Books (January 2008)

Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming,  NY: Viking/ Penguin 2007.

Paul Hawken has a wonderful gift of pattern recognition that enables him to draw from diverse sources and sew together a patchwork of information that is compelling in its message: We must work together if life on this planet as we know it today is going to survive the threats of devaluation of individual life, depleted resources, pollution and global heating. (Heating is my term. I feel that ‘warming’ is an unacceptable euphemism!)

What is most appealing to me after the excellent summary of facts and issues is Hawken’s positive spin on the situation.

When asked at colleges if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t have the correct data. If you meet the people in this unnamed movement and aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a heart. What I see are ordinary and some not-so-ordinary individuals willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in an attempt to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. (p. 4)
(See more in IJHC, January 2008)

Maggie Phillips. Reversing Chronic Pain: A 10-point all-natural plan for lasting relief, Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books 2007.  228 pp.  Refs. 4 pp  Notes 15 pp. $17.95

Maggie Phillips has gathered an excellent assortment of methods for dealing with pain. These include breathing exercises; sorting out feelings about pain; relaxation; imagery; mindfulness; bioenergy approaches; movement; pendulating (alternating between constriction and expansion); love; and building on success. Each section has discussions, case examples, helpful exercises, notes and references.

(See more in IJHC, January 2008)