Sleep Disorders Books

Great book for getting tips to help you toddler sleep plus other helpful tips about potty training and so forth. I would suggest getting the first book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Infants" before reading this book.

Thank goodness that a real life mom, who has a tremendous educational background finally wrote a book that a mom of 2 children under the age of 2 can relate too. With both of my children they were sleeping through the night by 7 weeks and we only deal with a few night wakenings a week. One piece of advice, some toddlers do remember everyday what the sleep fairy brings them. But if this is the hardest issue that we have to deal with during our sleep then I think we are doing great. Thank you Mrs. Pantley for realizing that you had such valuable insight as a mother to clearly and consising put into words how to help our children sleep. BZ of AL a mom of 2 precious sleeping angels. Thanks for your help!

I cannot give this book a high enough review. If you want a gentle (albeit slow and steady) approach to encouraging your child to sleep through the night this is the book for you. Many of the ideas Elizabeth Pantley describes in the book I have implemented for my 18 month old daughter and they have all worked beautifully. She was a nighttime nurser and cosleeper. She still sleeps in my bed but we no longer nurse at night. I am getting the sleep I need and it was done without any tears! I love the author's gentle philosophy, this book has been a true blessing to my family and I highly recommend it!

Quoting reviewer Oleanna, 'Forty-four volunteer test families around the world, of varied configurations, read her (Pantley's) initial manuscript and followed Pantley's directions, reporting back to let her "peek into their naptime and bedtime routines, problems and successes," and 245 families completed extensive sleep surveys.'

I was one of the *lucky* families that completed that extensive sleep survey--and it was indeed *very* involved--but what a wonderful opportunity to 'help' other parents! The survey recorded more than *just* sleep issues, and it's my understanding that parents from myriad parenting styles were surveyed. So, the book is a collection of differences delivered in a cohesive, concise manner.

Ms. Pantley is thorough, professional and incredibly friendly. I feel honored that my son, daughter, husband and I were a part of her 'data.' I cherish this book, not just because we were a minuscule part of her database, but because the information within the book is solid.

Thanks Ms. Pantley!
Cheers!

I can remember not that long ago sitting in my daughter's room in the middle of the night thinking I must be the only mum in the world whose baby didn't sleep. I was lucky to get three hours sleep on any given night, and never three hours in a row. But thanks to Elizabeth Pantley and her book "the no-cry sleep solution for toddlers and preschoolers" my little girl Milla has gone from a baby who breastfed 10 times a night to a gorgeous 18-month-old who sleeps between seven and ten hours straight!
Apart from being exhausted when Milla wasn't sleeping, I was miserable because of all the pressure being put on me to "do controlled crying" from extended family. One even said I was a "bad mother" for getting up at night for my girl and not teaching her to sleep by letting her "cry it out " for hours on end. Everything in my heart said controlled crying wasn't right for my Milla. She was a sensitive, gentle and caring girl who was very attached to her mummy. I loved my little girl too much to hear her cry because her mama wasn't there when she needed her.
After applying Pantley's gentle and practical tips, Milla is now sleeping peacefully - and knows that I am there for her when she needs me. I treasure every second with my little girl and am so glad I never abandoned her to cry. We have such a close and beautiful relationship. I feel like the luckiest mum in the world.
The first key point I learned from Pantley was that as long as Milla and I were getting enough sleep and we were happy - then we didn't have a problem - regardless of what anyone else thought. Milla now wakes once a night, between 5 and 6, and I give her early morning cuddles till get-up time. Controlled crying experts told me NEVER to cuddle my daughter back to sleep. I'm glad I ignored them because I treasure those mornings when I hold Milla in my arms and feel her soft breathing beside me. This is not a problem for us and a lovely start to our day.
Pantley's eight bedtime tips seemed rather simple and obvious at first - but once I put them into practice they actually worked. Milla no longer has a night light, has a long and quiet bedtime routine at the same time every night, no tv is allowed when Milla is in the room, she is now going to bed when her biological clock says is the right time for Milla (not what experts say) and while my husband calls me a "sleep Nazi", it works! And for those with sleep-log phobias, I still keep a meticulous sleep diary. It helps me notice subtle changes in Milla's sleep patterns as she grows older and her sleep needs change.
The final chapter in Pantley's book - Adult Sleep: Now It's Your Turn - was also a life saver. When Milla finally started sleeping well, I would lie awake for hours at night waiting for her to wake. I always tended to be a bit of an insomniac, and her tips for babies have actually also helped me!
I would strongly recommend this book to any mum who needs sleep and can't find it in her heart to do controlled crying. Pantley's approach might take a bit longer than controlled crying (though even controlled crying isn't guaranteed to fix sleep problems quickly and for life) but considering babies and toddlers grow up so quickly, it is worth the investment. My little girl goes to sleep with a sweet smile on her face, not tears!
Tanya from Australia.

This book is a great book on the history of prions. Max easily illustrates how prions are connected to other important diseases such as alzheimers and diabetes. He flawlessly goes from past to present, connecting the two times with the venetian family who has a defective prion gene. It is really amazing that prions don't affect more people. It is also a wake up call for the beef industry in America.

This is a fascinating medical 'thriller', only it's real! it was nearly impossible to stop listening to it and i think anyone who likes medical thrillers or anything related to the medical field, would love this.
The book focuses on prions and their role in disease, especially 'mad cow disease'.

This is a very scary book. The Family that Couldn't Sleep by D. T. Maxd was a very thought provoking study of some of the neurodegenerative diseases that have eluded our understanding. Most of those that the author mentions are truly horrific to the individual who suffers them and to their families. I started my nursing practice on a neurology ward where I encountered many of the maladies the author describes. What was particularly disturbing to me was that years later many of these insidious diseases are as little understood as they were when I first encountered them. The sufferer of ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease" after the baseball player who died from it--still finds medical science unable to offer much more than they did when it was first described. Huntington's Disease still devastates families that carry the genetic misprint. While the treatment of myasthenia gravis has progressed to some degree, that of Alzheimer's disease (the old organic brain syndrome or pre-senile dementia) and Creutzfeld-Jacab Disease (formerly referred to as Jacob-Creutzfeld's) are still in their infancy. The similarity between the latter disorder and Kuru has been known for years, but understanding and treatment elude us. According to the author, even the prion concept has its detractors. If nothing else the author was certainly able to capture the devastation that such disorders cause their sufferers and their families. In my early practice I met a man who came in with mild neurological symptoms; he received a diagnosis of Huntington's, and within months he became a changed person because of the unrelenting course of his disease. He ultimately ended up in a nursing home, more or less "insane." Worse yet was the fact that both of his children had a 50-50 chance of having the disorder or of passing the disposition on to their own children. The heartbreak of his wife in witnessing his decline and than recognizing the symptoms anew in her son was awful.

By bringing these disorders and the agonies of the sufferers to public attention Max may well spur more intensive research into these many disorders. And it's about time.

This book does a lot to clear up the story of prions, what they are, what they do, how their threat is real. The Italian family who gives the story its title is but one instance of prions affecting human and animal life. The research is impeccable, and particularly interesting is the process by which medical and veterinary sciences came together to begin unraveling the prion mystery. Because, to be accurate, documentation on how livestock has been affected by prion disease had been, until recently, far more complete and detailed than human prion disease.

The author tells the story unemotionally, which is good, but the reading is far from arid or too technical. The human factor -- how scientists competed for the credit, sometimes damaging other professionals' reputations and careers -- makes it even more interesting. All this makes "The Family That Couldn't Sleep" a fundamental work for anyone who wants to understand these proteins better, and also for people curious about the inner workings of scientific research.

You may find yourself staying up all night to finish this fascinating book. Just be glad you don't share the wrong genes with the family of the title.

This account of prion-based spongiform encephelopathic diseases covers a lot of ground: the Italian family of the title suffering from FFI (fatal familial insomnia), the mysterious epidemic of kuru among the Fore tribe of New Guinea, eventually linked to the practice of eating their dead ancestors' brains, the rare genetically transmitted Creuzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), various animal spongiform encephelopathies, from scrapie in sheep to mad cow disease to chronic wasting disease in deer. All of these diseases share a common feature - they are transmitted by an infectious agent of a kind thought until recently by scientists to be impossible, and the incubation time from infection to manifestation of disease symptoms is remarkably long. The culprits are *prions*, which are a type of rogue protein. The idea that a protein could act as an infectious agent flew completely in the face of scientific received wisdom to date when first introduced and the science underlying this class of degenerative brain diseases is both complex and controversial.

The author's exposition is clear, but ultimately I think he does not do complete justice to the material (which is really fascinating). It may be that his scope is too ambitious - with so much ground to cover, the exposition occasionally lapses into sketchiness. To be fair, there can be no single "right" level of detail that would suit all readers, and D.T. Max generally shows good judgement about what to include to keep the exposition intelligible while moving his story along.

That said, the material related to kuru, cannibalism among the Fore, and the linkage to scrapie, CJD, and mad cow disease has already been presented in the 1998 book by Richard Rhodes, "Deadly Feasts: Tracking The Secrets Of A Terrifying New Plague". I preferred the Rhodes account - his exposition of the science was clearer, and I thought he told a better, tighter story.

However, there's not that much to choose between the two, and Max's book does have the extra material about FFI, which is interesting in its own right. Max does make one misjudgement, in my opinion, which is to include an account of his own illness (he has been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease which, although it is a neurodegenerative muscular disorder, is neither prion-related nor an amyloid plaque disease). Inclusion of this essentially irrelevant material is a distraction, which just muddies the exposition.

One final criticism is that Max includes an unquestioning discussion of putative geographical "clusters" of CJD cases, based solely on their identification by patients' family members, whom he refers to as "Creutzfeldt Jakobins" (a hideous, tin-ear coinage, which he seems to think is clever). These so-called clusters are almost certainly spurious, based on an incorrect application of the relevant probability models and Max's failure to identify the error detracts from his objectivity as a science writer and contributes to a presentation of disease spread scenarios which are unduly alarmist. The discussion of possible treatment options in the final chapter also struck me as weak, an over-interpretation of what are essentially just anecdotal data. One sees this kind of over-interpretation all the time in the popular press, but I would have expected better from a science writer as experienced as D.T. Max.

However, these are minor criticisms of this well-written account of a fascinating subject.

WOW, finally a book that works and makes sense.
Well writen and easy to follow and the exercises work almost instantly. I am not even finished reading it and it has already done wonders for me. No more expensive sleeping pills for me. If you can only sleep 3 or 4 days a week like I do you need this book ASAP.

I found that the excercise techniques are helpful in relaxing my muscle and helps me to fall asleep.
I got my book in a week, I paid regular shipping. The packaging is excellent and the book was in good shape when I got it.

This book is incredible! I was beginning to think that sleeping poorly was a result of getting older(I am in my 30s). Now I know that you can learn to be a good sleeper just like you learn other things! Read it and enjoy.

I first came across this book at 3 am on another insomnia night and was impatient for a solution. I didn't want any more pills that made me feel drugged the next day. I didn't want any more useless sleep hygiene advice, which worked intermittently. I also didn't want to pay $2,000 for a sleep study that would tell me I needed more pills and better sleep hygiene! Having suffered from insomnia for eight years, I was ready for a real solution.

Two things caught my eye about this book. One, a large percentage of the reviewers were medical professionals who used the method in their practices. Two, the book suggested an approach that would actually relax the body and calm the mind, not drug it or try to control everything around it and hope it behaves. This was what I was looking for!

After trying the methods, I can confirm that they work spectacularly; however, I do have a word of caution on the methods. Follow the steps in the book as exactly as possible, and don't go on memory alone when first doing them. Doing them incorrectly--even slightly so--can give you poor results.

I purchased this book after reading the great reviews. It is wordy, poorly written, and gives the impression the author is just making up sleep advice. The medical credentials of the author and the souces are suspect as well (the author lists GCFP after his name...what is that?). If you think yoga may help you relax then this may be for you. If you are looking for a better written book from a scientific rather than spiritual perspective I would recommend "The Insomnia Answer".

Being the wife of a combat Marine I really learned alot from Doc's book. I read the book all the way through and this is a book that is alive. Our heroes sacrifice so much for us and if it wasn't for them we would not have our freedom. Doc, thank you for helping me understand more about PTSD and what y'all went through. I don't give this book a 5 star rating , I give it a 10 star rating.

I was to young to actually know the impact that this war had on our men and women. This book by Mr McFall gets right to his heart and his feelings. It is so powerful! I believe that this book should be used in many ways to help communicate the effects that war has on an individual. God bless our men and women who have served our great country!
Thank you Mr McFall and may God continue to bless you and your family!

A combat medic lives war at its worst, and remembers every terrified scream of it.

There are the memories of those who were treated and made it home; of those whose wounds were beyond treatment despite heroic efforts.

Those memories are as fresh today as the emotions were at the time of treatment; memories of soldiers and civilians gushing blood; memories of soldiers and civilians having body parts torn and cascading into all the wrong places.

For E. Everett McFall, there are the memories of jumbled body parts and attempts to put them together to form the remains of what were once men - individual men with loved ones, hopes, talents, and dreams that dripped into the red soil or into the floor of the jungle.

There are no fancy words here. His words are direct, his pain drips off the pages and into the heart of the reader.

McFall writes from the heart. He writes from a soul splintered and haunted by 365 days that have been lived over and over and over again for the last 40 years.

We measure war in terms of dollar costs; in counts of the dead; in counts of the wounded.
But we have yet to learn to measure war in terms of lives ruined by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We have yet to learn to measure the losses of those who love those who come home with PTSD.

We have yet to learn the true face of war. E. Ernest McFall provides the reader with a vivid and heart tearing word portrait of the hideous face of war; of the plague of PTSD; of the rending of soul by survivor's guilt and questions of why am I still here when so very many others are not.

Pfc Jay E. Keck contributes his poetry to I Can Still Hear Their Cries. May I ask you to direct your attention to the last lines of his Sand Soldiers and pay heed to his admonition, as there are all kinds, as he points out in another poem, all kinds of Bogeymen contributing to PTSD - even those who should have, and in truth did, know better.


I Can Still Hear Their Cries is a story of the long, long road home. It is a tale that will speak to other Veterans who suffer PTSD. It is a tale needed by those who love those with PTSD to help them understand.

McFall tells you, loud and clear, that drugs and alcohol only bury the pain deeper, rather than excavating it and getting help to go through it to healing.

McFall notes that he is still in the process of finding his way home. It is a long road.

But I Can Still Hear Their Cries may open your eyes to the possibility that there is, in fact, a road home for you too - should you choose to come up from the dark to the Light.

Take the first step - there are many, many around to help you - just reach out - someone is there waiting to walk point for you.

Mr. McFall uses a combination of stories and poems to pull the reader into the pain and turmoil of living with PTSD. This book is a MUST READ for veterans and their families and friends who struggle to understand the scars left from battle.

We have been told the Vietnam veterans' story many times before. We've seen it in the movies, in books, on TV, and on the corners of our streets. Yet, in an intimate way, in E. Everett McFall's book, `I Can Still Hear Their Cries, Even in My Sleep,' the inner struggle of the Vietnam Vet comes home yet again. This time the reflections come from within. Having read `Born on the Fourth of July,' and seen 'Platoon,' I feel that McFall properly takes us to a new dimension, focusing on the inner torment that won't shut off.

Consisting of reflections, resources, and nearly thirty poems, he focuses on the pride, bitterness, and fragility of his service as a US Marine Hospital Corpsman in The Vietnam War from 1966-67. Whether in prose or in poetry, he won't ever let us forget their sacrifices. Noting that some have forgotten the Vets of the War, the Vets of the War have taken it home with them and can't ever forget. In detail, sometimes graphic at others subdued, he shares images of the grim reality in battle that haunt him--and probably will haunt him until death.

The title is a bare-bones description of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD). In his introduction McFall concisely states that "It's an instant video play-back in my mind, with cranial surround sound." That playback is given a stark treatment in poems such as "Death Angel" and "Flashback". Whether drawing from elements of traditional poetry or relying on rap-like structure, the subject matter changes with the rhythm. In "Patrol on Ambush" and "The Ooorah Warrior" the repetition reflects the routine of a marine waiting for the next development in "combat hell." At other times the rhythm is more irregular to reflect the chaos and death that surround him. To round out his repertoire, "Heavenly Star" and "Brotherhood" add much needed hope to the experience.

But the main focus is on the indelible memories of trauma and death. "Tic Tic Tic" and "Undying Memories" are each aptly titled for their flashback resonance in waking moments that rush into consciousness. Flanking McFall's work are sample poems by fellow veteran Pfc. Jay E. Keck and anonymous poems (which is entirely appropriate given the unknown soldier element of every war). The guide ends with a short, poignant reflection and a resource guide for the veteran suffering from PTSD, including a handy guideline for filling out forms for VA claims.

Whether approached as a cathartic guide for fellow veterans or a route to vicarious appreciation from uninitiated civilians, 'I Can Still Hear Their Cries,...' is an essential portal to understanding the trauma of selfless veterans of a tragic War. Clearly by McFall's writings, the repercussions are still being fought today. If you were at the front lines of the War or at the front of the picket lines--or even too young to remember--Ernest McFall's little book will have a big impact on how you feel about those who served their country at such a fragile time in our history.

"Even if you do think you're getting the amount of sleep you should, you may wonder why you feel so tired and unrefreshed much of the time. This is not surprising. More than half the women surveyed in a recent National Sleep Foundation Women and Sleep Poll reported insomnia symptoms sometime during every month. Various studies and polls indicate that nearly 30 million American women claim they long every day for a good night's sleep." -Janet Kinosian, in The Well-Rested Woman - 60 Soothing Suggestions for Getting a Good Night's Sleep

For many women, a good night's sleep is a luxury. However, restful and deep sleep is an innate biological need. It's only in the deeper stages of sleep that the body releases growth hormones and regenerates, restores, and repairs organs and tissues.

With the demands of modern life, women often juggle work, family, and household-and are just plain exhausted. Beyond not getting enough shut-eye, there are very real sleep disorders that rob individuals of precious, rejuvenating sleep. Surprisingly, it was only until 1996 that the American Medical Association recognized sleep medicine as a secondary specialty. The real kicker is that until the early 1990's, women were often excluded from sleep studies because it was believed that their hormones would skew data. The result? Women don't have a whole lot of scientific history for help with sleep difficulties.

The good news is much of this is changing, with sleep researchers finally studying women's sleep cycles, as well as factors such as hormones, age, fertility, work, children, health, pain, etc.

The Well-Rested Woman - 60 Soothing Suggestions for Getting a Good Night's Sleep, author Janet Kinosian shares what she has learned about sleep-not as a medical doctor or a Ph.D., but as a female insomniac.

While Kinosian briefly discusses the stages of sleep and sleep disorders, as well as female-related issues like perimenopause, menopause, postpartum, and PMS, the bulk of this book is dedicated to practical ways to promote a good night's rest. And except for the first 30 pages, these welcome remedies are just as applicable to men.

This 212 page book is filled with tips on creating the right environment for sleep, de-stressing the mind, fine-tuning the body, soothing the soul, sleep hazards and more. Also included are an extensive resource section, listing books, music, organizations, and websites to help you on the journey to restful sleep.

Some of the great ideas you'll get from The Well Rested Woman:

*Accept Larks Versus Owls
*Keep A Sleep Log
*Know Your Sleep Positions
*Set Regular Wake-Up Calls
*Befriend Time
*Use Phototherapy
*Sleep Strategies For Shift Workers
*Silence Snoring Spouses

I'm the type of person that is not only a night owl, but also one that doesn't battle insomnia. (And for that, I am grateful.) Yet, I found a wealth of wonderfully simple ways that I can enhance my sleep, and feel more rested. Fellow insomniacs will bless Kinosian for sharing the results of her 15 year search for a good night's sleep, and those of us who are just plain busy and tired will benefit from the practical insights. A final note: this book isn't just for women! Men will also benefit from Kinosian's sage advice.

If we can't sleep well, we really don't function well.
Janets book is a must have if you or a close one is
having difficulty or can use some improvement with
her or his quality of sleep. This is simply a book
of sleep solutions. It kicks off with why we need
sleep & explains several types of sleep disorders.
You may be surprised to learn you should go see a
particular doctor & why. There's important
information for women on how your hormones &
reproductive system affect your sleep.
What follows it are 60 wonderful suggestions that
will help you to feel more alive as you will
be a more well rested woman(or man). Some of this
we already know but wish to be reminded of while many
other suggestions will seem more new to us.
There is also a helpful list on other sleep books,
a list of CD music choices for sleep , an organization
list with addresses, web addresses & phone
numbers for the AARP, Academy of Sleep Medicine,
Medical Women's Association, & many more.
If you wish to feel better,
well-rested, & more alive, then
"The Well-Rested Woman" is for you.
So remember, count your sheep.

I was recommended this little book by my physician and it has helped me learn how to get rid of all the bad habits I've developed that keep me from getting the good night's sleep-- the kind I used to have as a teenager. I've learned with this book, not only some unique and great anti-stress techniques, but also nutrition, good healthful sleep habits, and what hormones have to do with it all. A wonderful book to cure insomnia - or any type of sleep problem you may have as a woman. It's clear this lady has a hopeful, healthy life and perspective. A great read, too.

If you're a chronically under-rested and understlept woman, this is your book. I was given it by my mother, and it's been a godsend. It discusses just about every and anything that has to do with women, sleep, insomnia, and how to go about improving your sleep AND your life. Hormones, medications, herbs, alternative medicine, sleep diaries, exercise, foods, allergies, even fung shei and sleep positions are explained. Wonderful job. Very well written and a pleasure to read. It's got all the science you need but without question it's written by a (smart) woman and not an MD. The best book I've read on the subject and I've read far too many.

I just got this book, The Well-Rested Woman, for xmas and have finished it with a hopeful attitude. I'm certainly an un-well-rested woman and I found Janet Kinosian's efforts to be top-notch and excellent. I've read many books on insomnia to help with a chronic poor sleep life and this is the first to address me as a women from a woman's voice and point of view. She's obviously been there.

I haven't seen her chapters listed here so I suggest you take a look at the them - Creating the Right Environment[mattresses to feng shui]; Destressing the Mind [worry books, journals to sleep biographies]; Fine-Tuning the Body [hot baths to herbs and sleep positions]; Soothing the Soul [anger management; nightmares etc. MY FAV CHAP; Sleep Hazards [no-nos like sleeping pills and food allergies] and chps on accupunture, hypnosis, biofeedback and chiropractic.

Yep, she covers all the bases in a delightful read. Can't wait to get started on my first 6 suggestions. A useful Christmas present this year.

What a terrific and IMPORTANT book. I believe everyone should read this book. It contains fundamental information about sleep that everyone including adults can benefit from.

i got this book from the library because i saw it on a shelf right next to the checkout desk. my first thought was "well, of course, kids need more sleep and if they are tired they will misbehave." while i was reading the book, i kept having the same thought-- "this is all so obvious". i kept reading mostly because it affirmed my goals to not overschedule my son and stress him out and to avoid TV. but having read the book, i find i am constantly finding myself in real-life situations where i am enlightened by the writer's ideas. many times, even though in theory i am a huge sleep and nap advocate, i realize that my son's behavior is a function of lack of sleep. and i prob. wouldn't have naturally come to that conclusion. would recommend this book to all parents.

Unlike other books on childhood sleep, this one doesn't suggest that there is one solution. Mary Sheedy Kurcinka follows her other books on Spirited Children and power struggles up with an effective book about sleep whose topics are appropriate for kids and adults of all ages. I'm reading it after I had an infant so I skipped the section on infant sleep.

This is a book worth checking out for ways to analyze what's going on in your daily life and how to make changes so that everyones sleep and mood improves. It isn't a simple solution as in if you follow x, y and z then your child will instantly sleep as much as you want them to.

I love this book. Although this is not nessesarily a "solutions based" book, what it will give you is some key information on a wide array of sleeping issues, and will help you to find a way to deal with your children based on your family's particular needs. I found it very conforting to know that yes, some kids do have a hard time regulating themselves in terms of sleeping patterns (and why), it made me feel releived to know that it is not all me and my lack of being able to get my kids into a routine and keep them in it. We all know that some kids are wired differently, but this actualy explains why and this understanding helps us to parent them more effectively. The author succeded in creating a well written book that is not only informative but enjoyable to read, using great analogies throughout.

Finally, a book about getting your child to sleep that offers realistic solutions to very common problems. Kurcinka's style is so conversational and so practical, you almost feel as if you're taking one of her parenting workshops. She doesn't blame or scold... simply put, she gets you to figure out what's important to your family, and then how to go about getting it. It's been almost a week since I reinstituted nap time for my almost 3-year-old (who'd given up naps a long time ago) and already she is sleeping much better at night. This from a child who visibly stiffens at the very mention of "nap" or "sleep" of any kind. I highly recommend this valuable book.

Many books have been written over the years attempting to tell people how to improve their lives. They usually involve living on a certain amount of money per week or month. This book was first published in 1908, and was a major bestseller. It could be considered the first self-help book, and it takes a different approach, looking at time instead of money.

Time is a very funny thing; everyone gets the same amount per day. Rich people do not get more than poor people. It's not possible to go the store and buy time. Out of that 24 hours per day, everyone must carve out a life (marriage, family, work, hobbies, religion, etc).

This book was written in a time and place (England of the early 1900s) where everyone took the train to work. One of the author's suggestions is to use that time concentrating on one thing; it doesn't matter what it is. If your mind starts wandering, hook a leash to it and bring it back. I'm not sure how well this would work today, when everyone drives to work. You say you can't concentrate for very long? Having to give a big presentation at work, or final exams in school, does a wonderful job of focusing the mind.

Then comes the evening, after the reader has gotten home from work. If this book had been written today, the author might say that occasionally vegging out in front of the TV is not a bad thing, but don't be like the average American, who does it for several hours a day, every day. Take, say, two hours a night, three nights a week, for a total of six hours. Use that time to learn a subject about which the reader is passionate, a hobby or interest. The subject can be literally anything, from A to Z. If a big subject like history is chosen, it's allowable to narrow it down to, for instance, the French Revolution or the Vietnam War. If a subject like classical music is chosen, go to an occasional concert or try your hand at playing an instrument. Again, if this book was written today, the author might say to use the internet to research your topic, but stay away from the chat rooms. During your learning time (for lack of a better term), lay off the popular novels. The author has nothing against them, but the idea is to give your brain a workout; novels don't do that. Most of all, take your time. The worst thing a person can do is burnout.

This book is small, but mighty. It says a lot, and it's the sort of book that can be used by everyone, from one end of society to the other. Not enough time in the day? Not after reading this gem.

Though it was written 90 years ago, "How To Live" addresses the inadequacies, frustrations, disappointments of people today in all walks of life and it does so with humor and wisdom. A daily dose of "How To Live" is at least as nourishing for the brain and soul as a multi-vitamin for the body. Arnold Bennett created a classic of its kind, a self-help book that really helps.

This amazing little book talks about some of the most important aspects of a full existence: the awareness of the passing time and methods of utilizing it to one's unique advantage. It lays out a structure to a possible way of filling one's time, and points to the obstacles and dangers lying in this execution.

The author's style is extremely honest and clear. Although it is an old book and some examples may not apply to you, the core of the approach definitely applies to every individual living in the present day.

So take this book, read it, reflect on what it says, try out its suggestions, then I guarantee you that you will have a fuller/happier life. What more can one expect from any book, let alone a small one such as this?

P.S.: I also suggest "The human machine" by A. Bennett, if you like this one.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution first in England and then quickly following in America, more and more of the workforce transitioned into what we call white-collar jobs, where the workplace was outside and often far from the home. Because these new jobs more reflected our modern 21st-century jobs, in which the work was tedious, repetitive and the ambiguous results not always readily apparent (as compared to building carriages, homes, and other work in which the fruits of our labor are real and immediately visible), it was harder for workers to take the kind of craftsman pride and ownership in their work as their fathers and grandfathers might have in older trades that were phased out or in the process. Mr. Bennett writes to this new class of salarymen, who are alive and well today and joined by their sisters, mothers and wives. He assumes that MOST employees cannot take much joy in work that is allotted to them during their eight hours of work per day (as opposed to owners who take joy in their work not necessarily because the work engages them, but because they know the profits flow directly into their bank accounts; good motivating force).

I agree with him that most people cannot become truly (internally as opposed to portraying enthusiasm for promotion) enthusiastic when it comes to mundane, repetitive tasks that are characteristic of clerical and accounting-type jobs. Humans were not meant to be computers, and it shows in their passive resistance to such tasks, regardless of the what economy demands. Where I disagree is that one cannot approach ones job like a craftsman to some degree. You may not like the job you do or look forward to going to the office everyday, but you can try to take pride in doing a good job in whatever you do, as even banal tasks are the foundation for forming character that will come to bear in later more monumental tasks that you DO care about (I will mention William George Jordan later). I also disagree in that, one can FIND a job that has meaning, even if it doesn't pay much. My wife is a social worker, and she approaches menial clerical tasks knowing that they are essential to the welfare of her clients, and that little mistakes can sometimes cause a lot of harm. A person CAN find meaningful work, if they are willing to take a big pay cut and restructure their lives. Those aside, all of his advice and opinions rest on sound, tested wisdom.

The book argues that, while you may have no control over the eight of so hours you are chained to the office desk, you DO have control over the other 16. He argues for a program of self-improvement as a means of achieving happiness, and then goes about the details of how you can squeeze 90 minutes at least three times a week for active self-improvement activities to wake you up to the splendor and vibrancy of life, rather than living like a zombie before and after work time, which is the state at which most TV-addicted Americans are at today. Being a salaryman in Tokyo, where almost everyone rides the trains to and from work and where my own commute takes the roughly 50 minutes he projected, I found the parallels with my own life to be frighteningly close. His main point here is not that everyone should ride trains to use their time more efficiently, even though riding trains DOES free up time for the reading and philosophic reflection he recommends. It is that you should be much more aware of the little time wasters in your life and try to use your spare, limited minutes for activities that will improve your spiritual station in life.

I was not surprised that he recommended reading such Stoics as Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, for two reasons. First, any philosophy of self-improvement or self-help that rests on ageless, tested wisdom of the past will give central importance to willpower and reason. Aristotle and his descendants the Stoics were some of the first to write about overcoming obstacles in life using reason and the power of our own wills. Bennett even write in his book how others may promise you techniques that will make hard work easier, but he rightly and harshly reproaches the reader for their foolishness in thinking that any hard task can be anything but hard. Realizing that self-improvement is hard, and that there are no short-cuts, is the most important point a person can embrace who is on the verge of beginning such an endeavor. The Stoics also realized that self-perfection was nothing but a long, hard road of constant self-checking, self-doubt and brutal honesty about oneself. That is one reason why the mention of such Stoics is not surprising. The second reason I was not surprised was that the Stoics made something of a comeback around this time. The influence is evident in similar self-improvement works of the Industrial Revolution by Samuel Smiles (Self-help (1859), Character (1871), Thrift (1875), Duty (1880)) and William George Jordan (The Majesty of Calmness (1900), The Kingship of Self Control (?), etc.). None of these works sugar-coats self-improvement like authors do now. All state clearly that there are no easy routes to improving oneself, and that self-improvement and improvement of character is a lifelong process until our dying breathe. I have read many self-help books, but have abandoned modern ones for these older ones for many reasons, the above being just one.

Authors at this time realized that life was a struggle, any way you looked at it, with little rest stops up the mountain to pause briefly and enjoy some of the fruits of our hardships. In that sense, their philosophy and style of writing is far more reflective of real life than all of the wishy-washy New Agey self-help bores that stock the shelves today. None of them, including Covey and similar business authors have absolutely NOTHING new to say that hasn't been covered by these men or later men like Carnegie and Napoleon Hill (commissioned by Carnegie to research and write his books). And in fact, theirs is a watered down version of these past authors, with none of the grit to get you through hard times. These past authors integrated Stoic ideas into their work, because only a Stoic, resilient mindset could brace against the many dramatic changes in society at the times due to industrialization and all the wars magnified by the technical revolution and trials people experienced during those times. Is it no wonder that modern readers addicted to self-help books continue to read through the whole stack still unfulfilled and still no closer to where they want to be in life?

I therefore recommend this book, as well as those by the authors I mentioned above. Things could get a little bumpy for Americans in the 21st century. All of the pampered, upper-middle-class self-help philosophies will be trampled underneath when the $%%#$ hits the fan and the whole materially-abundant superstructure that sustains the disappearing middle-class lifestyle collapses. In hard times, only philosophies embraced by those who have seen dark, trying times can be relied on. The Stoics, and their 19th-century revisitors (the guys above) will be a strong pillar to brace against.

Rare is the book that stands the test of time. Rarer still is the book that can be read multiple times and still be engaging. This is decidedly one of those books. Each time I pull it off the shelf, I find once again how current it is, how useful, and also entertaining. Bennett is a pleasure to read and very insightful. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. You can find a short write-up on this and other related books of his online at Wikipedia.

This book is a wonderful companion. It reads like a conversation, instead of an esoteric medical piece. It contained numerous tips and helped me to understand why I was having trouble sleeping, and how simple it is to improve my sleep quality. A great item for anyone seeking expert advice without the fluff.

Kudos to Nikos Linardakis for his terrific book, Ten Natural Ways to a Good Night's Sleep. Nikos has provided readers with easy and accessible ways to get a good night's sleep. In our hectic 24/7 lives, sleep is all the more essential to our well-being.

Like Nikos, I am on a quest to raise awareness about the importance of sleep. Borm of personal experience, I wrote "My Daddy Snores" (Scholastic Inc.) I wish all readers restful sleep and sweet dreams! My Daddy Snores

I am a physician and have dealt with sleep issues in perhaps thousands of people in my career. As knowledgeable as I am about sleep and associated disorders I must admit I learned a great deal more about this subject from this book than any other reference material. It is a wealth of interesting and very practical information.
The book is well put together, an easy read, and for an information book it reads like a novel, you can't put it down. It is a quick read and I heartily recommend it for EVERY single person in the world.....it is that good!

This was a great book. It was so informative and easy to read. The author is providing a great service for so many people who need help sleeping.

I thought this was a terrific book. For all of those baby boomers who now find themselves going through menopause, work stresses, changing circadian rhythms, this is the book for you. It is so tempting just to pop sleeping pills but reading Dr. Linardakis' book gives a number of never published suggestions that should be required reading for those insomniacs looking for a natural solution.

I have been evaluating many books and curriculums designed to teach relaxation and stress management to children.
what struck me most about the Children's Awareness Curriculum is how user friendly it is! I had everything I needed to set up an instant classroom!

The books and CD make it easy and the flags bring an instant focal point. I also purchased the Yoga Mudra and Chakra posters for an added classroom feel.
Each lesson is laid out from the minute you greet the children to the minute they leave. No guessing or filling in those awkward moments.

Lori Lite has really managed to make these complex concepts EASY to TEACH!
Higly recommended for anyone with or without teaching experience and with or without relaxation experience.

As a stress consultant I work with children in a one on one session based environment. I have always dreamed of teaching children in a group format. This curriculum enabled me to create such a group. There are so many benefits in having the children together to support each other and create a fun interactive environment. I opened the curriculum and was ready to go. I love how it in includes everything I needed (except crayons) to immediately teach a class. The "Indigo Dreams" CD demonstrates how to use the actual stress management techniques
in the lessons.

The kids LOVED it!

If you have always wanted to teach children but didn't know how to get started I highly recommend this curriculum. It is so user friendly that even if you have never taught before you will be able to!

I just had the opportunity to observe my child's class while his teacher followed a lesson from "The Children's Awareness Curriculum".
The lesson helped the teacher to look like an expert in stress management. The kids immediately followed along singing and stamping their stress away! They loved the activity and enjoyed the actual relaxation exercises just as much. I am thankful that my child is being taught these life transforming techniques in such an upbeat, fun format. My son attends a Montessori school but I think this curriculum should be in every elementary school.

At home we are using the Indigo Dreams and Indigo Ocean Dreams CD audio book so that we remember to use the techniques at home.

I purchased this program with GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) funds from my district last year to be used with 12-14 year olds and the students really loved the CD for relaxation and even the children's stories. Many gifted and Indigo children get very anxious about feeling the need to be perfectionistic and this program enables them to relax and focus with more clarity when they use their imagination or take a test. I highly recommend it, even for teenagers!

As a Montessori directress, I have employed the Children's Awareness Curriculum in my classroom for more than a year. With each story, meditation, relaxation lesson and activity, the children's enjoyment levels and interest continue expanding on a consistent basis. Lori Lite's ideas have been a wonderful catalyst to a Peace curriculum that is building with each happy request by the children to do more of the activities. This foundation has led us to Yoga, self-affirming games, and cooperative play that exceeds not only my original intention in offering it to the children, but has made an impression and a significant impact on the way the children approach most new challenges posed to them. It is a terrific place to start!

I heard an interview with the author of this book on the radio and immediately ordered it from Amazon. What caught my attention was his way of placing the problem of insomnia into a much wider context, even changing the way I thought about sleep in the short time of the interview. What intrigued me was that he compared the sleep/wake, day/night cycle to the classic Chinese Yin/Yang symbol, which has, in addition to the black/white shapes, a dot of white in the black shape, and a dot of black in the white shape. In pre-industrial times, when people slept and woke up in a more natural rhythm, there was a little piece of the night in the day - the afternoon nap or siesta. But most interesting, something I had never heard of before, was the little piece of day in the night - what was called the Watches, or the Night Watch. People would wake up in the middle of the night quite naturally for a few hours, and this was a time for meditation, prayer, and love-making. This natural rhythm of sleeping and waking at night was actually confirmed in a sleep study which demonstrated that when left to themselves, people have a first sleep of three to four hours, then a period of wakefulness, followed by a refreshing second sleep also three to four hours.

The book changed the way I ask questions about sleep - not, why can't I get to sleep, but also, do I really wake up fully, or am I in what the author calls a "daze," a state of artificial waking? How do I view sleep, is it part of the sacred and mysterious night or is it only taking the body off-line for required maintenance in order to assure its daytime productivity? He shows how the drive to be productive produces a mechanistic view of the body and robs the soul.

There is so much more in this book, and I recommend it highly to anyone who has trouble sleeping, but also to anyone who sleeps well. Because it is not so much about sleep as a biological necessity as it is about sleep as an inseparable aspect of the mystery of night and day.

Reading "Healing Night" was a blessed experience. Dr. Naiman's artful and sentimental writing style beguiles readers while they absorb vast amounts of technical science and advanced spirituality vital to their well-being.

Dr. Naiman is conversational, but scholarly. Poetic...yet prosaic. His strong, human, caring, and qualified voice effectively ushers readers into the life-threatening plight of our sleepless and dreamless world.

Throughout "Healing Night", Dr. Naiman gently weaves his ever important message of developing and maintaining healthy sleeping, dreaming, and waking patterns with personalized anecdotal threads. The results are a seemingly effortless and beautiful tapestry of the psychology, physiology, and spirituality necessary for readers to understand and overcome our cultural and sociological addiction to artificial light, sleeping pills and waking "aids".

"Healing Night" is a rare, masterful recipe for nursing our parched, exhausted, ignored, and overstimulated souls back to health. If you are serious about improving your relationship with sleep...or with yourself, "Healing Night" is the most comprehensive medical and spiritual manual that I have ever come across.

For anyone who is seeking comfort and a sense of renewal through sleep, as well as direction and insight through dreams, "Healing Night: the Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening" is a must-read. Written from the knowledgeable perspective of a psychologist who effectively combines important and equal measures of spirituality, psychology and science along with a touch of mythology, the book offers a myriad of information on a subject too many of us take for granted. The author guides the reader on approaching dreams from an individualized, and therefore more personally meaningful, level while identifying and appreciating the often overlooked spiritual component of dreaming. Dr. Naiman also presents a balanced overview of our circadian rhythms and how modern life has tampered with this delicate mechanism, adversely affecting our ability to maintain optimal mental and physical equilibrium. By increasing our awareness of subtle cues and restructuring our night time rituals, we can learn how to restore this balance without resorting to unnatural pharmacological assistance. As a society focused on doing, being and obtaining more we've devalued the importance of sleep and rest in the overall quality of our lives. "Healing Night" effectively reminds us how to restore and appreciate the value of this necessary - and healing - process.

Healing Night offers practical ways to combat sleep disorders. Dr. Naiman eschews approved FDA pharmaceutical sleep aids in favor of a natural approach. Some of the suggestions include using meditation and exercise to reduce stress levels. A must read self help book for anyone who has anxiety and insomnia. I rate it 5 Z's.

Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening, authored by sleep and dream medicine specialist Rubin R. Naiman (Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona's Program in Integrative Medicine), provides the reader with theoretical, historical, and psychological understandings of dreams, including a multitude of strategies and innovative ideas for assisting, conditioning, treating or growing beyond sleep disorders. Introducing readers to diverse conceptual explorations of dreaming and dream sciences drawn from a variety of perceptive interpretations and over twenty-five years of medical dream-oriented experience, Professor Naiman enables the reader to arrive at a concise and highly acute understanding of dreams in spiritual, scientific, and medical ideologies. Healing Night is very strongly recommended for readers suffering from sleep disorders, as well as students of the dream-sciences and psychology, and those searching for tools to evaluate dream interpretation utilizing perspectives from philosophical, literary, mythological, and modern psychological sciences.