New Books for New Year Resolutions ...

Have you been thinking about New Year's resolutions?  Here are some books that might help: 

THE MINDFUL WAY TO A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP by Tzivia Gover, Director of the Institute for Dream Studies, offers some workable and useful information in order to sleep more deeply. Gover writes, “This isn’t simply a book to read. This is a book to do.”  From there, she advocates trying just some of the exercises and writing prompts – keeping what works and moving on from the rest.  In various sections, such as one titled “create your sleep sanctuary,” she offers suggestions about getting comfortable, using soothing scents and light reading to promote restful sleep. In addition, there are several methods for incorporating mindfulness (being grateful as you make your bed each day or washing away worries and regrets when brushing your teeth or following some of the breathing exercises). We have been doing some mindfulness exercises at school and I can see possibly incorporating some of these (like the quietest sound, p. 53).  If you are looking for sleep help, you may already be aware of several of her ideas and a significant portion of the book is devoted to dreams, with suggestions for keeping a dream journal and for understanding dream language.  The final section is about waking up well; throughout her book, Gover includes quotes like Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.”  

MEDITATION FOR FIDGETY SKEPTICS by Dan Harris is a follow-up to his 10% Happier (2014) which has been recommended to me after a presentation on “Less Stress” resources at the AASL national conference this year. There is a bit of a snarky tone (I drew it; deal with it … ew), but that also seems to be an attempt to add some humor and better connect with the reader. I do like that there is a feeling of acceptance: “I began my meditation practice slowly, with just five to ten minutes a day…. (and frankly, if you can only find time for one minute a day, you can count that as a win.)”

In addition, he stresses the importance of giving yourself permission to fail, including knowing that you need to re-focus your mind again and again (and again). Throughout this text, there are the stories from a road trip where he and co-writers travelled around the US, exploring the benefits of (and challenges to) meditation with others like radio show hosts and former prison inmates. I am curious to read more of Harris’ comments about how meditation has helped relieve his anxiety and decreased the inclination to act impulsively. Harris was recently interviewed on NPR and Publishers Weekly called this a “clever guide.” There are several meditations included in MEDITATION FOR FIDGETY SKEPTICS, plus a section with resources to help keep meditating.

And New Harbinger Publications produces numerous books related to this topic; I especially liked The Grit Guide for Teens.  Another recent title is MINDFULNESS FOR TEEN WORRY. Written by Jeffrey Bernstein, it is filled with “quick and easy strategies to let go of anxiety, worry, and stress.”  Bernstein talks directly to teens, often quoting those he has interviewed and offering visual cues like a section where he suggests using your hand to visualize how your brain works.  He talks further about how worry often gets in the way, wastes energy and even makes people ill. He acknowledges that teens already know how to be mindful (listening to music, walking outside) and encourages them to practice “the power of the present moment” with intention, attention and attitude. There are entire chapters titled “the beginner’s mindfulness toolkit” as well as “getting back in control by letting go.”  Throughout, there are numerous “try it!” sections with suggested activities; some of them (like the body scan), we have already used in advisory. MINDFULNESS FOR TEEN WORRY is another helpful look at an important topic.

Why We Sleep

Recently, I have been working on a Health Advocacy project with Sophomore Kinetic Wellness Health classes and I was looking at several related and newly published books. 

We began the project talking about sleep and its importance, especially for teens. In fact, we watched a TedTalk by Russell Foster and developed some amazing posters related to sleep. Both that talk and the newly published WHY WE SLEEP by Matthew Walker delve into some rather technical aspects of sleep and point out how complex and important it is.  Walker, for example, notes that “sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions.” In a chapter devoted to “What’s stopping you from sleeping,” Walker cites a number of factors, including light (both electric and LED), more regulated temperatures, caffeine, alcohol, and industrial era work schedules. Reading this (sometimes scary) book has made me more conscious of my own sleep patterns. WHY WE SLEEP is full of details and statistics, although I do wish it was written a bit more simply so as to be more engaging for our students. Library Journal gave it a starred review, calling it “of particular interest to [adults, specifically] business owners, educators, parents, and government officials, and anyone who has ever suffered from a poor night's sleep.”

That text’s reference to LED light and the use of devices like the iPad, connects to another area of interest to our students, technology, and a new book titled SCREEN SCHOOLED by Joe Clement and Matt Miles. These veteran teachers are concerned about “the overuse of screen time and why this is bad for kids.” They say when it comes to technology in the classroom, we should be asking: (1) Does the tech simplify instruction? (2) Is it easily accessible for all students? and (3) Does it support, rather than replace, instruction? They acknowledge that there is a place for technology in education, but question the times when there is too much emphasis on it, rather than on content or skills being taught. Specifically, they worry about kids spending too much time passively consuming media on their screen-based devices.  I respect their view, but also wish that they could have had a chance to see our students use both iPads and laptops to develop presentations and infographics that discuss critical adolescent health concerns like binge drinking, sexual activity and nutrition.  Reviewing the comments from the students revealed how proud they were of their hard work (including time spent outside of class), the collaborative research they had done, and “being able to help people that may be struggling.” SCREEN SCHOOLED would likely be more effective in promoting change if the argument made was more balanced and included more research findings.

For their presentations, students chose topics of interest to them and many focused on struggles with depression and anxiety so I was definitely intrigued by two other new books: THE HAPPINESS DIET by Rachel Kelly and ALTERED TRAITS by Daniel Goleman.  

Look for these new non-fiction titles (part 1):

THE TELOMERE EFFECT (Jan. 3, Grand Central Publishing) is co-written by Elizabeth Blackburn, who in 2009 shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the role of telomeres in aging, and Elissa Epel, a well-regarded health psychologist who studies stress, aging and obesity.  These authors note how they have included lessons from telomere research “in language for the general reader” and proceed to explain that telomeres (tee-lo-meres) are a bit like the plastic coating at the end of shoelaces – designed to protect the end of chromosomes, but wearing away over time.

How to prevent premature aging at the cellular level is a key focus for this book and faculty, parents and grandparents of our students will likely be interested; in fact, the public library copy of THE TELOMERE EFFECT was already checked out.  I am curious to spend more time with this text which discusses fitness regimes, eating for optimal cell health and social impact on our telomeres, including chapters on assessing your stress and mindfulness. They offer a “renewal lab” at the end of each section and encourage regular practice.  More information is also available on the resources page available through their publisher, including suggested resources like this 12 minute memory exercise.