Because of my enthusiasm about this book, many of my friends and colleagues have read Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. I think it makes an excellent argument for readjusting your sense of what is possible, without being of the nonsensical New Age or saccharine self-help genres.
Behavioral Health Central has just posted a review of the book and an interview of its author Dr. Ellen Langer. From the review "Harvard Psychologist Ellen Langer to be Portrayed by Jennifer Aniston in the Film 'Counterclockwise'":
When the study participants — elderly men who at first appeared to be frail and dependent — lived in this environment for a week, the results were nothing short of amazing. Their height, weight, gait, posture, hearing, memory, appetite, dexterity, arthritis, blood pressure and general well being improved in those mere seven days. “We even took photographs of them at the beginning, and at the end of the week,” Langer says. “People who knew nothing about the study evaluated the photos. And according to these unbiased witnesses, they [the elderly men] even looked younger. The ‘magic’ lies in being aware of the ways we mindlessly react to social and cultural cues.”
Many studies of this nature led Langer to the psychology of possibility — putting the mind in a healthy place and then measuring changes in the body. ...
I think my dad is going to like this book. Have you read it yet?