MeWeRTH’s Reading for Well-Being Community Book Club

  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (September, 2024) Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it by Ethan Kross, (2021, published by Crown ) My Take:   Anyone who has found themselves lying awake in the middle of the night with endless thoughts of potential doom can likely relate to this book. I could! In Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it , Kross (2021) starts off by des cribing the negative loop in his head after receiving a threatening letter in his university mailbox. I don’t think you need to be a faculty member to appreciate the negative emotional response this type of letter would evoke; you start to think what it might mean for you and your family ’s safety and well-being . Ironically, this is a topic Kross knows about; he researches how the conversations we have with ourselves can impact how we live our lives. Through his research, Kross tries to understand how these conversations can be channeled to make peo

   We’re giving away a copy of September's  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick.  Click on  read more   then  click here to enter to win  or copy the web address and search it in your browser:  https://carleton.ca/mental-health/september-giveaway/

  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (September, 2024) Happier Hour: How to Beat Disctraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most by Cassie Holmes, Ph.D. (2022; published by Gallery Books ) My Take: Feel like you never have the time to do the things you want and barely have time to do the things you need to do? In Happier Hour, How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most by Cassie Holmes, Ph.D. (2022, published by Gallery Books) the topic of “ time ” and how to use it to feel happier and more satisfied with life is explored.      Holmes starts with examining data from the American Time Use Survey to answer the question, “What is the relationship between the amount of discretionary time people have in their daily lives and their overall happiness? ”. Perhaps not surprisingly, having less than two hours of discretionary time a day is related to lower levels of happiness. – T hese results hold for Canadians as well !       Holmes notes that p eople

 We’re giving away a copy of August's  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick.  Click on  read more  then  click here to enter to win  or copy the web address and search it in your browser:  https://carleton.ca/mental-health/august-giveaway/

Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (August, 2024) Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross (2023; published by Random House )   My take:   I knew that I enjoyed the arts, both looking at art as well as engaging in artsy endeavours ( I’m finding it hard to put down my knitting needles these days). I also knew art made me feel better. I didn’t know the research behind the arts and the link to well-being though . Your Brain on Art by Magsamen and Ross (2023) explores how various forms and engagement with art can change brain function and ultimately improve mental and physical health.     Magsamen and Ross e xamine the field of neuroaesthetics ; that is , the scientific investigation of how the arts can alter the brain, body, and behaviour. This book offered a fascinating exploration of how arts can be used to positively affect well-being, enhance health, and facilitate communities to flourish .        The authors provide several ideas of how you ca