Books that changed or helped us

[Glisten]

@PizzaMondo I appreciate reclamation and adaptation 👍🏼

G

[PizzaMondo]

Alright, I've got an update everyone! 😎
My fellow P'amigos @PeppyPatti @Former-Member and @Glisten ~

Recently I wrapped up with these 2 books that I cannot stop sharing with others about. May not be suitable for everyone, but I'll share a little and if you're interested, I encourage you to check them out!

How To Do The Work by Dr. Nicole LePera (@The.holistic.psycholigist on social media)

This book shared the lived experience of the author, which firstly made me recognise the authenticity of the writing and that it was not just another 'professional' telling me what I needed to do in my life to feel better. They covered how to set and maintain boundaries (with AMAZING examples), spoke about different attachment styles and the examples shared from their lived experience highlighted some of the experiences many of us perhaps share, that we did not recognise as trauma in our adult years. The biggest takeaway for me was around boudnary setting, LePera suggested for us to tune in to HOW WE FEEL when we are with someone, how do they register in our body? and focus on how you will respond differently (after a boundary has been set), rather than the other person's reaction or response to it. This book is under $20 at BigW, Kmart and even Amazon. I'm going to buy myself a copy to refer to!

It's Not You: How to identify and heal from NARCISSISTIC people by Dr. Ramani Durvasula

A lot of people will say the word narcissist is thrown around so easily, but for those of us who have experienced narcissistic abuse, we know what's up. I love watching this psychologist's videos on Youtube and listened to this as an audiobook (11 hours!) - she also provides many examples throughout the book on how to set boundaries, how to care for ourselves, living authentically and what recovery can look like after narcissistic abuse. I was hooked and think I listened to the whole book over one weekend! She is so full of knowledge in this area - check out her Youtube if you want to see what she's about first - https://www.youtube.com/@DoctorRamani

Both of these books have impacted me greatly in the past month - and both have made me feel less alone knowing that both authors have their own lived experience in their specific field of interest, which allows me to be like "ahhh, I can do this too, recovery is near and I feel less alone". 

Happy reading!

Warmest, 

PizzaMondo 🙂

P.S. If anyone else has read either of these, would be interested to hear about your learnings!

[Former-Member]

Thanks for sharing @PizzaMondo ☺️🌺👌🏻

I haven’t seen these books before, however they are definitely intriguing and I’m going to find out a bit more. 
I wondered if some of our other members might be interested in posting here what they’re reading, and what they think of their books? 🙂

@Birdofparadise8 @creative_writer @StanD @StuF @TAB @Blackbird11 @Xibon 

(sorry if I’ve included you and you’d prefer not - my memory isn’t the best! Please feel free to let me know 🙂). 

A couple of books I like is Thr Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge MD which discusses stories of recovery

 
and The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk 

 

I particularly like the relationship between trauma and the body, discussed in this book. 

@PeppyPatti @Glisten 🌺🙂💜

[PeppyPatti]

Thankyou for tagging me.

You know that Nicole Le Pera book, my psychotherapist asked me to do that and at the time, my carer wouldn’t do it but now I have another carer so Ill pull it out and do again.

Thank you for reminding me……

yay. 

[PizzaMondo]

Oohhh, I have the first book in my to-read list - I know it's not as long as The Body Keeps the Score but know I'd probably read it in little bits at a time anyway.. Thanks for sharing these, very interested in the relationship between trauma and body too @Former-Member 🙂

[PizzaMondo]

Any luck finding the book @PeppyPatti ? It's a sign that also your psychotherapist had asked you to check it out! Hope you can find it soon and would love to hear about your learnings 🙂

[Former-Member]

Yes @PizzaMondo 🙂🌺

the connection between trauma and cell function and cell ‘memory’ is extremely interesting, and is illustrated very clearly in how immunity is affected by stress, to use an example 🙂

there are a variety of research articles on this, however they are significantly technical in terms of biochemistry, and I always think to myself wouldn’t it be grand to have scientists who like to translate things into lay terms which then could be powerfully used to expand general knowledge in the community, resulting in shifts in how we do things with the aim of minimising stress to improve wellbeing and immunity? 
with the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and resultant covid-19 disease being our most recent immunity challenge, anything that supports innate immunity would be very sensible - including how miniminsing stress (and by stress I mean the ‘bad’ type, not the type that helps us perform) can support better immune function 🙂🌺

[PizzaMondo]

Yes! I wanted to mention the link to our physical health and wellbeing too, I was thinking in the sense of .. for those of us who have gastrointestinal issues - but immunity is also a fab round up.

Upon reflection, what have you been able to take away for yourself from your readings? How do/can you minimise stress to improve wellbeing and immunity @Former-Member ?

[Former-Member]

Indeed @PizzaMondo , the link between digestive/gastrointestinal issues and stress/trauma is extremely interesting... from an acute perspective, there is the response from the sympathetic nervous system, which will divert resources away from digestion, which in turn slows blood flow to the intestinal tracts for use elsewhere like muscles and lungs, to how stress hormones impact on digestion and function in the longer term 🙂 

There is very little translation I can take away from the biochemistry I have read, due to it needing scientific translation into practice.. I dont have those skills to take chemistry into actionable changes that one can do, however I know that minimising stress by trying to maximise sleep, eating well, staying hydrated, and actively engaging in relaxation does all help immunity. However the spanner in the works is often innate disease process that dont respond to these methods, like with the immune related diseases I have (its genetic, so I cant reach inside stem cells and give them a tune-up unfortunately, and these genes replicate mistakes that cause problems in immune function). Having said that, I still try to rest, eat well, and do the right things, even with knowing I cannot change the status quo 😉 

In terms of minimising stress, I try to manage the things I cant control well like how the systems and institutions dont work very well to support some health issues, with approaching them with a sense of keeping this in mind, then using what I hope to be productive advocacy methods to balance out the power differential 🙂 

Otherwise, I look at things as objectively as I can in any given moment, using compassion as the hard foundation of that objectivity. 

I hope you have a good evening PizzaMondo, and it'll be nice to catch you next time your on 🙂 x

[Glisten]

@Former-Member  are you talking about embryo organ division. When the stomach and brain separate, but are forever linked? Amazing isn’t it.