January 2001

"The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale

Click on the book cover to see how to get this book.

"...At intervals during the day practice thinking a carefully selected series of peaceful thoughts. Let mental pictures of the most peaceful scenes you have ever witnessed pass across your mind, as, for example, some beautiful valley filled with the hush of evening time, as the shadown lengthen and the sun sinks to rest. Or recall the silvery night of the moon falling upon rippling waters, or remember the sea washing gently upon soft shores of sand. Such peaceful thought images will work upon your mind as a healing medicine. So now and then during every day allow motion pictures of peace slowly to cross your mind.

Practice the technique of suggestive articulation, that is, repeat audibly some peaceful words. Words have profound suggestive power, and there is healing in the very saying of them. Utter a series of panicky words and your mind will immediately go into a mild state of nervousness. You will perhaps feel a sinking in the pit of your stomach that will affect your entire physical mechanism. If, on the contrary, you speak peaceful, quieting words, your mind will react in a peaceful manner. Use such a word as "tranquility." Repeat that word slowly several times. Tranquility is one of the most beautiful and melodic of all English words, and the mere saying of it tends to induce a tranquil state.

Another healing word is "serenity." Picturize serenity as you say it. Repeat it slowly and in the mood of which the word is a symbol. Words such as these have a healing potency when used in this manner. It is also helpful to use lines from poetry or passages from the Scriptures. A man of my acquaintance who achieved a remarkable peace of mind has the habit of writing on cards unusual quotations expressing peacefulness. He carries one of the cards in his wallet at all times, referring to it frequently until each quotation is committed to memory. He says that each such idea dropped into the subconscious "lubricates" his mind with peace. A peaceful is indeed oil on troubled thoughts. One of the quotations which he used is from a sixteenth-century mystic, "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes away except God. God alone is sufficient."

The words of the Bible have a particularly strong therapeutic value. Drop them into your mind, allowing them to "dissolve" in consciousness, and they will spread a healing balm over the entire mental structure. This is one of the simplest processes to perform and also one of the most effective in attaining peace of mind..."

February 2001

"The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale

Click on the book cover to see how to get this book.

"How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking" by Dale Carnegie

"1. We are interested in extraordinary facts about ordinary things.

2. Our chief interest is ourselves.

3. The person who leads others to talk about themselves and their interests and listens
intently will generally be considered a good conversationalist, even though he does very
little talking.

4. Glorified gossip, stories of people, will almost always win and hold attention. The speaker
ought to make only a few points and to illustrate them with human interest stories.

5. Be concrete and definite. Do not belong to the "poor-but-honest" school of speakers.
Do not merely say that Martin Luther was "stubborn and intractable" as a boy. Announce that fact.
Then follow it with the assertion that his teachers flogged him as often as "fifteen
times in a forenoon." That makes the general assertion clear, impressive and interesting.

6. Sprinkle your talks with phrases that create pictures, with words that set images floating
before your eyes.

7. If possible use balanced sentences and contrasting ideas.

8. Interest is contagious. The audience is sure to catch it if the speaker himself has a bad
case of it. But it cannot be won by the mechanical adherence to mere rules."

March 2001

Click on the book cover to see how to get this book.

"The Art of Creative Thinking" by Gerard I. Nierenberg

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Following is an excerpt from this month's Power Book:

"There have always been attempts to gain insight into a creative act, but rarely has anyone ever tried to delve into the how of creative thinking.

The purpose of this book is to show you how, by thinking in certain ways, you can solve your problems creatively. Problems exist in all shapes and sizes, and in every aspect of life. Creative thinking is what is needed to provide alternative solutions to every problem you have - from the smallest to the largest. Once you have read and studied this book, few if any difficulties will resist your creative solutions. Instead of obstacles, problems will present opportunities to exercise your creative thinking to a degree that will delight you.

Consider how you have related to creativity in the past. Can you recall when you were last creative? Can you recognize creativity in yourself and others, or is it a mysterious element possessed only by geniuses? If you have difficulty answering these questions, it may be that you fail even to recognize a creative experience. Can you think creatively whenever you want to? Or do you have to wait for a happy accident to line things up just the way you need them? If you must, then you are not realizing your full creative potential.

Creative thinking, broadly defined, means coming up with something new. It is part of human thinking skills. These are the skills that have insured human survival, therefore cultural continuum (civilization) and growth. This working definition of creativity includes the masterworks of art and science as well as a new recipe invented by a homemaker. As infants we began to think creatively. Each situation was new and had to be handled in a new (creative) way. Whether we ascribe this talent, as the child observer Jean Piaget did, to the interaction of our inborn predispositions, or as Noam Chomsky, the observer of language did, to inborn properties of the mind, we survived, which proves our creativity. As our experience grew and we continued to deal with new things successfully, behavioral patterns developed. With maturity, as new situations occurred, we handled them with previously successful thinking patterns rather than by trying to find new solutions. In other words, we had become hidebound and had forgotten how to be creative. Most of us continue this behavioral pattern throughout our adult life.

Studies demonstrate that we utilize only about ten percent of our brain capabilities. These studies also indicate that we can develop mental talents almost without limit. This book will offer you methods to develop your creative thinking and substantially increase your mental capacities. The methods employ the use of the creative thinking skills which are divided into five areas of use: (1) knowing differences (making structures), (2) knowing similarities (making relations), (3) knowing changes (making order), (4) knowing and changing levels and (5) knowing and changing points of view. To help you gain new insights, this book will provide you with problems to solve, tests to take, and workshop exercises and applications.

Creative thinking skills can be used as search patterns of your past experiences. With these techniques you can review and revive all conscious and even subconscious memories that might have even a remote relevance and discover new solutions to present problems. Although these mental skills are not difficult to master, the problem is first to be able to identify, separate and objectify the tools, and then to bring them under conscious use and control. This book shows you how to do that. Once the fallacies and mysteries are stripped away, you will see the creative process for what it is: the means of achieving new solutions to any problem that may confront you. You will be utilizing creativity for results and not necessarily to understand the forces behind it. Lack of talent, inspiration, interest or even the distastefulness of a situation will no longer serve as an excuse to limit your choices.
You may even find yourself with the happy-go-lucky attitude of King Taufaahau Topou IV of Tonga, who in 1977 had a double problem: in spite of the fact that one of his subjects' prized national foods was fruit bats, there were too many of them. Fruit bats were destroying their crops, and therefore, they were short of exports. Instead of admitting failure, the king paid an official visit to nearby Guam and set up a sales force to boost Guam's consumption of fruit bats. This would increase Tonga's total exports and eliminate a lot of bats. The king of Tonga had found a creative solution which for him had been a literally distasteful problem. He explained, "I don't go head over heels for fruit bats."

Our rewards come not from having brains, but in using them."

April 2001

"How to Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication" by Stanley Coren

Click on the book cover to see how to get this book.

Following is an excerpt from this month's Power Book:

"Man has great power of speech, but the greater part thereof is empty and deceitful.
The animals have little, but that little is useful and true; and better is a small
and certain thing than a great falsehood.
- Leonardo Da Vinci
Notebook, circa 1500

There is a traditional story which tells us that King Solomon had a silver ring that bore
his seal and the true name of God. This ring gave him the ability to understand and
to speak with animals. When Solomon died, the ring was hidden in 'a great house with
many doors.' When I was young, I wished that I had a ring so that I could speak with
my dogs.

While I knew that this was just a folk tale, as an adult I became more inclined to
believe that wise King Solomon could speak with animals, even without the magic ring
the legend tells of, because you and I can also learn to do this. The 'magic' in Solomon's
ring is an understanding of how animals communicate,
and it is hidden in science, which is the house of many doors. The knowledge that is needed
is similar to the knowledge you need to speak any language. To speak to a dog, you must
first learn the vocabulary - specifically, what constitutes the 'words' in his canine
language. You must also learn the 'grammar' of the language, namely, how to string those
words together and combine them, so that you can form 'sentences' that can be used to send
and receive meaningful messages.

This book is about dog communication: how to 'speak' to each other, how they
understand messages that humans send to them, and how humans can translate the ideas
the dog is trying to transmit. Understanding how dogs communicate allows us a much greater
ability to know what they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what their intentions are.
It also provides more ways to tell them what you want them to do and to control their
behavior. This doesn't mean that one can have profound conversation with dogs about
natural history, moral philosophy, or even the latest Hollywood films. On the other hand,
I find that my conversations with dogs are often richer and more complex that those I
have with my two- and three-year-old grandchildren, and often they deal with
very similar topics. Knowing canine language also prevents some common misunderstandings
between human beings and canines...

As a psychologist, I am perfectly happy drawing conclusions about human learning
based upon data obtained from rats and monkeys, and the same is true of most researchers.
This would be clear folly if one believed that human learning is radically different
in kind from that found in other animals. Therefore, I am often surprised that
when the question turns to language and communication, some behaviorists lose
their belief in the continuity of abilities across species and insist that there is a
radical difference separating human language from animal communication...

Understanding the development of licking behavior helps to interpret another place
where it occurs. Face licking in adult canines can be a sign of respect or deference to a
more dominant dog. The dog doing the licking usually lowers its body to make itself
smaller, and looks up, adding to the effect of juvenile behavior. The dog receiving the
face licks shows its dominance by standing tall to accept the gesture, but does not lick
the other dog in return. Now when your dog tries to lick your face, you should have
a better idea of what he's trying to communicate. He may simply be hungry and asking
for a snack. Obviously, you won't regurgitate some food at that signal, but you might
respond affectionately and perhaps give him a treat, such as a dog biscuit.
He might be communicating submission and pacification - the adult version of
goodwill in puppies. Basically, he is saying, 'Look, I'm just like a puppy who
is dependent on big adults like you. I need your acceptance and help.' Alternatively, he
may be showing respect and deference to you as a more dominant dog in his pack."

May 2001

"Miracle Food Cures from the Bible" by Reese Dubin

Following is an excerpt from this month's Power Book:

"Miraculous Relief for Arthritis

But cod-liver oil's most famous use is for arthritis. It has been known
to relieve arthritis at least since the 1700s.
As early as 1766 in England, physicians recommended cod-liver oil to
treat chronic rheumatism and gout. By the mid-1800s, cod-liver oil was routinely
prescribed for those diseases as well as for other diseases of the joints and spine.
During World War I, Dr. Ralph Pemberton began using cod-liver oil to treat over
400 arthritic patients - most of whom were helped - at the University of Pennsylvania.
His conclusion was that cod-liver oil was effective in eliminating the pain,
stifness, and swelling of chronic arthritis. He reported his findings in Studies on
Arthritis in the Army Based on Four Hundred Cases which appeared in the Archives of
Internal Medicine (March 1920)...

Over the centuries, olive oil has been used to loosen the bowels, stimulate bile
flow, soothe mucus membranes, induce urination, soften skin, and calm the nerves.
It is found in folk remedies for cancer, chills, diarrhea, earache, fever, high blood
pressure, malaria, goiter, toothache, tumors, wounds, genital warts, polyps, sclerosis
of the liver, spleen, and uterus; and tumors of the ear, fingers, neck, and stomach...
Are there any factual bases for these wide-ranging uses?
Olive oil significantly lowered the blood-sugar levels of most adult-onset diabetics
and reduced their daily insulin needs, according to a study at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
This - together with the fact that olive oil prevents and reverses deadly buildup
of cholesterol in heart, veins, and arteries - may help millions of diabetics avoid the
many serious complications of the disease...

Garlic's major value in liver disorders is its power to detoxify putrefactive
bacteria in the intestines and thereby give the liver a rest. It is a proven
stimulator of gastric juices, which help digestion, and an aid to increased
and vigorous blood circulation through the liver."

June 2001

"Helping Yourself with Self-Hypnosis"
by Frank S. Caprio, M.D. and Joseph R. Berger

Following is an excerpt from this month's Power Book:

"1. Repeat to yourself over and over again that what the mind causes
the mind can cure and that you can prevent emotionally induced illness
using the techniques of self-hypnosis.

2. Suggest to yourself daily that you are capable of helping yourself with
self-hypnosis, of solving your everyday problems.

3. Self-evaluation through autoanalysis or self-analysis is the first step
toward emotional well-being and well-balanced living.

4. The effort you expend in achieving self-understanding will be well
rewarded. Your understanding of some of the root-causes of your fears and anxieties
will help in overcoming your problem.

5. Use the introspection you acquire through self-analysis to benefit you, not harm you.
Don't misuse your insight by letting it depress you. Instead, let it improve your
thinking about everything.

6. Convince yourself that it takes more than multicolored pill to cure yourself
of emotional ills. It requires the intelligent aplication of self-knowledge and
the repeated practice of self-discipline.

7. Never doubt the fact that you can change and improve yourself with self-hypnosis.

8. The benefits of self-hypnosis need not be temporary. You can give yourself
as many self-hypnotic or reinforced sessions as you need, and as often as you need them."

July 2001

"Adrenaline and Stress"
by Dr. Archibald D. Hart

Following is an excerpt from this month's Power Book:

"Avoiding the adrenaline emotions

Emotions serve many different purposes in our lives. Some are designed to provide healing.
Surprisingly, depression is one of the healing emotions. It removes us temporarily from
our environment so that our bodies and minds can be restored.
Other emotions are "warning signals." They tell us something is happening to us - especially
when something is wrong. Anxiety and guilt fall in this category. So also do the emotions I call
the "adrenaline emotions," because they tend to stimulate adrenaline production.
Included here would be:

anger
frustration
irritation
resentment
hostility

These emotions, if not attended to, can send us to an early grave because of the stress they
cause. Most of us know people, if we are not that way ourselves, who get angry whenever they are
disappointed. Their frustration tolerance is extremely low. Whenever they can't get their
way they explode, hold grudges, and carry resentment fed by impecable memories...forever.
And, unfortunately, our culture glorifies these emotions!

Actually, the last three of the adrenaline-producing emotions mentioned above are closely
related to the first one - anger. Simply speaking, anger in all its forms is bad for us!
Why? Because it triggers the "fight or flight" reaction more easily and strongly than any
other emotion, and can keep it going longer.
In its early stages, anger is simply a signal alerting us to a violation of our rights.
The feeling of anger is the "pain" of our psychological disposition. It tells us that
we have been transgressed. At this point, there is nothing wrong with anger; in fact, it's healthy.
But from this point, two things can go wrong:

1. We don't pay attention to the anger.
2. Anger, the feeling, is translated into anger, the behavior - such as aggression and hostility."

August 2001

"Creative Visualization"
by Shakti Gawain

Following is an excerpt from this month's Power Book:

"Creative visualization is the technique of using your imagination to create
what you want in your life. There is nothing at all new, strange, or unusual
about creative visualization. You are already using it every day, every minute
in fact. It is your natural power of imagination, the basic creative energy of the
universe which you use constantly, whether or not you are aware of it.

In the past, many of us have used our power of creative visualization in a
relatively unconscious way. Because of our own deep-seated negative concepts
about life, we have automatically and unconsciously expected and imagined
lack, limitation, difficulties, and problems to be our lot in life. To one degree
or another that is what we have created for ourselves.

This book is about learning to use your natural creative imagination in a more
and more conscious way, as a technique to create what you truly want-love, fulfillment
enjoyment, satisfying realtionships, rewarding work, self-expression, health,
beauty, prosperity, inner peace and harmony...whatever your heart
desires. The use of creative visualization gives us a key to tap into the natural
goodness and bounty of life."

September 2001

"Daydreaming - Unlock the creative power of your mind"
by F. Diane Barth

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"Daydreams can provide comfort and relaxation, enhance self-esteem,
facilitate problem-solving, act as a new tool for creativity, or be a rehearsal for
or an attempt to escape from change. These coded communications, when examined,
yield clues about ourselves and our hidden needs, desires, and potential.
Drawing on her own work, as well as the research of others, psychoanalyst Diane Barth
offers an entry into the world of your daydreams. Exercises and a daydream diary will
help you connect your daydreams to your night dreams, move through and beyond
daydreams that keep you stuck, and put your daydreams to work in your job and
family, friendships and love life.

From the Critics
From Publisher's Weekly

A psychotherapist for 20 years, Barth offers a unique method of uncovering hidden
"hopes and fears, loves and hates, wishes and needs." The simple practice of
following the trail of one's seemingly random thoughts, fantasies and memories,
she contends, leads naturally to the uncovering of complex "unconscious beliefs" and
motivations. Barth explains that "Every daydream is your psyche's attempt to redirect
your attention from a task or an activity in the outside world to something going on
internally." Drawing on her clinical experience, she shows how repetitive daydreams
are indications of something important one is trying to communicate to oneself.
Barth describes how keeping a daydream diary and using other related exercises can
gently unearth unstated realizations and concerns one would rather not face. She also
examines how daydreams can hold the key to creative problem-solving.
Offering the means to "decode" daydreams by "playing" with both memories and
imagination, Barth makes self-analysis and creative problem-solving approachable,
creating a self-help book that is more genuinely helpful and entertaining than most."

October 2001

"Change Your Brain, Change Your Life"
by Daniel G. Amen

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"The Barnes & Noble Review

Clinical neuroscientist and psychiatrist Daniel Amen writes in his new book,
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, that for years he successfully helped people
change negative behavior patterns that affected their work, their relationships, and
their daily lives, with a therapeutic program he developed called "Breaking Through:
How to Be Effective Every Day of Your Life." Always frustrating to him, however,
was the fact the for the thousands of patients who achieved significant improvement,
there were always a number who were not helped. It wasn't until Amen attended a lecture
on a type of brain imaging called SPECT, which lets doctors see blood flow and activity
patterns, that he began to wonder if his "resistant" patients might in fact
have underlying dysfunctions in the brain that prevented them from changing stubborn
behavior patterns. Most exciting to Amen was the comparison of the brain images of patients
with problems like dementia, depression, and schizophrenia before and after treatment;
it was clear that treatment with medication changed the physical functioning of the brain.

Amen embarked on a program of study that has led him to a remarkable conclusion:
Relatively simple treatments can have measurable effects on patterns of brain function
that correspond with positive behavioral changes. He details his findings regarding five
common behavioral problems — anxiety, depression, obsessiveness, anger, and impulsiveness —
in Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, and offers simple treatment plans designed to heal
the underlying brain abnormalitieshehas commonly seen associated with them. These treatment
plans variously include writing, problem solving, breathing exercises, sound exercises,
dietary changes, and even aromatherapy. Many of Amen's patients have also been helped by
medication, and Amen points out the specific instances where various medications may be of use.

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life is almost as much a science book at it is a self-help
book; it's full of the stories of patients and studies, of discussions about the function
of various systems in the brain, and of brain images that are fascinating to behold.
And Amen offers no quick fixes — all of his prescriptions require real commitment and
significant effort. But Change Your Brain, Change Your Life offers real hope for the many
people who find that they are held back in relationships, at work, and in daily life
by behavior patterns that seem to come up over and over again."

November 2001

"A Still, Small Voice: A Psychic's Guide to Awakening"
by Echo L. Bodine

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"The Barnes & Noble Review

In A Still, Small Voice, famed psychic Echo Bodine turns to a subject she knows
deeply and is passionate about: intuition. Using humorous anecdotes and a positive,
readable style, this sequel to Echoes of the Soul explores what intuition is, where it’s
located, what it sounds like, and how to cultivate it. The author, who comes from a family
of psychics, exposes the various internalized voices that can mask one’s intuition.
These include the voices of parents, grandparents, peers, therapists, significant others,
religious figures, and society, along with such emotions as anger, fear, guilt, and despair.
The book challenges the notions that psychic abilities and intuition are the same or
that they are in some way suspect. One chapter is devoted to the many practical benefits that
come from listening to intuition; another looks at the “faith-building times” in life and how
to cope with others’ negative reactions to one’s setting off on a spiritual path.