3 X 5's: Index Card Wisdom from Best of Books

ENERGY Abby Wynne (2015). Energy Healing Made Easy:                                           Unlock Your Potential as a Healer Wynne has a Masters in psychotherapy and is certified in shamanism and mindfulness. Her mission is to "heal the world by teaching people to heal themselves." A core assumption is everything is made of energy that has a consciousness, including our biofield, our energy aura.  Some of the practices include: Setting an intention by saying aloud what one wishes to do, giving/asking for permission to do this, then waiting to feel for a yes or no (the intuitive sense of a yes or no response can be felt in the body by identifying where one feels energy in the body after asking a question that one already knows the answer the answer to--either a yes or a no question--e.g., is my name...? insert your real name for a yes response, and a fictit...

ENERGY OF MUSIC John Diamond (2011). The Pulse of Music:                                                The Life Energy of Music (Volume IV) Diamond is a medical doctor turned musical therapist because he believes music is more conducive for holistic healing than medicine. These 90-some short essays, of 1-3 pages each, cover various music topics. I'm looking for pragmatics and only find a few in this volume (note there are 3 other volumes in the Pulse of Music series).  Some of the pragmatics i found intriguing are: 1) many negative emotions are locked in the root of the tongue which can be gradually freed by sucking gently on one's middle finger for a few minutes several times a day...i didn't believe it, but when i tried this simple technique for a single day, my tongue felt freer, able to move easier...wonder what a long term practice might ...

PULSE John Diamond (1999). The Way of the Pulse: Drumming with Spirit. Diamond is a medical doctor famous for his research in Behavioral Kinesiology, especially muscle testing. He changed his life from medicine to music because music is life energy, a healing force that can be activated through singing, dancing, and especially drumming. The drum is the heartbeat that we first experience in the womb of our mother...this pulse is not like a metronome beat but a rhythmic and ever-changing pulse... Diamond recommends we choose a drum that resonates in/with our chest...sing the melody of a song before drumming it..."Imagine the drum is your heart, open in song. The music is its pulse."  Find a drum you resonate with, feel the pulse in your chest...find a song you love and sing it over and over until it is part of you...now, drum the song with your heart open to the pulse inside you and in the song...how does it feel?

COMMUNITY  Carolyn Shaffer & Kristin Anundsen (1993).  Creating Community Anywhere: Finding Support and Connection in a Fragmented World   The book includes many guidelines, rules, commitments, communication, conflict, and celebration ideas for creating a community--even some online options, which are very forward-thinking for 1993.  Personally, i already feel stretched between self, family, and professorial activities...to spend quality time every day with EACH member of the family, to take time alone to connect with the Spirit and rejuvenate and take care of my needs and to provide quality service to all my students, nurture collegial relationships, and serve on committees is at times overwhelming...i don't see how i can add more "community" to this...whereas others that don't have a family, or are retired from full time work, or have other life situations where they would like a greater sense of community and connection, then by all means explore the ideas in ...

10 TRANSFORMATIONAL METAPHORS Ralph Metzner (1998). The Unfolding Self:                                                 Varieties of Transformative Experience. Metzner was a psychologist, psychotherapist, professor, and researcher. In this book (formerly titled, Opening to Inner Light ), Metzner claims to have uncovered 10 key metaphors that describe the process of psychospiritual transformation that are pancultural (similar across cultures/literatures of the world)...these were first reported at a conference and then published as an academic article entitled, "Ten Classical Metaphors of Self-Transformation" in Journal of Transpersonal Psychology , 1980, 12 (10), 47-62. The 10 psychospiritual transformative metaphors are: 1.From dream to awakening  2.From illusion to realization 3.From darkness to enlightenment 4.From imprisonment to liber...

BLACK WOMAN TEACHER Maya Angelou (1997). Even the Stars Look Lonesome . Angelou is an international writer and speaker that empowers black women and also inspires everyone with her wit and wisdom. This is a collection of short stories...all based on her personal experience...all with wisdom messages: home should fit the people that live there, not the other way round aging: by all means, do it sensuality and sexuality are a both/and proposition we need art for the sake of our soul...to live fully and grow healthy signifying--scraping the skin from one's body using artful words and a special cadence in speech that some elder black women have mastered--usually directed at someone else so that the intended receiver overhears the comments but has no way to directly respond...a special way of teaching that is an art form is the place where you live a house or a home...if a house, how can you make it more of a home (or maybe you need to move to a place that you can call home)...if a home...

BODY WISDOM Mirka Knaster (1996). Discovering the Body's Wisdom:                                               Comprehensive Guide to More than Fifty                                                      Mind-Body Practices  that can Relieve Pain,                                                 Reduce Stress, and Foster Health, Spiritual                                                 Growth, and Inner P...