MeWeRTH’s Reading for Well-Being Community Book Club

  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (August, 2025) Good Anxiety: Harnessing the power of the most misunderstood emotion by Dr. Wendy Suzuki with Billie Fitzpatrick (2021, published by Atria Books) My take: I think for anyone who experiences “everyday anxiety” (or stress or nervousness), it may be hard to imagine anxiety as something that might be “good” (I fall into this category!). In Good Anxiety: Harnessing the power of the most misunderstood emotion, Suzuki takes you on a science-filled journey of how anxiety works in our brains and how you can change those pathways for a more “positive” experience. Suzuki makes a distinction between clinical level anxiety and everyday anxiety. Although, the mechanisms may be similar, the book is oriented toward coping and changing our perceptions and reactions to this type of anxiety. Not only is there a lot of science in this book, but there are also several case examples that help illustrate the information. Three themes that emerged throughout the ...

  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (July, 2025) Get it Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation , Ayelet Fishbach (2022, published by Little, Brown Spark) My take: Have you ever experienced that excitement to embark on a new goal (you’ll start Monday!), only to find that part way through to reaching your goal, that you lost interest, your motivation wanes. In Get it Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation , Fishbach (2022) explores the complex construct of motivation. You’ll discover barriers to motivation and how to deal with them so you can reach your goals. Fishbach provides a fulsome examination of the science of motivation. She explores orientations such as cup half full or empty and what motivates under these different perspectives. Intriguingly, which part of the glass motivates you will depend on context and the importance of your goal. At the end of each chapter, a series of questions allow you to reflect to better understand the science and strategi...

We’re giving away a copy of July '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/julygiveaway/

  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (June, 2025) The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions by Michael Norton (2024, published by Scribner) My take: You may have heard of athletes engaging in a series of actions before each game, or maybe you yourself have a “ritual” that you do before some event that is important to you. In The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions , Norton reviews the science of rituals and how they can improve our mood and well-being. According to Norton, rituals have the ability to increase different emotions -– something he calls emodiversity – that in turn, can increase your well-being. Experiencing a greater range of emotions has been found to be related to increased mental (and physical) health. Norton presents a vast array of rituals from personal to those developed and used around the world. Take for example, the ritual of having a cup of tea with your partner after dinn...

 We’re giving away a copy of June'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/junegiveaway/

  Professor Pozzulo’s Pick (May, 2025) Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (and how anyone can harness it. Even you.) by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas (2020, published by Currency) My take: The science of humour? Does “science” and “humour” belong together? Turns out that they do! In, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas (2021) you’ll learn about the evidence as to why bringing more humour into your life may improve your well-being. So, what is the connection between humour and well-being? For starters, the act of laughing or even the anticipation of laughing can decrease our stress hormone, cortisol, by about 39% and our fight or flight hormone, epinephrine, by about 70%, making you feel calmer and less stressed. Adding humour to information might even help you better remember. These were just some data the authors reported on. If you are thinking that you aren’t a very funny pe...