{PDF} Healthy Brain, Happy Life: a Personal Program to Activate Your
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HEALTHY BRAIN, HAPPY LIFE: A PERSONAL PROGRAM TO ACTIVATE YOUR BRAIN AND DO EVERYTHING BETTER PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Wendy Suzuki,Billie Fitzpatrick | 320 pages | 08 Mar 2016 | Dey Street Books | 9780062366795 | English | United States Healthy Brain, Happy Life by Wendy Suzuki A neuroscientist transforms the way we think about our brain, our health, and our personal happiness in this clear, informative, and inspiring guide —a blend of personal memoir, science narrative, and immediately useful takeaways that bring the human brain into focus as never before, revealing the powerful connection between exercise, learning, memory, and cognitive abilities. Nearing forty, Dr. Wendy Suzuki was at the pinnacle of her career. An award-winning university professor and world-renowned neuroscientist, she had tenure, her own successful research lab, prestigious awards, and international renown. Wendy started simply—by going to an exercise class. Eventually, she noticed an improvement in her memory, her energy levels, and her ability to work quickly and move from task to task easily. Not only did Wendy begin to get fit, but she also became sharper, had more energy, and her memory improved. Being a neuroscientist, she wanted to know why. Wendy discovered that there is a biological connection between exercise, mindfulness, and action. With exercise, your body feels more alive and your brain actually performs better. Yes—you can make yourself smarter. In this fascinating book, Suzuki makes neuroscience easy to understand, interweaving her personal story with groundbreaking research, and offering practical, short exercises—4 minute Brain Hacks—to engage your mind and improve your memory, your ability to learn new skills, and function more efficiently. Taking us on an amazing journey inside the brain as never before, Suzuki helps us unlock the keys to neuroplasticity that can change our brains, or bodies, and, ultimately, our lives. Account Options Sign in. Return to Book Page. Billie Fitzpatrick. As an almostyear-old award-winning college professor, world-renowned neuroscientist, she had—what many considered—everything: tenure as a professor at New York University; her own very successful neuroscience research lab; prizes for scientific discoveries on cognition and memory; articles published Dr. As an almostyear-old award-winning college professor, world-renowned neuroscientist, she had—what many considered—everything: tenure as a professor at New York University; her own very successful neuroscience research lab; prizes for scientific discoveries on cognition and memory; articles published in prestigious scientific journals. As a woman and a scientist, she was the envy of her peers and lauded by her superiors. On paper, she had a stellar career and an impeccable record. What could she possibly be missing? Everything else. Suzuki was overweight. She was tired. She was lonely, had strained work relationships, and for the first time in her life, completely without direction. So she resolved to change her life. The first step--get moving. Everyone knows that exercise makes you feel better—that when you hit the gym despite the dread, you leave in a better mood. Healthy Brain, Happy Life offers the real science of how exercise effects your mind. But movement is just the first step to being Brain Healthy. Once you get your body and mind hooked on exercise, you bring in practices in mindfullness to calm stress and allow your minds to wander to unlock creativity. As your brain begins to change something called neuroplasticity , the benefits build--you get fitter, improve your memory, increase your ability to work quickly and move from task to task easily. Along with Dr. Get A Copy. Hardcover , pages. More Details Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Healthy Brain, Happy Life , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Healthy Brain, Happy Life. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Healthy Brain, Happy Life. Jul 04, Joshua rated it did not like it. This book seems to try to be equal parts Oliver Sacks and Sex in the City and while I like both those things, they don't work well together I like tuna and milkshakes to, but again not mixed together. I read this book hoping for some insight into work life balance and Dr. Suzuki does tall a lot about expanding her life outside the lab and the benefits it had brought her. I am, however, struck that she was only able to do this AFTER she had tenure and a track record of successful funding. This This book seems to try to be equal parts Oliver Sacks and Sex in the City and while I like both those things, they don't work well together I like tuna and milkshakes to, but again not mixed together. This leaves me thinking work life balance for academics might only be achieved after establishing yourself and with the blessings of job security. Had she had these exercise and meditation revelations while in grad school I wonder if she would have had the successful career which allowed her to play hookey and PPP off to Colorado to ski with her boyfriend. In summary the book comes across as good on the science but oblivious as to the privileges that facilitated the balance she achieved. View all 3 comments. May 26, Kelly rated it liked it. Lots of good information, and some interesting case studies, it's just that I never really got into a groove reading this. The writing seemed to ricochet between highly technical, neuroscientific language and simplistic, almost blog-like stories about her life. Just as I would get super-focused on the science bits, she moved into stories of her life that just didn't require the same intensity of focus. Maybe it's just me, but I would have loved some diagrams of the brain to refer to as she was d Lots of good information, and some interesting case studies, it's just that I never really got into a groove reading this. Maybe it's just me, but I would have loved some diagrams of the brain to refer to as she was describing how the brain reacted in different studies. I kept stopping to Google terms like parahippocampal cortex. View 1 comment. Dec 07, Sharon rated it it was ok. Some technical learning about the brain much of which I was already familiar with , with a lot of blog like memoir mixed in. It was boring me. Of course, we should exercise and meditate and it took her a long time to get there. May 04, Christopher Lawson rated it it was amazing. My favorite parts of the book are these little sections that the author calls "Brain Hacks. Here's the theme in a nutshell: "One thing I know for sure is that brain plasticity endows us with an enormous capacity to change into the very best version of ourselves that we can be. Suzuki explains that she uses 20 years of research in neuroscience to apply these same principles to her own personal life. She admits that she "Went from living as a virtual lab rat --an overweight middle aged woman would had achieved many things in science, but who could not seem to figure out how to also be a healthy, happy woman The author emphasizes how powerful exercise is. Suzuki invests much time talking about the power of the brain-body connection. Towards that end, she combines physical workouts as a way to energize your brain: "The body has a powerful influence on her brain functions and conversely but the brain has a powerful influence over how are bodies feel and work and heal. The key is to make your workouts intentional. Towards that end, the author suggests ways to do this--for example, proclaiming affirmations out loud. You are fully engaged in the moment and trigger a heightened awareness of the brain body connection. Another great section is the section on creativity. You can actually improve your creative thinking; it is "a particular version of regular thinking they can be practiced and approved like any other cognitive skill. The key point is to learn something new and "Try to use as many senses as you can. Then, listen to the world sounds in a new way. The author is full of great, uplifting ideas. My favorite chapter is the one on creativity. The end of the book contains an extensive Reference section, in which the author documents the various points she makes. Highly recommend! Advanced copy for impartial review Refreshing book. Light writing style for such havy topic, but still very informative, applicable and inspiring. Jul 27, Rachel rated it liked it Shelves: If I could, I'd probably actually rate this book 2. I am subscribed to some newsletters through my local public library, and one of the newsletters sends daily book recommendations. That is how I discovered Suzuki's book. I love reading about the brain, and was interested in seeing the connection between the brain and exercise. Like other reviewers, I was unfortunately put off a bit by the book's structure. The book claims to be "an accessible blend of memoir and science narrative. The basic overview of the brain, and summaries of studies relating to the topic, were interesting. The author's personal examination of improving her life and connecting it to her neuroscience background were relatable. The personal stories about her dating life throughout her journey were reflective, but difficult to connect to the other two. I understand what she and her co-author were trying to do in connecting the science with some self-help elements similarly to the recent books by Gretchen Rubin.