Emotional Brain Training – A New Antidote To Pandemic Stress
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Stress is overwhelming our nation. We are all in the same situation and need to unlock our brain’s natural powers to process stress back to health, happiness and purpose. New York Times bestselling author and health psychologist Laurel Mellin delivers a unique, proven way to switch off that stress with “What’s my number?” One Simple Question that Unlocks Your Brain’s Power for Health, Happiness & Purpose.
“We are entering the Age of the Emotional Brain, a time when the overwhelming chaos, shrinking resources, gaslighting and gridlock cause so much brain stress, that we have outstripped the thinking brain’s capacity to cope,” Dr. Mellin writes. “We need to reset our approach to play by the rules of the emotional brain. By doing that one thing solutions to life’s challenges appear. We unlock the amazing power of the brain.”
“What’s my number?” offers a profoundly effective way to alter how we process daily life to meet the high-stress demands of our times. Through emotional brain training (EBT), we can use the power of our own emotions to crush cravings and regain control; clear away ineffective beliefs; deal with workplace stress; relieve anxiety, depression and hostility; resolve conflicts in relationships; boost our sense of purpose; and create joy in our lives.
Consider the following: • Traditional methods for stress reduction were developed 50 to 100 years ago and are no longer relevant to today’s overwhelming stress levels. • Before 1990, stress was low enough that we could think and do our way out of problems. With far more stress, the emotional brain takes charge. This brain does not change by thoughts or actions, but by emotions, so we need a new system for processing daily life. • This system is easy, fast and can switch off stress and activate positive emotions in about four minutes. • Stress is the number one epidemic worldwide and the physiological root cause of common diseases (diabetes, cancer and heart disease) and causes or exacer-bates all emotional, behavioral and relationship problems. • We have cracked the code on emotions and developed a simple system for pro-cessing emotional stress and switching off stress overload that anyone can use.
“What’s my number?” offers the keys to unlocking the brain’s power to turn off stress so that we can stem the negative cascade of emotions, resolve conflicts, boost our sense of purpose and create more joy in our lives.
Dr. Laurel Mellin is the founder of Emotional Brain Training (EBT), a neuroscience-based solution to stress. She is a health psychologist and Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Mellin is a New York Times bestselling author and researcher, speaker and clinical trainer. EBT is the only method that maps the emotional brain; the seat of health, happiness, spirituality, relationships and productivity in a structured way that empowers people to self-direct their own emotional health and well-being.
“What’s my number?” One Simple Question that Unlocks Your Brain’s Power for Health, Happiness & Purpose Release Date: April 2020 Publisher: EBT Books ISBN-10: 1893265013 ISBN-13: 978-1893265011 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone 832.569.5539 Fax [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
Chocolate: A (Healthy) Anxiety Cure For COVID-19 Stress
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In this virulent climate of self-isolation and serious immune system compromises, author/chef, Mee McCormick is mindful of how a rise in anxiety can find us craving snacks. Instead of a quick fix, she goes straight to her kitchen with the intent to shift her gut bacteria – important for keeping our immune systems strong – as addressed in her new book, My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure. An expert whose personal experience healing her Crohn’s disease, gut issues and immune system challenges makes her well equipped to share the whole food recipes doctors couldn’t prescribe to help her.
Enter one of our favorite snacking foods, chocolate. Says McCormick, “Cocoa is a pre-biotic plant food – this means it feeds the good probiotic bacteria or, as I like to call them, The Good Gut Homies. These Gut Homies live in our intestines.”
McCormick says the consumption of dark chocolate has been found to lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease, protect our DNA and improve gut bacteria. She points to research at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research where they designed a study to test whether eating chocolate could mitigate the stress-related effects on the microbiome. Dividing participants into two groups – high anxiety and low anxiety and testing their urine and blood for stress markers – each participant ate one chocolate bar (containing 74% cocoa) a day for 2 weeks. The study found cortisol and adrenaline decreased as well as their p-cresol and Hippurate; metabolites created from the Good Gut Homies. High anxiety group levels dropped down to the levels of the low anxiety group – all within a 2-week period, thus the importance of cooking with cocoa.
Take, for instance, how combining cocoa with black beans takes our gut health to another level as they also have a profound influence on our microbiome by feeding the probiotic bacteria that support the mucosal lining of the intestines. Bean eaters have been found to have an 81% decrease in the harmful gut bacteria that break down the protective mucosal lining. Supporting our intestinal lining is key in preventing leaky gut. Mee McCormick has a Chocolate and Black Bean Hummus that will surprise you with its nutritiously delicious taste and texture. Shown below is an example of another chocolate -centered dish, a super easy recipe to whip up during COVID cabin fever.
This chocolate recipe is mixed with avocado in a delicious mousse (found on page 277 of Mee’s book, My Pinewood Kitchen):
Chocolate-Avocado Mousse (Makes 4 servings) In the bowl of a food processor, blend 4 ripe avocados until smooth. Add 1/3 cup local honey or coconut nectar*; 1 ripe banana; 1/2 cup raw cacao powder; 2 tbsp. organic coconut milk; 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt. Blend until the mixture is uniform. Pour into a dish and chill for 2 hours in a refrigerator or 30 minutes in a freezer.
If watching sugar, use an equivalent amount of stevia; however, coconut nectar is low glycemic.
Mee McCormick is a real food maven, community food advocate, a restaurateur, a rancher, a mother, and the author of My Kitchen Cure: How I Cooked My Way Out of Chronic Autoimmune Disease with Whole Foods and Healing Recipes. When Mee isn’t running her restaurant or working on her biodynamic farm, she is touring the country as a speaker and community kitchen organizer. She has appeared on national and local TV, on radio and in print nationwide. She is a regular on-air contributor to Today In Nashville and a vital part of the Nashville restaurant scene. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy HCI BOOKS – April 14, 2020 — $26.95 ISBN: 9780757323522 Available wherever books are sold
Trish Stevens Kim Weiss Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
Free And Fearless Depicts Power Of Human Spirit, Offers Source Of Inspiration For Challenging Times
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Brittany Moser was a spirited, happy-go-lucky young woman who lived life to the fullest and made it her mission to enrich the lives of everyone she encountered. A flight attendant, Brittany was suddenly grounded by a rare and incurable disease. She decided to embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, and asked her best friend — her father — to accompany her. Their unforgettable journey would eventually result in Free and Fearless: The Amazing Impact of One Precious Life, an award-nominated story that underscores the resiliency of the human spirit, puts everyday problems into their proper perspective and proves that love truly does conquer all.
“This book is not about the grief of losing a child, but about making the most out of what we are given and living our lives positively and not out of fear,” writes author (and Brittany’s father) Philip Moser. “Brittany inspired me, an ordinary farm boy, to explore life, to climb mountains and to write a book.”
In 2015, Brittany was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a rare condition that can lead to adrenal failure. She passed away in 2017.
Free and Fearless is the honest, poignant account of Brittany’s legacy and the ripple effect that her outlook on life had on those around her. Among Brittany’s valuable life lessons that Philip shares with readers are:
How precious life is and how we can affect the people around us;
How an open mind and a positive attitude can inspire us to do things we never thought possible;
How to move out of our comfort zones and into a challenging existence that can turn each day into an exciting gift to be explored;
How to not let fear control us, and to use our abilities to seek unique, positive and in-spiring adventures;
To embrace change as a natural part of life;
And finally, that we won’t be remembered by our things or our savings accounts, but by how we made other people feel.
“I want to share the same inspiration that I received for 32 years,” Philip added. “In the end, love truly does conquer all, and Brittany wanted us to know that.”
Author Philip Moser grew up on a farm in Angola, Indiana. After high school, he began working in different aspects of the grocery business, a career that continues to this day. He and his wife, Marilyn Wells, raised two incredible daughters, Camille and Brittany.
For more information, please visit www.freeandfearlessbook.com or connect with the author on social media at https://www.facebook.com/philip.moser.73?ref=bookmarks. A portion from the sale of each book will be donated to the National Adrenal Disease Foundation.
Free and Fearless: The Amazing Impact of One Precious Life
Publisher: Free Agent Press
ISBN-10: 1733086404
ISBN-13: 978-1733086400
Available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, BooksaMillion.com and other online retailers
Trish Stevens Anna Lee Simpson Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
Trish Stevens Julia Vaughn Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
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Let Go Of Anxiety And Negativity, Embrace A Positive Path Forward With The Process Way Of Life
Self-care and emotional health are more important than ever. In the face of unprecedented uncertainty, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. What can we do right now, as individuals, to begin a journey toward a brighter future?
The Fix Yourself Handbook from clinical therapist Faust Ruggiero presents a step-by-step program he calls the Process Way of Life, which aims to help readers achieve physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual balance. Ruggiero has used the Process Way of Life successfully for more than 20 years and has helped thousands of clients.
“Human beings are a product of nature. As such, we are governed by natural rules. These are called processes: deliberate and natural actions or steps that must be performed so that we can live in tune with our own natural flow,” Ruggiero writes.
Between the covers of The Fix Yourself Handbook, Ruggiero presents 52 of these internal processes and explains in easy-to-follow language how these processes can be applied to any life situation. He offers straightforward action plans to address issues methodically — prioritizing practical intellect over emotion — to empower readers to tackle problems, resolve conflicts, embrace change and rise above anger.
By understanding and learning to live according to the Process Way of Life, readers can become active players in their lives and transform anger to love and sadness to joy. The result is a much happier, healthier, more productive life.
Author Faust A. Ruggiero’s professional career spans almost 40 years. He has consistently established cutting-edge counseling programs in pursuit of professional excellence and personal life enhancement. He is a published research author, clinical trainer and a therapist who has worked in settings that have included clinics for deaf children, prisons, nursing homes, substance abuse centers and inpatient facilities. He continues to provide counseling services for veterans, first responders, law enforcement and other emergency personnel. During his tenure as the President of the Community Psychological Center in Bangor, Pennsylvania, he developed the Process Way of Life counseling program, and has adapted it into the formal text presented in The Fix Yourself Handbook. In February 2020, The Fix Yourself Handbook received the Silver Award from The Nonfiction Authors Association.
The Fix Yourself Handbook
Publisher: FYHB Publications
Release Date: December 2019
ISBN-10: 1734383003
ISBN-13: 978-1734383003
Available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com
Trish Stevens Claire Downing Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
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Code-At-Home Tech Toys Keep Girls Engaged, Away From Computer Screens, During COVID-19 School Closures
Are you looking for constructive ways to keep your children stimulated and engaged during the COVID-19 school shutdown? The line of groundbreaking toys from SmartGurlz Inc. uses an award-winning robotics platform to teach basic coding skills to girls as young as 6.
“Many girls’ toys lag behind in the development of spatial skills, hands-on problem solving skills, and confidence with coding and computer science,” explains SmartGurlz founder Sharmi Albrechtsen. “These are exactly the skills that SmartGurlz aims to develop.”
The SmartGurlz line of unique, interactive, self-balancing robots and dolls are controlled with the SugarCoded™ App than can be downloaded onto an IOS or android phone or tablet that once downloaded requires no Wi-Fi, just Bluetooth.
A full, step-by-step tutorial teaches basic coding strategies so young girls can maneuver the toys around obstacle courses of their own design. With several levels of learning and chal-lenges, the toy keeps kids occupied several hours a week for 4-6 months.
The company is also offering a free weekly webinar for parents and kids affected by COVID- 19 that includes getting started, tips and tricks, and weekly home assignments.
Girls playing with SmartGurlz products learn three key concepts:
Spatial Reasoning. Girls learn how to direct/orient their robots in new environments and in-terpret maps.
Computer Programming. Girls learn to program their robots using our kid-friendly coding App called SugarCodedTM.
Storytelling & Problem Solving. Girls learn to tell stories and solve missions via coding.
The SmartGurlz product line also includes an e-book series available through the App that focuses on the everyday adventures of four talented young women studying at the fictional New York Institute of Technology — N.I.T.
We’re all adjusting to a new normal. You can use this extra time at home to inspire the female tech leaders of tomorrow with toys that integrate the power of play with the power of technology.
SmartGurlz CEO Sharmi Albrechtsen is a robotics aficionado, educator, author and mom with a passion for closing the diversity gap in technology.
In 2015, Sharmi started SmartGurlz after becoming frustrated with the lack of STEM toys available for her daughter. The SmartGurlz flagship product, Siggy, was the first robotics product designed specifically for girls. More than 30,000 girls have been educated with SmartGurlz. SmartGurlz partners include BlackGirlsCode, Girl Scouts of America and Morrison Mentors.
SmartGurlz recently expanded its product line to include Smart Buddies (a joint-venture with Pitsco Education), which features a diverse set of characters suitable for both girls and boys, targeted towards schools.
Sharmi was recently given AdWeek’s Disruptor Award in Championing Gender Diversity in Advertising and Tech. She has also been named Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 by the Asian Chamber of Commerce as well as named a Morgan Stanley Multi-Cultural Innovation Lab fellow. Sharmi has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, Financial Times, Fox Business News, Fox and Friends and CNN. She is also a featured TEDx speaker.
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone 832.569.5539 Fax [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
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Climb Aboard The Western Star And Witness The Adventures Of A Lifetime
The year is 1979, and 12-year-old Annie’s life has been upended. Her parents have announced that their home for the next nine months will be a 53-foot sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean. The thought of leaving behind her pets, friends and a life she loves—plus coexisting in close quarters with her older brother—has left Annie spiraling through a kaleidoscope of emotions. Heartbroken at first, Annie turns to writing, and through her detailed journal of daily life aboard the Western Star, she reveals a remarkable transformation.
Girl Sailing Aboard the Western Star is the engaging, poignant result of Annie’s chronicle of her family’s adventures in the Atlantic. Readers get to experience through Annie’s eyes the raw, unfiltered angst of a girl on the cusp of being a teenager, as she grapples with feelings of isolation, resentment and uncertainty. Page after page, hints of new awakenings rise to the surface, as Annie learns how to trim the sheet, raise the main sail and navigate using a sextant. She also learns about the stars and constellations and about the amazing creatures living under the boat. The journal takes readers along as she snorkels, scuba dives and jet skis her way through The Bahamas, the Caribbean and the Virgin Islands.
Drawn directly from Anderson’s real-life story of living on a sailboat with her family, this charming coming-of-age tale shares Annie’s day-by-day emotional evolution, as she discovers new worlds above and below the deep blue sea and lives the adventures of a lifetime.
Author RA Anderson is a wanderer who has lived all over, from California to Belize, and currently, home is a town called Rome, in Georgia that is! She grew up on horseback and sailboats—“the most amazing way to grow up!”
A lifelong passion for creative writing and photography became her life. Her award-winning photographs have been featured in table books, magazines and front-page news, and her writing has been published in magazines, poetry books and children’s books. Her children’s series include If Pets Could Talk and Iceland: The Puffin Explorers.
Three boys—her heart and soul—call her Mom. She and her husband—whom she calls her “strength and passion”—are recent empty-nesters, leaving them more time to travel.
Girl Sailing Aboard the Western Star Publisher: My Favorite Books Publishing Company, LLC Release Date: January 1, 2020 ISBN-10: 1950590038 ISBN-13: 978-1950590032 Available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com
Trish Stevens Kim Weiss Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing)
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My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure
In this virulent climate of serious strains of illness and immune system compromises, gut health and balancing the microbiome are more important than ever. Mee McCormick nails these issues in her new book My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure, as an expert with personal experience healing her Crohn’s disease, gut issues and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her. Part mini-memoir, mostly cookbook, McCormick’s book offers more than 100 gluten-free whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, making it a truly “all-inclusive” eating plan. Mee McCormick’s story of healing inspires us to make smarter food choices and offers practical tips from someone who has been there; all packaged with full-color photos of recipes and the author’s working ranch, her family’s farm, and Southern lifestyle.
My Pinewood Kitchen is microbiome-friendly meals with a Southern spin that follows up McCormick’s life-enhancing cookbook My Kitchen Cure. From immune-boosting smoothies to gut-friendly soups, salads, dinners, and desserts, this cookbook will become your go-to kitchen resource, freeing you from bland-tasting healthy food and the nightly question: “What’s for dinner?”
Mee first started cooking when Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and Hashimoto’s brought her debilitating daily pain. When conventional treatments couldn’t help, Mee found relief in a surprising place: her kitchen. Through relentless recipe testing, she put her condition into remission and completely restored her health with gut-friendly whole foods, most of which she grew and harvested on her family’s farm outside of Nashville, TN.
Once Mee was well, she opened a farm-to-table restaurant, sharing locally grown and seasonal foods with her community—some of whom drive hours to get a taste of Pine-wood’s Grain-Free Fried Chicken. Pinewood Kitchen is unique in that every meal is created with the intention to serve everyone with the same deliciousness regardless of dietary restrictions. Whether you want to eat healthier or you have diabetes, lupus, celiac, Crohn’s, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, or another autoimmune issue, you’ll find a wealth of delicious, nutritious recipes. You’ll also discover:
· The importance of intestinal health and how to improve your own gut microbiome
· Which foods are nutritional powerhouses and which you must avoid
· How to eat real food every day without breaking the bank
Mee McCormick is a real food maven, community food advocate, a restaurateur, a rancher, a mother, and the author of My Kitchen Cure: How I Cooked My Way Out of Chronic Autoimmune Disease with Whole Foods and Healing Recipes. When Mee isn’t running her restaurant, Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile, or working on her biodynamic farm outside of Nashville, she is touring the country as a speaker and community kitchen organizer. She has appeared on national and local TV, on radio and in print nationwide. She is a regular on-air contributor to Today In Nashville and a vital part of the Nashville restaurant scene. Visit: meemccormick.com or pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.
My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy
By Mee McCormick
HCI BOOKS – April 14, 2020 — $26.95
ISBN: 9780757323522
Available wherever books are sold
