the series My Book Tips for These Odd Times I published this spring on LinkedIn for my international network.
Here are ten publications I wish to present as enlightening, comforting, and uplifting reads during the current pandemic. The list is very personal since all the works in it have, in one phase or another, carried me forward on my path and also showed me gateways to new intriguing tracks.
That said, they are aimed at a wide audience! We are all able to enhance our own well-being, and one good approach would be engaging in texts that provide sound psychological advice, tend to our corporeality and also encompass the spiritual dimension of human existence. These books are about just that.
Most of them date far back, which naturally isn't appealing to a certain crowd due to the fact that they aren't hip and trendy. They are, however, up-to-date because their ideas represent eternal wisdom. And that, by definition, means something that isn't dependent on any era but remains enduring.
May this list offer you just what you need during these trying days and also in days to come!
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| The one and only Smile |
I was lucky to recently read this great e-book here in Aveiro via Ellibs Library, Helsinki. Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth (2008) by Diener father and son aims at defining happiness in a scientific way and also shows us what it should be at its best. For example, chasing only emotional peaks can actually be harmful; they are part and parcel of happiness of course but the way I understand it, it's all more about relatively steady contentment.
I got to laugh many times while reading it, which is quite appropriate for a "happy book"! The work is also amazingly thorough, and its message very encouraging – after hardships, we do bounce back. Thanks to meticulous research, we now know for a fact that getting happier is good for us in various ways. What's more, when you've finished it you might, like me, find out that you already are happy enough. (And paradoxically, that made me happier:-)
The authors are both psychologists and hold Ph.D.s. Ed is the Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at the University of Illinois and a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization. Robert is an instructor at Portland State University and co-founder of The Strengths Project that helps underprivileged individuals realise their strengths and enhance their quality of life.
More about Ed Diener: https://diener.socialpsychology.org/
More about Robert Biswas-Diener: http://robertdiener.com/about-robert/author/
The author is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Zen master, poet and the father of mindfulness. He is also a human rights and peace activist – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. Thầy was a lecturer and researcher in Buddhism at the University of Sorbonne, Paris, and later moved to south of France where he founded the Plum Village Tradition. He currently resides at Từ Hiếu Temple in Vietnam.
More about him: https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/
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| Parisian antique album cover with a twist |
Love, Medicine and Miracles by Bernie S. Siegel was lent to me to read by an American general practitioner already in 1987. It gives first-hand reports on patients who were able to participate in their recovery and concludes that the most potent stimulant of our immune system is unconditional love – to me, the utmost of all spiritual emotions.
Nowadays, "there is a growing amount of research available on the relationship between spirituality and health," it reads on the site of The National Center for Biotechnology Information (part of the United States National Library of Medicine). Safiya George Dalmida, Ph.D., continues to write there: "One possible mechanism by which . . . spiritual activities foster a beneficial health effect is the relaxation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and enhancement of immune function. Spirituality may be related to immune system functioning and its effect on health."
Dr. Siegel is a pediatric surgeon and retired from Yale as an assistant clinical professor of general and pediatric surgery.
More about him: http://berniesiegelmd.com/about/
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Although the book is based on neuroscience, it's written in layperson's language. It also includes quite a few easy exercises to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. "When you stimulate the parasympathetic wing of the ANS [autonomic nervous system], calming, soothing, healing ripples spread through your body, brain, and mind."
Dr. Hanson holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He is a Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley.
Rick Mendius, M.D., is a neurologist who trained at UCLA as an epileptologist. He has been on the teaching faculty of UCLA, Oregon Health Sciences University, and Stanford University.
More about the writers: http://www.wisebrain.org/about-us
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You’ll See It When You Believe It – The Way to Your Personal Transformation (1989) by Wayne W. Dyer is a very special book to me because, as you can see, I got it as a gift from the author himself!
It's a philosophical work on the power of thought and a practical guide on how to harness it to realise our desired transformation. We can visualize any pictures that we want, learn to cultivate them and bring them, so to speak, from the thought-world to the concrete world. Then those pictures can become our new, more positive reality*. That certainly is inspirational, isn't it?
Dr. Dyer (1940–2015), Ph.D., served as a high school guidance counsellor, associate professor at St. John’s University in New York, and psychotherapist. Through his work in clinical psychology he discovered human need for personal growth and then proceeded on that path, speaking and writing broadly on the subject. To me, his publications from the '70s and '80s were the most meaningful.
More about him: https://www.drwaynedyer.com/about-dr-wayne-dyer/
It's a philosophical work on the power of thought and a practical guide on how to harness it to realise our desired transformation. We can visualize any pictures that we want, learn to cultivate them and bring them, so to speak, from the thought-world to the concrete world. Then those pictures can become our new, more positive reality*. That certainly is inspirational, isn't it?
Dr. Dyer (1940–2015), Ph.D., served as a high school guidance counsellor, associate professor at St. John’s University in New York, and psychotherapist. Through his work in clinical psychology he discovered human need for personal growth and then proceeded on that path, speaking and writing broadly on the subject. To me, his publications from the '70s and '80s were the most meaningful.
More about him: https://www.drwaynedyer.com/about-dr-wayne-dyer/
*To all cynics out there, a word of enlightenment from scientific research by the two Dieners: “Positive thinking is more than simply looking on the bright side; successful positivity means paying attention to successes and blessings and being open-minded to positive explanations of events as well as recalling good times. Although we doubt that the kind of positive attitudes suggested by self-help gurus are magic cure-alls, we do know that they can increase your happiness.”
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The writer, one of the pioneers in the mind-body connection, also promotes spirituality as an integral part of health and happiness.
More about her: https://www.joanborysenko.com/about-joan/
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I bought Matthieu Ricard’s Why Meditate? – Working with Thoughts and Emotions (translated from French into English by Sherab Chödzin Kohn) in 2011. His elegant and accessible book advises us to imbue our lives with inner serenity. In very clear language (thanks to the brilliant translator as well!) Ricard explains the theory and practice of meditation, demonstrating its ability to help us reduce anxiety, vulnerability to pain, and tendency toward depression and anger.
The author received a Ph.D. degree in molecular genetics in 1972 but decided to forsake his scientific career and instead practice Tibetan Buddhism. He is a writer, photographer, translator and monk, and lives in Nepal.
More about him: https://www.matthieuricard.org/en/pages/about
More about him: https://www.matthieuricard.org/en/pages/about
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| The epitome of living the moment on an opera poster |
The Mindfulness Breakthrough: The Revolutionary Approach to Dealing with Stress, Anxiety and Depression is a book I translated into Finnish in 2012 (please see page "Julkaisuluettelo Publications"). It is written by a team of practising therapists led by Sarah Silverton, and the foreword is by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Mindfulness is inspired by ancient Eastern meditative practices and it can really relieve conditions like depression, stress and anxiety. This book features step-by-step exercises to help everyone master the main mindfulness techniques like breathing, concentration, relaxation, and body scanning. That way it's possible, even in difficult life situations, to engage in the present and let negative thoughts and feelings pass.
The book is very suitable for self-treatment since it guides readers through their problems gently, with supportive attitude and real empathy.
Sarah Silverton holds a B.A. (hons), Dip COT, and Med. She is an occupational therapist, counsellor and mindfulness teacher.
More about her: https://www.sarahsilvertonmindfulness.co.uk/about/
Jon Kabat-Zinn holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology. He is a professor emeritus of medicine and the famous creator of Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.Sarah Silverton holds a B.A. (hons), Dip COT, and Med. She is an occupational therapist, counsellor and mindfulness teacher.
More about her: https://www.sarahsilvertonmindfulness.co.uk/about/
More about him: https://www.mindfulnesscds.com/pages/about-the-author
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The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron is a book I bought after an in-depth HSP course I took in Helsinki in 2015. Its subtitle expresses a quandary you might very well be pondering right now – especially if you are an HSP*. However, regardless of where you place yourself on the sensitivity spectrum, this book's advice can help you better paddle through dire straits.
I myself limit the amount of alarming news I follow in the media but keep track of all the facts since they help me maintain sense of proportion, build more boundaries to protect myself from any additional psychological burdening, take long walks in nature or on desolate streets, practise the self-soothing techniques I’ve learned so far, and even try to appreciate these extraordinary days. They offer (and without the necessity to justify it to anybody!) the privacy, peace and quiet, space, downtime, slow life we all sometimes yearn but maybe rarely get.
The author is a psychologist and holds a Ph.D. in clinical depth psychology.
More about her: https://hsperson.com/about-dr-elaine-aron/
*On the concept of HSP:
Sensory
processing sensitivity (SPS)
is a temperamental or personality trait. People with that have increased
sensitivity in their central nervous system and a deeper cognitive processing
of different and subtle stimuli. Heightened emotional reactivity,
both positive and negative, is part of the picture. Someone having a great
measure of SPS is considered to be a highly
sensitive person (HSP).
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I bought Christina Sell’s Yoga from the Inside Out in 2006 in Candolim, India. In addition to presenting placid hatha poses, it helps people who have issues with body image – hence the subtitle Making Peace with Your Body Through Yoga.
This book rounds up the series nicely, since yoga means union. Also, my whole list is based upon the fact that human beings are psychosomatic unities. Because body stores our emotional experiences, many emotional blocks can be felt as bodily tensions. Yoga can release some of those both.
It’s been said that in the state of yoga, the body, mind, emotions, and soul are all in equanimity, so these days it’s better than ever to engage in it. What’s more, you can practise alone in the privacy of your home. And when we stay home we most likely stay safe! #stayhomestaysafe
The author is a yoga instructor and holds an M.A. from Norwich University.
More about her: https://www.livethelightofyoga.com/about-christina.html
– All pictures taken by me –
His soothing words and practical advice, delivered in simple style, help us cope with our tedious daily chores in a calmer manner, appreciate our mundane lives, and even ease some of our most challenging emotions.