Anne's Best Book Recommendations
My clients sometimes want to read about the work we are doing, but we all love to read about ourselves through the lens' and rich experiences of others.
There are direct 'correlationships' between each title and the work towards personal freedom and understanding. Stories and accounts of those that have looked deeply at nature and their relationships with it; research into the way we work, and thrive. I have read or am reading each title, and will endeavour to keep this list fresh.
Immerse!
The Psychology of Human Dignity (Ad Dekkers)
A merging of the links between psychotherapy and life experiences, body processes, and struggles. Many useful and practical understands in this text although it is intellectual and kind of heady...if you enjoy a conceptual flexion to your present capacity, this is one good read. For me, dignity is a critical soul quality that is often at the core of suffering.
Anne's thoughts...
Why We Sleep (Matthew Walker, PhD)
Matt Walker has a wonderful geeky way of breaking down, into coherent chapters the mechanisms of sleep and why it is REALLY important, how we cannot get back sleep missed, how finely attuned we are to the ebb and flow of light to our bodies, and the miraculous things that go on while we are out to it. I would assess that most of my clients suffer with chronic sleep deprivation, most of them don't even know they do, and this book offers a hefty resource to change how you embrace it and engage in it.
Anne's thoughts...
The Seven Life Processes (Philipp Gelitz & Almuth Strehlow)
Anthroposophical knowledge of human beings identifies and characterizes seven life processes that affect physical organ functions and life forces. A more detailed examination of these processes unlocks a deeper understanding of how living substances function and are effective within the human organism. This is text book that I return to frequently to support my clinical work. A rich and mind-expansive read.
Anne's thoughts...
Deep (James Nestor)
I am not fully through this book, but so far I have been on a sweeping journey to ocean depths, and spent time in Japan with the 80 year old 'ama' women who freedive with for their livelihoods. I have learnt about the echo-location of sea creatures and how humans have the same ability, located in the ethmoid bone. The book is riveting and filled to the gills with knowledge and intrigue. I love it. Highly recommended.
Anne's thoughts...
Man and World in the Light of Anthroposophy (Stewart C. Easton)
This is the book I read upon the death of my father, while I was travelling in Nepal, thirty-something years ago. It is this book that I had been hauling about in the bottom of my backpack for years that answered all my deep searching as to where my beloved father had gone. It is this singular book that began for me, a lifetime journey into spiritual science gifted to us by Rudolf Steiner. Highly recommended for the modern suffering of humanity.
Anne's thoughts...
Deep Blue - My Ocean Journeys (Steve Backshall)
I have not yet finished this book, but found a useful review here: "Deep Blue is a book a lifetime in the a remarkable blend of memoir, travel, and marine and environmental science that takes us on an unforgettable tour of the many worlds of aquatic from underwater deserts and rainforests to the evolution of ocean heroes like the sea turtle and the Great White, from the genesis of ocean life to the rapidly declining state of white polar seas and coral reefs. It's both a love letter to our precious oceans and rallying cry for what we must do to save them."
Anne's thoughts...
Human Hearing and the Reality of Music (Armin J. Husemann)
Dr. Husemann—author of The Harmony of the Human Body—shows how hearing is a sensory activity that encompasses far more than processes in the ear and brain, and that the whole body is involved. He also discusses the relationship between music and chemistry. Music is "chemistry from the inside." And finally, from 1915 to 1918, Rudolf Steiner developed a physiology of artistic imagination based on the movement of the cerebrospinal fluid during respiration.
About this book
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow (A.J. Mackinnon
I started this one with the hard copy, but then I was so enjoying the voyage through England's canals and rivers that I put it on my headset to work out at the gym. An Australian author, and a non-fictitious story about his hilarious and intrepid escapades on a tiny Mirror dinghy. Lessons in bravery, trust and what living fully can mean. Big love for this book.
Anne's thoughts...
Under Pressure (Gareth Lock MSc)
I am an active student of Gareth's and The Human Diver program, and it's deep exploration in the human factors behind diving accidents. While the equipment is described as 'fail-safe' which is truly is, there are still significant risks involved in the sport and exploration underwater. These risks, as Gareth shows, are due mostly to the humans wearing the gear and participating in the sport. All incidents are avoidable and when you explore the reasons for any incident, the basis of it usually began hours/days/weeks before the incident itself and furthermore, was avoidable. (New paragraph) This book is obviously about scuba diving. It is less obviously about how human beings relate to one another or don't, and is relevant for all of us.
Anne's thoughts...
This is Your Brain on Sports (David Grand, Alan Goldberg)
As a Brainspotting Consultant working with Performance blocks and anxiety for me this is a riveting account of the stories and experiences of athletes at the top of their games that have suffered trauma. Together we learn about the many differences between the brains of high performing individuals and 'regular' folks - differences which make them particularly well-suited to Brainspotting psychotherapy but also the most vulnerable to trauma and it's subsequent treatment. If you are being treated for such blocks, I recommend reading these accounts of one athlete after another to get inside their personal experiences and how good Brainspotting psychotherapy turned it all around.
Anne's thoughts...
Free to Perform (Ruth S.L Chiles)
Free to Perform is a compelling and accessible guide for anyone grappling with performance anxiety or creative blocks. Chiles blends clear explanations of neurophysiological drivers behind stage fight with approachable, step by step Brainspotting techniques to require the brain and access flow at will. Her own journey - from musical paralysis to liberation - imbues the text with authenticity. Endorsements from professionals like Victor Wooten and Christian Uitzinger underscore its real-world impact : one reader calls it "a fascinating and thoroughly thought-provoking read that offers "essential information and guidance" for stepping confidently back into the spotlight.
Anne's thoughts...
The Living Language of Water (Veda Austin)
"I have just purchased this book after listening to three podcasts with Veda and having my mind b.l..o.w..n. by what she is sharing in her research and relationship with Water. Much much more than H2O, water communicates with us and contains living messages in the state between frozen and liquid, a state which Veda is adept at creating, I am looking forward to diving deeply into this one. Here are the links to the podcasts that introduced this amazing Kiwi lady to me -
Thought, Light & The Liquid Language of God
The Waters of Life
The Secret Language of Water
Anne's thoughts...
The Power of Brainspotting (Gerhard Wolfrum)
"This book is a clear, practical go-to text on how Brainspotting works. Wolfrum explains neuroscience in an accessible street-level way, mixing it up with real-life examples to help illustrate it. It's not only a useful text-book for therapists like myself, but parts of it I can point to for my clients to read as well. "
