With e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter, people today are more connected than ever. Yet when a friend gets divorced, loses a parent, or faces a tough transition, these modern tools come up short. In fact, the technologies that were created to bring us together have eroded our ability to connect in an authentic way.

In The Art of Comforting: What to Say and Do for People in Distress, Val Walker reminds us of the importance of making this connection and advises us how to be there for the people that need us  An experienced rehabilitation counselor, Walker consulted 13 top professionals who use comforting skills in their field every day. Their advice will help us comfort loved ones dealing with illness, divorce, death, and hardship. Yet, their tips can also help us support each other in every day situations, like bad days and break-ups. Learn….

• What to say and what not to say to those in distress
• Activities that provide comfort in times of trial
• How to identify and utilize your personal strengths to comfort
• What to write in a card when comforting someone
• Activities to help children deal with disappointment
• How to give bad news in a comforting way

Look for the book in stores October 28th, or pre-order online:

In The Practical Dreamer’s Handbook, Paul and Sarah Edwards provide the blueprint for creating the career and home life you’ve always dreamed of. The first step in that blueprint is to awaken the dream and identify what you desire. Take these steps to do so:

• Set aside a dreamtime for yourself, a quiet time when you can write, think, or meditate about what you’re yearning for. Ask often, what is it I really want? Create a dream journal to record your thoughts. Allow time to understand what you’re feeling and to let new possibilities arise. You may be surprised by what you discover.

• Pick a target dream that could fulfill what you’re yearning for. You don’t have to know if it will work, or even if it is what you will ultimately do. Yet, having a target will give your burning desire a direction to go in. It will begin a process of exploration and create the momentum for discovering the activities that will ultimately take you where you want to go. If you reach a dead end with one target, pick another one.

• Find an anchor for your dreams and keep it with you or nearby. It could be photograph, a picture, a clipping, an object, or any symbol that represents the target you’ve chosen to bring what you’ve been yearning for into your life.

• Learn from other cultures what works and what doesn’t work when adult children live at home.

• Adjustment and compromise are essential to avoiding resentment and bad feelings.

• Provide support, but don’t enable dependency, which leads to decreased self-esteem and delayed maturity in adult children.

• Negotiate rules and responsibilities when adult children move back and reevaluate them as needed.

• Be patient with your twentysomething. Maturity is a process that takes time. Learn to measure adulthood by behavioral characteristics, rather than markers or milestones.

• Enjoy the time together; it doesn’t last forever.

Sort through the myths: Firmer is not better. “For the most part studies that have been done show that there is no best mattress firmness for everyone,” says Dr. Scott D. Boden, an orthopedic surgeon, director of the Emory University Spine Center in Atlanta, and spokesman for the American Orthopedic Surgeons . “Medium-firm and medium are generally preferred by most people, but some people sleep better on a slightly softer one or a slightly harder one.”

Go with what is comfortable to you: Experts say, that when buying a mattress, the key word is comfort. “It’s really an individual preference – whatever meets a person’s needs in terms of comfort level,” says Dr. Clete A. Kushida, director of the Stanford University Center for Human Sleep Research, and an officer of the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Take your time and give the mattress a try: Dr. Kushida stresses the importance of lying down on mattresses in the store to determine your comfort level. “There is such a wide selection of mattresses now, so you have to shop around carefully and test a mattress for as long as possible. The more exposure you have, the better you’ll be prepared to know how you’ll sleep.”

Look for support: “A mattress should provide support but not to the point where it puts a person’s body out of alignment or causes tissue strain,” says Dr. Kushida. For example, he says, “Spine specialists tend to recommend that one of the better postures to sleep on is your side with hips and knees slightly flexed. But if you sleep on your side and your mattress is too firm, it’s going to be uncomfortable because it’s going to put pressure on the shoulders and the hips.”  On the other hand, says Dr. Boden, a mattress that’s too soft may contribute to back problems. “If you don’t have a supportive mattress, your back sort of flattens out. Like the arch of your foot, you back is arched in places, so when you sleep you want it to rest in that natural position. A mattress that’s too soft may put your back in a less than ideal position when resting, which could load certain joints or stretch certain muscles or tendons, which puts stress on the back.”

For more tips on how to find life’s essentials, check out The Only 127 Things You Need by Donna Wilkinson.

• Use diffused lighting for glare control. Make sure sunlight or bare bulbs are not shining directly on your screen. If you need brighter lighting to read paper materials, use a small work light that shines directly on your reading, but not on the screen.

• Use the minimum contrast setting at which you can comfortably read text on the screen. You may be able to work longer with less eyestrain at lower settings.

• Take an “eye break” every ten minutes: focus on a distant object, or let your eyes wander around the room.

• Place your computer equipment on a table that allows you to adjust the screen and keyboard to the proper heights for your body. Sit in a comfortable position and then adjust the screen so you are looking slightly down. To adjust keyboard height, sit in a normal position and bend your arms at the elbow to form a right angle. Your hands should just fall comfortably onto the keyboard.

• Prevent body aches and pains by taking frequent breaks. Sitting motionless for long periods slows circulation, reduces muscle tone, and causes fatigue. Take a break every 90 minutes to stretch and walk around.

For more advice on how to minimize the negative health effects from your office or home, check out Home Safe Home: Creating a Healthy Home Environment by Reducing Exposure to Toxic Household Products by Debra Lynn Daad.

Rachel McPherson is the founder and executive director of The Good Dog Foundation, the largest animal-assisted therapy organization on the East Coast. In Every Dog Has a Gift, McPherson has collected an amazing array of stories about dogs that bring hope and healing into our lives.

We’ve all heard about the heroic roles dogs played following September 11th and Hurricane Katrina, but the truth is that millions of dogs around the world are heroes every single day.

Every Dog Has a Gift is a celebration of the gift that each and every dog possesses: the ability to bring the healing power of unconditional love into our lives.

Every Dog Has  a Gift can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or a local independent bookstore near you.

Advance praise for Every Dog Has a Gift:

“When I first heard of The Good Dog Foundation I thought, ‘Is there any other kind?’ This book gives us some specific examples of the unique therapy that dogs provide when it is needed most. Enjoy a good read after which I’m sure you will appreciate your own dog even more.” – BETTY WHITE

Every Dog Has a Gift will be published March 18.

“[McCarty] opens up a whole new world to those who have never explored
philosophy in detail”
- Library Journal

Click on the links below to download the How to Start a Philosophy Club brochure or request a quantity for your bookstore or library by e-mailing tarcherpublicity at us.penguingroup.com.

Brochure side 1

Brochure side 2

The Wisdom of Your Dreams ($16.95; paperback) can be purchased at: Amazon, BN.com, your local bookstore.

This book provides readers with specific, hands-on techniques to help them remember and interpret their dreams, establish a dream group, and learn the universal symbolism of dreaming.

Full of case histories and a thoughtful chapter about dreams as clues to the evolution of consciousness, this updated, revised and expanded edition of Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill is a life- changing and potentially world-changing work.

Praise for The Wisdom of Your Dreams:

“One of the most enlightening books of the year.”–San Francisco Chronicle

“From dealing with recurrent nightmares to discovering how dreams may connect us to the Divine, [The Wisdom of Your Dreams] is a life-changing and potentially world-changing work … an unforgettable journey into the knowable unknown.” –Kelley Bulkley, Ph.D, former president of the Association for the Study of Dreams “

“Much more than another ‘dream book’…a creative, hopeful, constructive approach to life.” –Richard Woods, O.P., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University

Research shows that your brain needs exercise just like the rest of your body and that solving simple, short challenges is an excellent way for everyone to help sharpen the mind, improve memory, and slow down the brain’s aging process.

Train the Brain ($13.95; paperback) can be purchased at: Amazon, BN.com, or your local bookstore.

In Train the Brain, Dr. Moore has developed an enjoyable program of logic and reasoning exercises, simple math tests, and puzzles. Growing progressively more difficult as you work through the book, from beginner level to advanced, these entertaining exercises provide mental workouts to keep the brain at optimum health.

This book is packed with a variety of brain-training tasks. Most pages will only take readers a few minutes to complete. Some might take longer. Ideally, readers hoping to strengthen their brain should spend ten minutes each day on the puzzles (approximately three puzzles per day).

Avoid generalizations. Statements including “all,” “they,” and “those people” are rarely correct, and always misguided. If you catch yourself generalizing, don’t be afraid to correct yourself. Kids generalize because they don’t know any better – we do. Be specific when you speak.

Dominating conversations destroys dialogue. Spend equal amounts of time talking and genuinely listening. That doesn’t mean “listening until I have a chance to speak” – it means asking questions to show you’re interested, and engaged in the conversation. Listening also means not interrupting.

Eliminate sarcasm. There is a marked difference between constructive criticism and just plain criticism. Providing feedback without being catty is not only kinder, but it makes your suggestions much less likely to be ignored.

Pretending you know doesn’t help. Not only is it okay to admit you don’t know, it’s good to reevaluate what you thought you knew, and give someone the opportunity to teach you. Kids aren’t pretentious – they’re always asking questions. It’s how people grow.

Be awed. The world is huge, and even in this age of globalization and technology, there are still things science can’t explain. Take a moment to be awed by the little things, like warm sunny day in late November. Kids find wonder in every moment of the day, and we could stand to learn from them.