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

COMPUTER COMFORT Paul Linden (2000). Comfort At Your Computer:                                           Body Awareness Training for                                          Pain Free Computer Use. Linden is a PhD in physical education, holds a black belt in Aikido, and developed the Being in Movement mind-body training (he has a free e-bok called Reach Up on body awareness training: https://www.being-in-movement.com/resources/). the essence of the book is to FEEL your body...ware of when and where there is discomfort and gently moving in ways that promote stability, comfort and well-being...there are many exercises to try out on nearly every other page of the book. practically, everyone can take advantage of Linden's advice...take re...

QUESTIONS Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana (2011).       Make Just One Change:       Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions. Rothstein has a doctorate in education and Santana an MA in Human Services, both are educators. The book is based on 20 years of piloting, testing, and refining the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), which was inspired by a parent comment in a PTA meeting: "We don't know what to ASK, or, we don't know how to ask questions. The steps for the QFT are deceptively simple, and the rules must be followed for the technique to empower, motivate, and allow students to develop their divergent (generate a diverse set of questions), convergent (assess and focus on a few questions), and metacognitive (explore reasons for their choices) thinking muscles: 1. Produce Questions based on teacher stimulus...this could be a word, phrase, picture, recording, etc. (the stimulus should be:  simple, clear, provocative)   using the foll...

PENCIL TO PAPER Dani Shapiro (2013). Still Writing:                                             The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life. Shapiro wrote many books (mostly novels) and taught creative writing workshops for over 20 years. She lays out her life, her heart is here, she writes with honesty and realism on what it is like to be a writer... i love the feel and look of the book--the cover is a watercolor image that simulates old parchment with simple hand lettering for the title, the inside matting is slightly raised, and the author bio on the back flap shows a caricature of the author typing instead of a glossy professional photo...how i wish my listening book could have this kind of feel... Shapiro provides many helpful practices for writers to consider. Some of the many ideas/advice for writers include: Start simple, get a notebook, a pen, a...

HAVENING Kate Truitt (2022). Healing in Your Hands:                                       Self-havening Practices to Harness                                       Neuroplasticity, Heal Traumatic Stress,                                        and Build Resilience.  Truitt has a PhD and MBA and is a licensed clinical psychologist and neuroscientist. Self-havening is a light, gentle, stroking touch on one's body, especially the palms, arms, and face. When combined with "protocols" (e.g., breathing, positive affirmations, imagery), it creates documented empirical electrochemical changes in the body-mind via neuroplasticity to calm and heal w...

BYPASSING Robert Augustus Masters (2010).                    Spiritual Bypassing:  When Spirituality Disconnects Us From What Really Matters   Master's has a PhD in Psychology and practiced integral psychotherapy for 40+ years the phrase "spiritual bypassing" was coined by John Welwood in 1984 as the use of spirituality to avoid dealing with painful feelings, wounds, and needs.  for every spiritual bypassing problem, Masters provides a solution, and the final chapter attempts to integrate mind, body, and spirit...the writing style is direct, punchy, tell it like it is, yang...the last sentence of each chapter is particularly potent and worthy of reflection . some examples of spiritual bypassing and their solutions: avoid the negative, always be positive---turn toward the negative, let it touch you, learn from it put up with whatever anyone says/does--say stop or no, and hold others accountable for their behavior ...

POS COMM Margaret Pitts and Thomas Socha (2013)(Eds).                                     Positive Communication in Health and Wellness. Pitts and Socha are Professors of Communication with extensive publication records. This book is a continuation of their positive communication research agenda, the first book being The Positive Side of Interpersonal Communication (2012). Built on the 3 pillars of positive psychology (pos emotions, 24 character strengths, and 6 values), the authors curate a number of book chapters on pos com in health/wellness. General ideas that could be used to create practices: look for what's right instead of what's wrong probe for happiness spot strengths identify opportunities for optimal functioning and flow identify and articulate meaningful goals    The one underdeveloped point is the need for positive communication HABITS that promote health...

TELEKINESIS Sean McNamera (2021). Defy Your Limits:                                                    The Telekinesis Training Method (3rdEd). McNamera has a Bachelor's in Computer Science and worked in the telecom industry for several years before undergoing heart surgery at age 25 and radically changing his life via a spiritual journey thereafter. This book is immensely practical, containing instructions on how to move a small piece of folded aluminum foil resting on the point of a needle anchored in an eraser with ONLY YOUR MIND.  The instructions take one through 4 levels of the telekinesis process, on the table with hands around the object, in a glass container with hands touching the glass container, in glass container without hands touching, and in glass container several feet away.  The physical and psychological fa...