Friday, January 30, 2009

Transformational Book Review

This is the transformational book review for January edition of Verbal Impact newsletter!


(Of course, I mean that the book is transformational, not this review.)


I enthusiastically recommend this transformational book, Writing Down your Soul, by Janet Conner. The subtitle is How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within.



If you want answers, this is the way to get them. I'm talking about the kind of answers that you cannot get with google or blackle. All you have to do is write every day. The method is explained in the book. This is a how-to book, and you cannot read it passively, though there are lots of interesting examples. You really have to apply the steps and see how it the practice develops in your life and helps you make decisions about what to do.

The most interesting thing for me is that this is a method which puts you in touch with deep feelings, with your subconscious and perhaps even deeper. The process occurs when your brain waves are in the Theta range, the same brain wave pattern that occurs while in hypnosis. Therefore, I would say that it is a form of self-hypnosis. I intended to discuss this method with other hypnotists during my presentation about Self-hypnosis at the National Guild convention in August.

I also liked the research she mentions in the book. It seems that writing is good for us physiologically and can even help the unemployed find jobs! Perhaps they just find more confidence and motivation, because it says that out of a group of 60 unemployed over-55 men, 53% had found jobs 8 months later. While the ones who did not write about their experiences and feelings remained 82% unemployed (only 18% found jobs). What is most interesting about this particular study is that all the grops had about the same number of interviews. The big difference was who were offered jobs.

Writing is not only good for your immune system, but good for your financial wellbeing, as well!

Sleep like a Baby!

Why do we someone is "sleeping like a baby?" Especially when babies generally don't sleep through the night??

I guess it has to do with the peaceful way, otherwise active children appear when they are sleeping. They relax completely, and look like they don't have a care in the world. They look like little angels. Maybe you have to be a parent to know what I'm talking about. I love watching my child sleep, and I think most parents do.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Joyful book review

Oh dear, I forgot one of most favorite authors, Martha Beck. She has written a book called The Joy Diet, which is not about calorie restriction, but lifestyle. It is wonderful.

While I was reading this, I took it with me to the health club and I left it there. I went back, but couldn't find it. Someone probably thought it was a guide for losing weight, and picked it up. I hope they enjoyed it! The menu in this book has 10 items on it and she advocates going through each item in order and practicing each one for about a week, so that in 10 weeks you can transform your attitude and your life. It is very positive and inspiring. I went out and read another of her books after reading this, because I was curious about the author.

The other book is autobiographical about a very tumultuous time in the author's life when she was pregnant with her second child. She had a very difficult pregnancy, and yet some strange and wonderful things happened also.

She has 3 children in all. The second one has Down's syndrome. She discovered this during the pregnancy and decided to move forward against the advice of many concerned friends and family. The book ends happily, yet the story goes on.

This book has some very interesting observations on human behavior, as well as the American culture.

Weekend

We had a very busy weekend with the dignitaries from Larnaca, Cyprus, plus a few ambassadors who are living in the US and presidents of the Pancyprian Association and PSEKA.

The mayor of Tarpon Springs gave a key to city to the mayor of Larnaca, and also to the 2009 Distinguished Man of the Year Award recipient. The big event was the Panycypriot Association's Man of the Year Award Dinner Dance last night.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Sixth Sensory People

Sonia Choquette is one of my favorite authors. She has written several books about Improving your Life and Expressing your Spirit in your own unique way.


Some of her books:
Trust Your Vibes, Trust Your Vibes at Work, and Diary of a Psychic.

These are excellent books. I just completed the Diary of a Psychic and it is very entertaining, especially since she is just a few years older than me and she describes the clothing and hairstyles in hilarious detail!







I know there are others. I think she also has a workbook.

Female Authors

It has come to my attention, that although I always use quotations from women in my corespondence, most of the books I have reviewed in Verbal Impact (the newsletter) have been authored by men.

So at least for the next few editions, I will review books by some of my favorite female authors. In the interest of fairness and balance, of course!

Some of my favorite authors: Louise Hay, Sonia Choquette, Shakti Gawain and Erica Jong.
Wow, it's so hard for me to narrow it down to a brief list. I do love books. I think a lot can be learned from them.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Marianne Williamson quotation

"In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it."
Marianne Williamson

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Grin or grimace

Have you ever grinned when you were really angry or upset? I know I have. I read something many years ago about how putting a smile on your face had a positive impact on your physiology and your emotions. It said smile when you want to feel happy, don't wait for happiness to bring on the smile, let the smile bring on the feeling!

It really doesnt work.

Not unless you do the New Orleans squash. You just can't sit there with a forced grin and start to feel better. But that's just the first step. after you do that, try feeling happy on the inside and showing the negative emotion on the outside. Then switch them back and forth a few times. After doing this, you may find you can no longer recapture that negative emotion. It just dissapates, usually with some genuine laughter, because you know how silly it looks!