True Story of Survival Opens Minds and Dialogues about Mental Health
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Mark Henick stood precariously on the wrong side of the railing on a crumbling, concrete overpass. The bridge spanned two realities and, for Henick, had become a symbol of escape — in one form or another. A voice behind him tried to help. A crowd gathered. Siren lights flashed in his peripheral vision. Surrounded but still alone, Henick let go.
So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience from Mark Henick is a vital and triumphant story of perseverance and recovery by one of North America’s foremost advocates for mental health
Henick’s near-death experience on the overpass that night would alter his emotional orbit just enough that his exit from a psychiatric ward following that suicide attempt in 2003 would be his last. His transformation didn’t happen overnight — it was a gradual process punctuated with new challenges and setbacks — but slowly, his patterns reversed and he began a profound, “upward” spiral toward recovery.
So-Called Normal chronicles Henick’s youth and the events that led to that fateful night on the bridge and the experiences and transformation that followed. It is a vivid and personal account of a boy who had to deal with the breakdown of his parents’ marriage, an abusive stepfather, bullying and trauma — all while trying to navigate his progressively worsening mental health. In the backdrop is a community that didn’t talk about mental illness, one where silence and maintaining the comforts of “normal” was paramount. So-Called Normal is not a “misery memoir” about suicide — it’s a gripping, inspirational story of survival.
Author Mark Henick’s TEDx talk about being saved from death by a stranger is one of the most watched in the world and has been viewed millions of times. His search for “the man in the brown jacket” whose bravery and strong arms kept him from falling to his death went viral around the world (and was successful!). Henick has been on television and radio and has written many articles on mental health. He has hosted more than 60 intimate conversations about mental health with notable public figures and celebrities on his podcast, So-Called Normal, and has executive produced and hosted the Living Well podcast for Morneau Shepell. Henick has served on the board of directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and was the president of a provincial division of the Canadian Mental Health Association — the youngest person in either role. He has worked as a frontline clinician, a program manager and the national director of strategic initiatives for CMHA. Currently the CEO and principal strategist for Strategic Mental Health Consulting, Mark Henick is in high demand as an international keynote speaker on mental health recovery.
So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience Publisher: HarperCollins Release Date: January 12, 2021 ISBN-10: 1443455032 ISBN-13: 978-1443455039 Available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Audible and others
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com
Why Buddha Never Had Alzheimer’s: The Answer Can Be Found In Med-itation, Yoga And Music
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There are currently 5.8 million people in the U.S. today suffering from Alzheimer’s – a number that is expected to double by the middle of the century. Is it possible to stop or slow down this disease? Award-winning physician, scientist and author, Dr. Shuvendu Sen, says “Yes! It can be reversed, and even stopped altogether.” Dr. Sen shares expert advice and discusses the success being achieved through yoga, meditation and dancing/music therapy in Why Buddha Never Had Alzheimer’s: A Holistic Treatment Approach through Meditation, Yoga and the Arts.
As the population of Americans with this disease continues to increase, so does the burden of caring for them. The cost of Alzheimer’s is staggering! This year alone, the cost for healthcare, long-term care and hospice services for those age 65 and older with dementia are estimated to be around $305 billion. Researchers in top institutions around the country indicate that the contributing factors to the disease (stress/hypertension) can be improved with holistic approaches, such as yoga, meditation, music and virtual reality therapy. We need an innovative breakthrough in order to make a difference; Why Buddha Never Had Alzheimer’s is the guide that can help make these necessary, far-reaching changes in medical care.
“How can meditation and yoga stop or even reverse Alzheimer’s?” he asks. “They set the mind on an inward journey, built on a novel microenvironment where stress and its damaging inflict are permanently thwarted. This bridging of the old and new creates an imperative paradigm shift in our perspective toward managing this disease.”
Listed in the US Top Physician’s list, Dr. Sen is the author of the bestselling book, A Doctor’s Diary, and is the recipient of the Nautilus Book Award, Men of Distinction Award from the New York State Senate, the Oscar Edwards Award from the American College of Physicians, and has been thrice nominated for the Pushcart Award for his columns and other works of fiction.
He has been an invited speaker to address United Nations officials, the New Jersey Senate, the Indian Consulate in New York, the World Book Fair, City University of New York, Harvard University and World Parliament of Religions. He has also been featured on many major television and radio stations.
Why Buddha Never Had Alzheimer’s: A Holistic Treatment Approach through Meditation, Yoga and the Arts HCI Publishers Also translated into French by the prestigious Hachette Foundation ISBN-10: 0757319947 ISBN-13: 978-0757319945 Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Trish Stevens Teresa Hinojosa Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 832.569.5773 Direct 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax [email protected] ascotmedia.com
Cook Delicious, Healthy Food That Actually Makes You Feel Better With The Recipes In My Pinewood Kitchen
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Mee McCormick understands only too well the importance of healthy food, having watched her single mother suffer with a host of debilitating auto-immune diseases, some of which she inherited, that led her to make the decision in her mid-twenties to change her own fate. Today, chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert who healed herself of Crohn’s disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her.
Offering microbiome-friendly meals with a Southern spin, My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure, is a follow-up cookbook to her wildly successful, life-enhancing My Kitchen Cure. Mee is living proof that you can change your fate by what’s on your plate and her recipes will help heal your gut and fight a host of autoimmune diseases. With over 130 mouthwatering, whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, it truly is an “all-inclusive” eating plan for everyone in the family.
From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe in the book is gluten-free and gut-friendly. Mee has since forged the way for a new kind of hospitality: a fully-inclusive table where everyone can eat delicious Southern comfort classics without sacrificing taste, regardless of even the most severe food allergies or dietary restrictions – all while stressing the importance of intestinal health and how to improve your own gut microbiome. Her book shows us which foods are nutritional powerhouses and which ones we must avoid, and how to eat real food every day without breaking the bank.
Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County; home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile – that is unique in that every meal is created with the intention to serve everyone with the same deliciousness, regardless of dietary restrictions. In fact, some members of the community drive hours to get a taste of her farm-to-table cuisine and her mouthwatering Pinewood’s Grain-Free Fried Chicken!
Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook, My Pinewood Kitchen, published in April 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. 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 By Mee McCormick HCI BOOKS / $26.95 ISBN: 9780757323522 Available wherever books are sold
Trish Stevens Sophie Carter Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone 800.854.2207 Fax
Both Feet on the Ground Shares Profoundly Therapeutic Benefits Of Immersion In The Natural World
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You’re stressed out, tired of looking at the same four walls, drained by the negativity on social media, and exhausted from juggling work with homeschooling and entertaining your kids. No matter your age, location, or financial standing, there is a simple, effective therapy that is abundantly available, and it’s right outside your door.
“Get out and stay out—as often and for as long as you can,” champions Marshall Ulrich in his latest release, Both Feet on the Ground: Reflections from the Outside.
Ulrich, an ultrarunner who has also scaled the Seven Summits and competed in multi-day adventure races, shares stories of his expeditions in such far-flung places as Borneo, Tibet, and South Africa, as well as his lifelong commitment to farming his land in Colorado. Ulrich has climbed Mount Everest, run through the searing heat of the Gobi Desert, and ridden the huge waves off Morocco. But there’s no need to be an extreme athlete to reap the benefits of forming physical connections with the natural world.
Ulrich urges readers to simply unplug, plant their feet firmly in the earth, fill their lungs with clean air, and dream of bold and personally compelling outdoor adventures.
“Your adventures in natural places—even if, for now, it’s just sitting outside or walking around your neighborhood—can put you back in touch with who you are; how resilient, resourceful and hardy you can be,” Ulrich says.
Throughout Both Feet on the Ground, Ulrich shares valuable insights from his endeavors, along with useful findings and recommendations from other experts, all organized around themes of earth, air, fire and water. His hope is that you’ll be inspired to find new ways of engaging with these natural elements yourself to experience the healing powers of the outside world.
Author Marshall Ulrich is an extreme endurance athlete—ultrarunning icon, Seven Summits mountaineer, and adventure racer—who loves sharing his exploits to entertain and help mo-tivate others to reach their goals. He’s raced, led expeditions, or climbed mountains in nearly 30 countries, and visited 30 more, so his stories are about more than just physical accom-plishments. Cutting his teeth running across Death Valley, he’s also climbed Mount Everest, run in the jungles of Fiji, and completed a record-setting run across America. Dubbed the Endurance King, he defies the ideas of “too far,” “too old” and “not possible.” Revered among athletes, Marshall is also the author of Running on Empty. An acclaimed speaker, he’s lec-tured on various elite cruise lines, and given talks at businesses, schools, race expos, and professional conferences, including the Royal Geographic Society, Morgan Stanley, and Wilderness Medicine.
Both Feet on the Ground: Reflections from the Outside Publisher: DNA Books Released: 2019 ISBN: 978-1-950349-02-9 hardcover ISBN: 978-1-950349-04-3 paperback Available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.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
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
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 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
