2 comments about Kava: Medicine Hunting in Paradise: The Pursuit of a Natural Alternative to Anti-Anxiety Drugs and Sleeping Pills.

1. We're featuring this book in a section of COCONUT, the Web Guide to the Tropical World. The section is all about kava, and the author's new book comes out at a perfect time, as interest in Kava is growing rapidly all over the world.This book rambles at times, but the story of the author's encounters with a village of ni-Vanuatu people is wonderful and memorable and happily, it forms the bulk of the book.For a full review of Chris Kilham's KAVA book, check out the COCONUT website (which will be making its grand opening in August 1996) at http://www.coconut.com.---- Brian Dear, Editor of "COCONUT"



2. This book gave me the comfort level and impetus to try Kava as a cure for my chronic insomnia. Previously I read and tried melatonin, with no success. Finally a protracted illness lead me to search again. The author gives enough details on the plant, pharmocology, and ethnobotany. There is eight pages of full references for additional research, if desired.

   Went to a local health food store / COOP with the book in hand and had the staff present the different brands of Kava in stock. Finally selected a Kava tincture because a salesperson / user said that this is the best form, compared to powdered root, capsules, and other standardized extracts. He said you will get the fastest and most powerful effects with this tincture, especially since the label said it was extracted from Vanuatu Isl 4-8 yr old roots. He was right on target; the tincture gave a white cloudy mixture when a couple of dropperfuls in 1/3 glass of water. It tasted pretty musty, as expected from reading about the Nakamals, native kava bars!! Got a slight numbing of the tongue too! Fell asleep within 30 minutes and did not wake up for 6 hours, refreshed and alert. The next best thing to being there with the author, who wrote a great story.

   My first time using tinctures. Normally I use capsules or try to make a tea out of the bark or root. The book told me of the uselessness of making a tea, as heat destoys the kavalactones.

1 comments about The Christian and Anxiety.

1. Many accuse theology of being meaningless bickering over what we cannot verify. Von Balthasar happily topples those prejudices with this book, which is not only a profound look at the human condition and Scripture, but is also a strong challenge to the reader. The Christian and Anxiety starts with a chapter on what anxiety means in Scripture. This first Chapter alone would merit a purchase, as von Balthasar pulls together many threads from the Wisdom literature of the OT (e.g., Proverbs, Wisdom, Sirach, etc.) to give us a Scriptural review of anxiety. I found this very fruitful, and has caused me to go back to a couple books of the Bible for a new look. Von Balthasar then goes on in the next two chapters to reflect on the theological and philosophical underpinning of anxiety. This becomes tough, involved reading, and I'll be musing over this part of the book for some time, but you do come away with a new understanding about anxiety, which seems to be a very representative emotion for the modern West. Some books are difficult because the writing is poor, or the thoughts are disconnected, and some books are difficult because the author enters into a deep subject and does justice to it. The Christian and Anxiety fits in with the latter, and I highly recommend it as a worthy investment.

No comments about Abnormal Psychology (Psychology Focus).

1 comments about Edgar Cayce on Overcoming Fear and Anxiety.

1. The updated edition of Hugh Lynn Cayce's Faces of Fear--also includes Kevin Todeschi's experiences with a paralyzing fear of public speaking. Can you believe it? Todeschi has overcome this public speaking fears big time. He's now CEO of Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) and has spoken in front of many groups both large and small all over the world. By the way, his fear developed from conditions in a number of his past lives--very interesting.
   
   In the appendix, you'll find a questionnaire for "Getting in Touch with Possible Causes of Personal Fears" which could be from a physical condition, a past life, repressed childhood memories, fears of religions or God, or fears of death and the unknown. There's also a questionnaire to help you examine emotional urges and their causes.
   
   This is a great book! The best! Everyone has fears. Hugh Lynn gains our trust immediately by sharing with us one of his unfathomable fears. He assures us that everyone has fears and anxieties.
   
   Do you know that the source of some of our fears is that we are souls locked in a physical body? Or that our fears can come from physical conditions in the body? This book explains the causes of many types of fears and anxieties based on the trance readings of Edgar Cayce. It also offers some unique remedies. I love it.
   
   This book was originally written by Hugh Lynn Cayce, Edgar Cayce's son who built the A.R.E. around his father's psychic readings instead of allowing them to moulder away and be forgotten. Hugh Lynn wrote the original edition of the book, Faces of Fear, after he had his heart attack and before he died. It is the last book he wrote and is full of the wisdom and compassion of a lifetime spent dealing with the complexities of having such an unusual father, examining himself, and helping others. I found it both enlightening and also poignant, gentle, and very hopeful.
   
   Right now, it's my favorite of favorites among the Cayce books.
   
   by Carol Chapman, photographer of Divine in Nature: With Quotes from Edgar Cayce and author of When We Were Gods: Insights on Atlantis, Past Lives, Angelic Beings of Light and Spiritual Awakening.

2 comments about The Anxiety Answer Book: Professional, Reassuring Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions.

1. I've had the opportunity to explore The ANXIETY ANSWER BOOK and found it be for both laypersons seeking answers and for professionals to use as well as recommend to clients. The book is easy to navigate for specific information, well written, and designed for people of all ages. I highly recommend it for it's clarity and content.



2. Finally a book that guides you to specific anxieties. It is easy to read and the advise is concise and sensible. This book helped me transform many of my anxieties into manageable thoughts. I only wish it had come out much sooner!

No comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Controlling Anxiety (Complete Idiot's Guide to).

1 comments about Tame Test Anxiety: Proven Anxiety Reduction Training.

1. My sophomore year I was approached to be a participant in researching this program. I could never really remember information I studied the night before on a test because I would freak out and always ended up performing poorly because of my severe anxiety. My GPA prior to the program was around a 3.02 and after my sophomore year during my junior fall semester I recieved a 3.78 for the semester and raised my GPA to a 3.47 (after four more semesters of amazing grades)! The instructions are easy and if you sincerely suffer from anxiety like I did I would highly recommend you get these tapes. I am really quite skeptical of programs of this nature but the breathing is key and the relaxing is essential.... really these tapes improved my grades and my ability to retain information that I worked incredibily hard to learn in the first place.

1 comments about Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety.

1. first off, i can't say i would recommend this book to someone who doesn't have a more academic background, flitting as it does from foucault to freud & back again, but i have to say that it's critique & thesis are well-reasoned, well-argued, & definitely well-referenced! it's like a cross dressing field guide in some ways... i found myself making up a list of movies/books to check out. even moreso, it's a great book for anyone wanting to study gender construction in general... as it gets at that shadowy figure inbetween the genders, who belies/affirms all the constructs...

   thank you marjorie garber!

2 comments about Conquering Depression and Anxiety Through Exercise.

1. I came to Johnsgard's book as a recreational runner with none of the psychological disorders he addresses in his book (none diagnosed, anyway). Actually, the title of this delightful book is something of a misnomer; only one of the four sections deals specifically with mental health. In the other three sections, Johnsgard-a psychology professor and a long-time distance runner-takes what I would call an anthropological view of the sport, addressing, as he does, the history of Homo Sapiens and our natural inclination to run. Johnsgard's book is a training manual, a DSM4, and a natural history all in one.
   
   What I appreciated most about the book-and there's plenty here for expert runners as well as beginners-was the author's unique perspective. Using both clinical data and anthropological evidence, Johnsgard shows us how far we've come from Shangri-La, and how running can help us return. The author is a fellow homo-naturalis, so if you're homo-progressus, you're not going to find your techno-manna here. Johnsgard debunks the protein diet fads and gives evidence that elements of the hunter-gatherer existence are necessary for physical and mental well-being.
   
   Johnsgard is foremost a good storyteller, and beginning with book's prologue, he incorporates elements of case study to illuminate his topics. The result is a thoroughly interesting read about the science and history of running. And while the author is always knowledgeable about his subjects-from existential drift to cardiorespiratory fitness-he's humble too; one gets the sense that he's learned all this news the hard way, and at some personal expense. Johnsgard comes across as the kind of runner you'd like to meet on the trail.
   
   Chances are you'll see yourself often in these pages, and that you'll come away with at least a few ideas for self-improvement through exercise.



2. The reviewer below, C Fink, wrote a great review of this book, but I have one comment to add: although the author is a runner and some of the studies he cites are based on runners, the author states clearly that any aerobic exercise is fine. I'm not a runner and as I was reading, I didn't think of it as a running book (I prefer bicycling and hiking/walking).
   
   I've read quite a few books on depression and anxiety. Although many of them helped me to learn and understand, this book was the most practical/pragmatic. Move your body, breathe hard, you'll feel better. (As the author states, one may also need therapy and medication.)
   
   I feel like giving this book to people living with depression and/or anxiety. It could make a huge difference.

No comments about Happiness For Dummies (For Dummies (Psychology & Self Help)).