Reflective Readings to Inspire your Health and Wellness

[originally posted 5.15.2017 featuring a spring fundraiser "perks" package.]
List and links updated 03.2019)
Do you or someone you know like to have, on your desk or nightstand, a little book of reflections, poetry, or other quick notes of inspiration?

Here are a few of my favorite reflective reads.  The first list theme is:  health and wellness
The second list is a mix of classic (Yates) and quicky (Ben Franklin) poetry and spiritual themes.

Gift these to yourself or a friend.  If you follow the Amazon links and buy within a couple hours, the Hospital Handbook Project receives a few pennies at no extra cost to you.

With a specific health and wellness theme

1. the most popular book at my clinic, Attitudes of Gratitude:  how to give and receive joy everyday of your life by M.J. Ryan
2.  the book, Tao Te Ching or Book of the Way, an acclaimed classic; brief stanzas of poetry by Lao-Tzu about balance, perspective, the spirit of generosity.  A very good translation from Stephen Mitchell.
3. the book, Letting Everything Become Your Teacher:  100 Lessons in Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn 
4. The Book of Forgiving: the fourfold path for healing ourselves and our world by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu
5. Kitchen Table Wisdom: stories that heal by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

More Poetry and some Spirituality

1. If you love the outdoors and nature:  Meditations on John Muir  or Mary Oliver.
2. Irish poetry and prose from William Butler Yates
3. Benjamin Franklin's classic, Poor Richard's Almanack
4. Or, try one of the "30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher Series", like Peace of Heart (St. Francis of Assisi) or Let Nothing Disturb You (Teresa of Avila)
5. No Greater Love by Mother Teresa
6. God is in the Small Stuff and it all matters by Bruce and Stan
7. The Chicken Soup for the Soul series with Jack Canfield or the 2017 Book of Christmas Miracles
8. Anam Cara: a book of Celtic wisdom by John O'Donohue (poetry-prose)
9. The Celtic Way of Prayer: the recovery of the religious imagination by Esther de Waal

Spring Clearing/De-Cluttering and the season of Lent

1. In celebration of St. Patrick's day (3/17), any Irish poetry and definitely Anam Cara (#2, #8 and #9 above)
2. Clearing the physical clutter.  For clearing out the physical space to help make room in your internal (mental, emotional, spiritual) space, I recommend the book by Marie Kondo, The Life-ChangingMagic of Tidying Up.  Or, maybe you are interested in her follow-up book, Spark Joy.  
3. Clearing the internal clutter:  journaling.  Journaling is a useful way to process experiences and find clarity.  It has proven health benefits. For more about the research and health benefits of journaling:  Opening Up by Writing It Down, 3rd edition: how expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain by James Pennebaker and Joshua Smyth.  For related book that walks you through the practical exercises of this type of journaling for health: Expressive Writing: Words that Heal (2014) by James Pennebaker and John Evans. 
4. Any time you spend in quiet self-reflection to listen to your heart that you may hear your calling.

If you follow our Amazon affiliate links and purchase within a few hours of clicking on the link, a few pennies of your purchase will go toward the Hospital Practice Handbook Project.

To contribute directly to our work at the Project, go the "support the project" page on our website.

Thank you for supporting this work and this community!

Related blogposts
Gift Ideas page

• Support Acupuncturists and their Hospital Administrators (Sponsors)
• Health and Wellness Learning with Kids
• Featured Perk:  Nutrition, the whole foods and integrative medicine approaches
• Featured Perk:  Are you in the Present Moment?  learning about mindfulness
• The philanthropic movement of Integrative Health into Mainstream Medicine
• Love Chocolate? 

More about the Project

• Why this Project?  Megan's story
• What is the Project?
• Creating Resources to Grow and Connect the Integrative Medicine Hospital Practice community

You can support this community resource today by contributing $5 or $25 via the website.  Thank you.

Do you want to follow our work?  Just subscribe to this blog, like and follow our new Facebook page, and join the newsletter email list on the website.

Health and Wellness Learning with Children, Some Resource Recommendations

[This post was originally part of our spring 2017 fundraiser, posted 5.10.2017.
links updated 12.04.2018 ]

Learning more about Health and Wellness with the children in your life whether they are kids, grandkids, neices, nephews, cousins, or students. .

1. the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, young readers edition by Michael Pollan
2. the audio CD, Sitting Like a Frog:  Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and their parents) by Eline Snel
3. the book, Maya and Friends Visit the Acupuncturist by Samara White
4. the book, Heal Your Child from the Inside Out:  the 5-element way to nurturing healthy, happy kids by Robin Ray Green, L.Ac.

Reading Maya and Friends with the littlest
 this week.
photo credit:  M.Gale

The items above were featured in some fundraiser packages during our spring 2017 fundraiser.

More Gift Ideas for Kids

Kids, Yoga, Calming the Mind...

Good Night Yoga:  A Pose-by-Pose Bedtime Story

Good Morning Yoga:  A Pose-by-Pose Wake Up Story

Yoga Bug: Simple Poses for Little Ones

I Am Peace:  a book of Mindfulness

I Am Yoga

You Are a Lion (and other fun yoga poses)

Breathe Like a Bear: 30 Mindful Moments for Kids to Feel Calm and Focused Anytime by Kira Willey is our 2018 favorite and the book is based on her songs.  I recommend getting the matching songs, most of them are part of her Mindful Moments for Kids music compilation.

A Handful of Quiet:  Happiness in 4 Pebbles by Thich Nhat Hanh

Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee MacLean

Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry Lee MacLean

Zoo Zen:  A Yoga Story for Kids  by Kristen Fischer and Susi Schaefer

Master of Mindfulness:  How to Be Your Own Superhero in Times of Stress by Laurie Grossman, with Mr. Musumeci's 5th grade class.

If you purchase items following the Amazon affiliate links above, a few pennies per purchase will go toward supporting the Hospital Handbook Project.  Contribute directly to the Hospital Handbook Project work through our website.

Thank you for supporting this work and this community!

Related blogposts

• Gift Ideas and Resources
• Kids and Nutrition
• Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day
• Are you in the Present Moment?  learning about mindfulness 
• Love Chocolate?  
• Reflecting on Leadership, a New Year's reading list
• Hospital Sponsor Favorites and Gift Ideas

More about the Project

• What is the Project?
• Why This Project? (Megan's story)
• How to Support the Project

Do you want to follow our work?  Just subscribe to this blog, join our email list, and "like" and share our Facebook page.

Course for Practitioners: Birth Basics with Stefanie Beniek and Claudia Ctikovitz

keywords:  acupuncture for labor and delivery, maternity care, post-partum, EAM practitioner/L.Ac. (Acupuncturist) work in birth centers, EAM practitioner as member of Labor & Delivery Team, hospital work, courses for healthcare practitioners, integrative medicine obstetrics and gynecology

http://www.familytreeacu.com/

Two of our hospital-practice Acupuncturist colleagues, Stefanie Beniek, LAc. and Claudia Citkovitz, PhD, LAc, are teaching a course for practitioners on Birth Basics  in Minnesota, June 24th - 25th, 2017.

You can register for Birth Basics:  Acupressure, Acupuncture and Chinese Medical Diagnosis in Birth online.  

In this class, a practitioner would learn how to

"Use acupressure and acupuncture . . . to facilitate labor progress and comfort during a normal labor"   

and 

"Help patients prepare for labor with acupressure and acupuncture . . . Chinese-medicine based movement, imagery and self-massage"

See the full course description at Family Tree Acupuncture website.

Stefanie Beniek, L.Ac, works with Allina Health at Mercy Hospital's MotherBaby Center in Minnesota, where she provides care to inpatients in Labor and Delivery and Postpartum.  As founder and clinician at Family Tree Acupuncture in South Minneapolis, she specializes in fertility, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. She has great passion for teaching patients and other medical providers to understand the breadth Traditional Chinese Medicine has to offer in obstetrics and gynecology.

Claudia Citkovitz, PhD, L.Ac. is one of the nation's foremost authorities on acupuncture treatment for Labor and Delivery as well as patients recovering from stroke.  Claudia is the director of the acupuncture program at NYU Luthern Medical Center, a 466-bed community hospital in Brooklyn, NY.  Through the program, she provides care to inpatients in the Neurological/Orthopedic Rehabilitation and Labor and Delivery units, hosting licensed practitioners, PCOM Master's students, and ACTCM and OCOM doctoral students for didactic and clinical intensives.

Postpartum Healthcare Team and the Acupuncturist

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists at our spring fundraiser or our website.

Answers to Fundraiser FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions in the Spring Fundraising Campaign

Q1:  Can this be a tax write-off?

A:  No. The contributions from the crowdfunding campaign page and website go to my business account, De-Stress Vets, LLC.  It is an LLC, not a 501c entity.  Only donations made to 501c entities (official non-profit legal status) are tax-deductible.  That is why we use the language “contribution” instead of “donation” whenever we can, to try to avoid the confusion.  To help clarify, I have put several notes on the HH blog and website explaining contributions are not tax-deductible.

Q2:  What is the difference if I contribute through the crowdfunding page or the website or write you a check?

A:  cost of fees and availability of perks.  Here’s a quick breakdown:

Donation location	Pros	Cons
Crowdfunding page https://igg.me/at/HHProject/emal/16085398	You can choose a “perk” from various packages.  High visibility of who is donating and amount donated	highest % of your contribution goes to pay fees of using the site and payment processing fees. I receive the money 2+ weeks after the campaign has ended. If a perk is chosen, less of the overall money goes directly to the Hospital Handbook Project costs.
Hospital Handbook Project website www.thehospitalhandbook.com/	Contribution goes directly to Hospital Handbook Project costs. I receive the money in the business bank account within 2 weeks of your contribution.  [This is a shorter time than if you contributed via the campaign page]	A small % of contribution goes to processing fees.

Acupuncture Can Help Shorten Your Hospital Stay

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists and for Acupuncturists to grow their professional community at our spring fundraiser or our website.

Cancer Care Team and access to Acupuncturists

Are you or a loved one dealing with the side effects of cancer treatment (nausea, fatigue, digestive problems)?  Acupuncture can help.  Help us grow the community of Acupuncturists trained to work in cancer care centers today by contributing at our spring fundraiser or our website. 

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists at our spring fundraiser or our website.

What Building this Resource Means for Hospitals and Integrative Medicine Practitioners with the East Asian Medicine (acupuncture) Specialty

key words:  East Asian Medicine, acupuncture, hospital practice, patient self-efficacy, provider collaboration, team work, medical home models, research discussion

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.”  --Margaret Fuller

             

The Silo Problem:  It is easy to exist in silos.  You may be alone or starting something new (new program or a new hire), but you don't have to reinvent the wheel.  Instead, connect to us, to this living resource.

The Solution:   Instead of reinventing the wheel, or forging a new path with no compass, learn from the wisdom of others.  Let this, a living resource, be your guide or, at least, a rough map.

At the Project, we are sharing wisdom.  We are learning from each other.

Contribute to this work today! 

If you or your company/program want to sponsor or co-sponsor a specific project, like the Webinar Series, contact me.  

Thank you!

"The world of the generous gets larger and larger..." Proverbs 11: 24-26

Connections and Wisdom-Sharing

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”  --Helen Keller

The most important thing I do at the Hospital Handbook Project is create space for others to share wisdom and create connections.

Mission: Create a resource of basic standards and guidelines for hospital practice while creating community of hospital practice Acupuncturists to discuss standards, guidelines, best practices, and share wisdom.

Please contribute $5 or $25 today to support the Hospital Practice Handbook Project resource.  Thank you.

Follow us on our public Facebook page and sign up for newsletters and announcements through our website.  See you there!

Thank you.
Megan


Related blogposts:
Why this Project? Megan's story
What is the Project?
Check out our new Facebook Page

Creating Resources to Grow and Connect the Integrative Medicine Hospital Practice community

Support Acupuncturists and their Hospital Administrators (Sponsors)
Supporting the Hospital Administrator
Love Chocolate?  Love Coffee?  Love YETI mugs? 
Health and Wellness Learning with Kids
Nutrition for Health Resources for Your Family:  Everything in Moderation
Integrative Medicine:  Philanthropic Movement into Mainstream Medicine
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Health and Wellness

Are you in the Present Moment?  learning about mindfulness

FDA Pain Guideline Recommends Acupuncture

Gratitude--a Powerful Force in our Community and the World

"Our work-a-day lives are filled with opportunities to bless others.  The power of a single glance or an encouraging smile must never be underestimated." --G. Richard Reiger

I strive to, daily, remember my blessings.  In fact, there was a framed cross-stitch in my recently deceased grandmother's home that simply said,

"Count your blessings; not your worries."

When I take care of myself, this is much easier than when I am stressed.  And, rarely do I consider the 2nd or 3rd order effects of expressing sincere gratitude; I just do it because it is a healthy frame of mind for living life.  However, today I was made aware of how a sincere expression of gratitude I gave weeks ago positively affected someone.

The lesson I learned (again) today:

Don't hold back expressing your gratitude to others.  Small acts of kindness and appreciation are points of light in a world that can be quite dark.

This is our last week of spring 2017 fundraiser.  If you like these quotes, order the  "Inspirational Package".  Your contribution goes toward the cost of the items and the make-the-world-a-better-place work at the Project.

This package includes the books: Attitudes of Gratitude how to give and receive joy every day of your life, Letting Everything Become Your Teacher, and the classic Book of the Way. [see Nov. 2019 update below]

11.2019 update--you can now purchase these items from Amazon or find them at your local library. Just go to this post for a list of recommended reflective reading. If you follow our Amazon affiliate link and buy within a few hours, a few pennies of your purchase will go to the Project at no extra cost to you. To support the Project directly, see our options at our Support the Project webpage. Thank you.

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” –Melody Beattie

Related Blogposts
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day
Practicing Philanthropy: Positives for You and Your Community
Learning about Mindfulness
Nutrition Learning for Your Family
Wellness Learning for Kids and their Caregivers (parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and more)
More at the Gift Ideas landing page

Love Chocolate or Coffee?  Check out the Organic Chocolate, or YETI mug perks in the fundraiser.

Spring Fundraiser Features--Only a Few Days Left!
Hospital Administrator Favorites

Fundraiser Countdown
Building the First Book
YETI mug
What is the Integrative Health Movement?
Mission:  Make Integrative Medicine Accessible
Connecting the Community



Featuring the Projects
The Data Survey Project
The Webinar Series Project
Building the First Book

"Lunchtime Learning"
Recommended Lunchtime Listens web page--great for your lunch break!

If this brought you a smile, please consider supporting this community work.  

You can buy me a coffee, sponsor a newsletter, or sponsor a project via the website.

www.thehospitalhandbook.com

How do we make Integrative Medicine Accessible?

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists and for Acupuncturists to grow their professional community at our spring fundraiser or our website.

Just a Few Days Left! Claim Your Fundraiser Perk Today!

Just a Few Days Left in our Fundraiser!
Grab one of the Perks today.

Interested in a package to support your wellness learning library?  Check out the following:
Learning about Mindfulness--the fundraiser has a couple options
Wellness for Kids and Parents--two options in fundraiser
Nutrition for Health for the Family
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day

Love Chocolate or Coffee?  Check out the Organic Chocolate, Fair Trade Coffee, or YETI mug perks in the fundraiser.

Spring Fundraiser Features--Only a Few Days Left!
Hospital Administrator Favorites
Fundraiser Countdown
Building the First Book
YETI mug
Learning Wellness Self-Care with your Kids/Grandkids
Philanthropy of Integrative Medicine Movement--the Friend of IM Perk on the Fundraiser
Mission:  Make Integrative Medicine Accessible
Connecting the Community

Featuring the Projects

The Data Survey Project
The Webinar Series Project
Building the First Book

"Lunchtime Learning"
Integrative Medicine Leadership Webinar with Lori Knutson

Pediatric Pearls Week June 5th - 9th

Recovering from Surgery: Acupuncturist part of Rehab Medicine Team

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists and for Acupuncturists to grow their professional community at our spring fundraiser or our website.

Building Together--8 Days Left in our Fundraiser

Just 8 Days Left in our Fundraiser!
Grab one of the Perks today.

Interested in a package to support your wellness learning library?  Check out the following:
Learning about Mindfulness--the fundraiser has a couple options
Wellness for Kids and Parents--two options in fundraiser
Nutrition for Health for the Family
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day

Only 8 Days Left to Claim your one of the Organic Chocolate, Fair Trade Coffee, or YETI mug perks in the fundraiser.

Spring Fundraiser Features--Only a Few Days Left!

Hospital Administrator Favorites
Fundraiser Countdown
Building the First Book
YETI mug
Learning Wellness Self-Care with your Kids/Grandkids
Philanthropy of Integrative Medicine Movement--the Friend of IM Perk on the Fundraiser
Mission:  Make Integrative Medicine Accessible
Connecting the Community

Featuring the Projects
The Data Survey Project
The Webinar Series Project
Building the First Book

Previous "Lunchtime Learning" recommendation(s):
Integrative Medicine Leadership Webinar with Lori Knutson

Pediatric Pearls Week June 5th - 9th

Nurturing the Integrative Medicine Hospital Practice Professional Community

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists and for Acupuncturists to grow their professional community at our spring fundraiser or our website.

Pre-Natal HealthCare Team and the Acupuncturist

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists and for Acupuncturists to grow their professional community at our spring fundraiser or our website.

Nine Days Left!

Nine Days Left in the Fundraiser

Contribute and be part of building this important resource today!

If you are reading this after our fundraiser has ended, you can contribute at any amount via our website.  The "perks" packages are only available while the fundraiser is live.

Love Coffee or Chocolate to Go with Your Philanthropy?
Only 9 Days Left to Claim your one of the Organic Chocolate, Fair Trade Coffee, or YETI mug perks in the fundraiser.

Interested in the Integrative Medicine movement into Mainstream Medicine?
Check out the "Friend of Integrative Medicine" fundraiser perk.  It has a key group of resources that explain the philanthropic work behind creating an escape fire for our U.S. healthcare system.

Interested in a package to support your wellness learning library?  Check out the following:
Learning about Mindfulness--the fundraiser has a couple options
Wellness for Kids and Parents--two options in fundraiser
Nutrition for Health for the Family
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day

Emergency Room access to Acupuncturists for Drug-Free Pain Relief

Support the work to make it easier for hospital administrators to hire Acupuncturists and for Acupuncturists to grow their professional community at our website.

Learn more about how health systems are adding acupuncturists to their Emergency Department in this post and read the citations of that post for a deeper dive.

Pediatric Pearls Week June 5th-9th for Your Lunchtime Learning

 At the Hospital Handbook Project, we connect you to resources that already exist, such as next week's Pediatric Pearls Week (June 5th-9th, 2017) hosted by Pediatric Acupuncturist community builder, Robin Ray Green. [See her new book, Heal Your Child, in the "Kids and Parent Learning Pack--Full in our fundraiser.]

Robin has gathered a variety of expert integrative medicine pediatrics experts together for Pediatric Pearls Week.  Several of the subject matter expert (SME) recordings are free for a limited time and they have drawings for prizes throughout the week.

Robin's Pediatric Pearls Week is for you if:

• you love working with kids
• you have kids and want to learn more about health options for them
• you are a health care provider who loves working with kids

At the Hospital Practice Handbook Project, we connect to each other, share wisdom, and resources.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting at our website or our spring fundraiser.  Thank you.

Our spring fundraiser has Organic Chocolate, Fair Trade Coffee, and more lunchtime reads and listens.

Spring Fundraiser Features--Only 10 Days Left!
Hospital Administrator Favorites
Fundraiser Countdown
Building the First Book
YETI mug
Learning About Mindfulness
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day
Nutrition for Family Health
Learning Wellness Self-Care with your Kids/Grandkids
Philanthropy of Integrative Medicine Movement--the Friend of IM Perk on the Fundraiser
Mission:  Make Integrative Medicine Accessible
Connecting the Community

Featuring the Projects
The Data Survey Project
The Webinar Series Project
Building the First Book

Previous "Lunchtime Learning" recommendation(s):
Integrative Medicine Leadership Webinar with Lori Knutson

Supporting our Hospital Admin in the "Hospital Sponsor Favorites" Resources and Gift Ideas

links updated 11.30.2018

Are you a hospital administrator, department head, or in some capacity working with integrative medicine practitioners such as acupuncturists, health psychologists, chiropractors, massage therapists, or yoga therapists?


Then, the "Hospital Sponsor Favorites" resource list is right for you.

It includes our favorite items for you, a hospital sponsor*:

• Resources we recommend every Sponsor of an IM clinic read to learn about the philanthropic movement of IM in the U.S. and the most commonly used IM therapies
• The Bravewell Story:  how a small community of philanthropists made a big different in healthcare
• Spark in the Machine:  How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine
• Escape Fire:  the Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
• Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times by S. Covey
• HeartMath:  Science of the Heart
• Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Clinicians’ &Educators’ Desk Reference on the Integrative Health & Medicine Professions by Elizabeth Goldblatt, Pamela Snider, and Beth Rosenthal, and Renee Motheral Clugston
• Hospital Sponsor's Reading List
• this is a pdf of recommended reading to be informed and successful as an administrator of an IM clinic or program.  It is a pdf of recommended resources from books to online links to research article citations.  Contact me via the webpage if you are interested.

If you use the links above to buy an item, a few pennies per purchase will go toward supporting this resource.  To contribute directly to the Project (no perks, just 100% going toward operating expenses and the basics of resource-creation), contribute via our website.   

If you are interested in the following items, please send me a message via the contact page on the website.  These items are on our "project list" but didn't get funded for the past calendar year.  If there is enough interest, they will move up on the priority list for 2019:

• webinar series
• Reading list pdf of resources, 
• related online course.

*hospital sponsor = a hospital administrator or department head of an integrative medicine (IM) clinic or administrator or supervisor/manager who works with IM professionals.

Related Blogposts about Resources and Gift Ideas
The Integrative Medicine Researcher
Friend of Integrative Medicine
Reflective Readings
Gift Ideas webpage

10 Days Left--Fundraiser Countdown

Only 10 days left to claim one of the perks in our fundraiser.

So, if you've been procrastinating, now is the time to check out the fundraiser and pick your contribution level or "perks package".

Signed copy of my first book, Introduction to Hospital Practice for Acupuncturists:
Choose one of the following perks on the fundraiser page:

• Sapling
• Maple
• Oak
• Sitka Spruce
• Friend of Integrative Medicine
• Hospital Sponsor Favorites
• The Researcher

Access to the future recordable webinar series, choose one of the following from the fundraiser page:

• Maple 
• Oak
• Sitka Spruce
• Hospital Sponsor Favorites
• The Researcher

If you are interested in learning more about the Integrative Medicine movement into Mainstream medicine, the philanthropic work of creating an escape fire for our U.S. healthcare system, check out the "Friend of Integrative Medicine" fundraiser perk.

Interested in a package to support your wellness learning library?  Check out the following:
Learning about Mindfulness--the fundraiser has a couple options
Wellness for Kids and Parents--two options in fundraiser
Nutrition for Health for the Family
Reflective Readings to Inspire Your Day

Only 10 Days Left to Claim your one of the Organic Chocolate, Fair Trade Coffee, or YETI mug perks in the fundraiser.