Esther M. Sternberg, MD's Books

The Balance Within

The Science Connecting Health and Emotions

By: Esther M. Sternberg

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Balance Within

The Science Connecting Health and Emotions

By: Esther M. Sternberg

“A dazzling tour of a most promising area of neuroscience—the interface between the immune system and the nervous system.” —Elliot S. Gershon, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Chicago Since ancient times humans have felt intuitively that emotions and health are linked, and recently there has been much popular speculation about this notion. But until now, without compelling evidence, it has been impossible to say for sure that such a connection really exists and especially how it works. Now, that evidence has been discovered. In this beautifully written book, Dr. Esther Sternberg, whose discoveries were pivotal in helping to solve this mystery, provides firsthand accounts of the breakthrough experiments that revealed the physical mechanisms—the nerves, cells, and hormones—used by the brain and immune system to communicate with each other. She describes just how stress can make us more susceptible to all types of illnesses, and how the immune system can alter our moods. Finally, she explains how our understanding of these connections in scientific terms is helping to answer such crucial questions as “Does stress make you sick?” “Is a positive outlook the key to better health?” and “How do our personal relationships, work, and other aspects of our lives affect our health?” A fascinating, elegantly written portrait of this rapidly emerging field with enormous potential for finding new ways to treat disease and cope with stress, The Balance Within is essential reading for anyone interested in making their body and mind whole again. “Dr. Sternberg weaves historical perspective, recent lab results, academic rigor and popular appeal into an engrossing book.” —The Dallas Morning News

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

354

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

1466823666

ISBN 13

9781466823662

Healing Spaces

The Science of Place and Well-Being

By: Esther M. Sternberg

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Healing Spaces

The Science of Place and Well-Being

By: Esther M. Sternberg

“Esther Sternberg is a rare writer—a physician who healed herself...With her scientific expertise and crystal clear prose, she illuminates how intimately the brain and the immune system talk to each other, and how we can use place and space, sunlight and music, to reboot our brains and move from illness to health.”—Gail Sheehy, author of Passages Does the world make you sick? If the distractions and distortions around you, the jarring colors and sounds, could shake up the healing chemistry of your mind, might your surroundings also have the power to heal you? This is the question Esther Sternberg explores in Healing Spaces, a look at the marvelously rich nexus of mind and body, perception and place. Sternberg immerses us in the discoveries that have revealed a complicated working relationship between the senses, the emotions, and the immune system. First among these is the story of the researcher who, in the 1980s, found that hospital patients with a view of nature healed faster than those without. How could a pleasant view speed healing? The author pursues this question through a series of places and situations that explore the neurobiology of the senses. The book shows how a Disney theme park or a Frank Gehry concert hall, a labyrinth or a garden can trigger or reduce stress, induce anxiety or instill peace. If our senses can lead us to a “place of healing,” it is no surprise that our place in nature is of critical importance in Sternberg’s account. The health of the environment is closely linked to personal health. The discoveries this book describes point to possibilities for designing hospitals, communities, and neighborhoods that promote healing and health for all.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

352

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674033361

ISBN 13

9780674033368

Well at Work

Creating Wellbeing in any Workspace

By: Esther M. Sternberg, MD

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Well at Work

Creating Wellbeing in any Workspace

By: Esther M. Sternberg, MD

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 OWL AWARDS Full of science-backed tips on how to design any workspace for physical and emotional wellbeing, “Well at Work helps us thrive wherever we work.” (Arianna Huffington) Whether you work in a traditional office or a corner of your bedroom, staying well at work need not be a luxury. But wellness at work isn’t just about staying physically healthy; it’s also about reducing stress and improving mood, focus, energy, and productivity. Well at Work reveals how to optimize our workspaces for wellbeing across the seven domains of integrative health: stress and resilience, movement, sleep, relationships, environment, nutrition, and spirituality, and even the air we breathe. You’ll learn: How the environment you work in all day can affect your sleep at night Optimal lighting and noise levels for reducing stress and improving focus How to adjust temperature and humidity to stay alert and protect against infection Why open-plan offices can keep you more active The myriad benefits of access to nature (and how to bring nature indoors) Office layouts that foster social interactions but not distraction Foods to enhance cognitive performance And more Along the way, you’ll meet the scientists and doctors, designers and architects, and building science professionals who are striving to make workplaces more conducive to wellbeing. And you’ll glimpse into the future of the workplace, where artificial intelligence and the metaverse will help us create environments that respond to our individual needs. Above all, you’ll come away with a menu of simple, “innovative, and often overlooked” (Dr. Richard Carmona) steps anyone can take to be—and stay—well at work.

Average ratings

N/A