MSI Press Blog

Part of a series on the coronavirus pandemic written by MSI Press authors to share expertise, help, and hope,  Tips, Techniques, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic  focuses on physical and mental well being during any time of crisis. Topics include meditation and mindfulness; positivity; managing setbacks; laughing at oneself; overcoming chal lenges; friends, family, and others; managing daily tasks; adaptive solutions; tricks and tools; and miscellaneous musings. Joanna is also author of: Living Well with Chronic Illness 100 Tips and Tools for Managing Chronic Illness and A Movie Lover's Search for Romance . More posts about and by Joanna Charnas may be found HERE .

  Excerpt from Tips, Tools, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic by Joanna Charnas.  6. The Same Pep Talk   I’ve had the same chronic illness for forty years, and I continue to have occasional relapses that necessitate staying home for one to two weeks to recover. I’m frightened every time this happens, and with each episode, I give myself the same pep talk. I remind myself that, with one notable exception (when I had a relapse and a sinus infection simultaneously), I always recover within two weeks. I tell myself my illness isn’t progressive, and so this relapse will be like all of the others, and I’ll be able to resume my regular activities in at most two weeks. I remember that eventually I always return to a functional state, and all I need to do is take care of myself and I’ll be fine. These re lapses never get easier and they still frighten me, but giving myself a pep talk and remembering how well I’ve managed over the decades helps me get through them. Paperback co

  Excerpt from Tips, Tools, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic (Charnas) 5. TOUGH TIMES   Running a therapy group on happiness is one of my favorite job responsibilities. There’s a huge industry focused on happiness. While doing research for the group, I learned that optimism boosts happiness, so we discuss this concept in the group. Like many of the things that make people happy, optimism may be innate, or we may have to mindfully develop the habits and skills that boost this attitude. Here’s my template for optimism:   Be hopeful. Show up. Do your best. Let go. Repeat.   Over the years, I’ve found it’s a winning formula. For more posts by and about Joanna and her books, click HERE . For more book excerpts, click HERE . For more pandemic books that are still relevant, click HERE . the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal .

Being sick is the pits! The authors of these recommended books know. They are not only experts; they have also lived the experience. Read one, read them all! They are available at discount from MSI Press webstore (use code FF25 for a 25% discount). All are available on Kindle. How to Be a Good Mommy When You're Sick Soon after receiving her Bachelor's Degree, Dr. Emily Graves was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and given a prognosis that she would be confined to a wheelchair within ten years. Shortly thereafter, pregnant with her first and only child, Emily's kidneys shut down. Thus, began a new chapter in Emily's life: balancing chronic illness, motherhood, and the professional ambitions that had caused her to excel as an academic and meet her husband. Today she is still fighting chronic illness, but she has found some answers as to how to manage that fight while being a good mother and spouse and continuing to pursue her professional ambitions. In this

  Books on discount through Kindle (Kindle Countdown) Books on discount through Kindle (Kindle Countdown) Creative Aging   (Vassiliadis & Romer) USA Best Books Awards finalist 11/6 - 11/13 El Poder de lo Transpersonal  (Ustman) 11/7 - 11/14 Healing from Incest  (Henderson & Emerton) Book of the Year Award finalist 11/9 - 11/15 How to Live from Your Heart  (Hucknall) Book of the Year Award finalist 11/10 - 11/17 Books on discount at  MSI Press webstore /books available while supplies last: 10 Quick Homework Tips  (McKinley-Alder & Trombly) 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents: Fun Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Elementary School  (McKinley-Alder & Trombly) $5 book sale at  MSI Press webstore /books available while supplies last 100 Tips and Tools for Managing Chroni c Illness (Charnas) 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas  (Gentile) For posts on any of these books or their authors, type in the name in the search bar; you will have plenty to read! Sign up for th

  Books on discount through Kindle (Kindle Countdown) Books on discount through Kindle (Kindle Countdown) Creative Aging (Vassiliadis & Romer) USA Best Books Awards finalist 11/6 - 11/13 El Poder de lo Transpersonal (Ustman) 11/7 - 11/14 Healing from Incest (Henderson & Emerton) Book of the Year Award finalist 11/9 - 11/15 How to Live from Your Heart (Hucknall) Book of the Year Award finalist 11/10 - 11/17 Books on discount at  MSI Press webstore /books available while supplies last 10 Quick Homework Tips  (McKinley-Alder & Trombly) 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents: Fun Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Elementary School  (McKinley-Alder & Trombly) $5 book sale at  MSI Press webstore /books available while supplies last 100 Tips and Tools for Managing Chroni c Illness (Charnas) 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas  (Gentile) For posts on any of these books or their authors, type in the name in the search bar; you will have plenty to read! Sign up for the

Joanna Charnas’s  latest book,  100 Tips and Tools for Managing Chronic Illness,  recently came to my attention. This book is short and filled with tips and ideas.  Library Journal  calls it, “An excellent resource worthy of multiple reads. For those with a determined spirit during discouraging times.” Actually, after reading through the book, I think that most of us are “chronically human” and can benefit from most, if not all, of the suggestions. It would even by a nice Mother’s Day or birthday gift. Joanna has personal experience with chronic illness, have been ill for seventeen years before she learned it was a condition that had no cure. Following the publication of her first book, Joanna spent two years as a  Huffington Post blogger, and she currently writes articles for an international health website. Her first book,  Living Well With Chronic Illness,  was an American Book Fest Finalist in the “Health: General” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards. I like the siz

  Now is a good time to take a few minutes away from running errands and other busyness and become reacquainted with MSI Press author, Joanna Charnas, who just updated her author page with new information, new photo, and nifty links. Joanna's four books ( Living Well with Chronic Illness , 100 Tips and Tools to Manage Chronic Illness , A Movie Lover's Search for Romance , and Tips, Tools, and Anecdotes to Help during a Pandemic ) have won a number of awards. You can link up with each of them on Joanna's updated page. For more posts about Joanna and her books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of th

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES 1. DO WHAT WORKS: VILE COUGH DROPS As I recovered from a splenectomy, I caught the horrible cold that was going around my work place. It started with a hacking cough in my chest. The day the cough started, I went to the Nex (Navy exchange, similar to a 7-Eleven) in the basement of my building and bought cough drops. They were vile but wonderfully effective. I hated them but needed them to be even marginally functional and to get to sleep. I ran into my neighbor a couple of days after the coughing started and mentioned the horrible cough drops. He said he’d had the same illness and recommended a better- tasting brand. He fished one out of his pocket and gave it to me. His brand tasted much better, but I didn’t have the time or energy to go to the drug store right then, so I continued to ingest the horrid ones for a while longer. I often advise my mental health patients do what works to improve their health even if they don’t like the options, su

  Excerpt from 10 Quick Homework Tips (Alder & Trombly) TIP # 1    HEAD OFF STRESS BY BEING PROACTIVE "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." ~ Chinese Proverb   Why is this Important?   One of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest reason, that kids and parents alike feel stress about homework is that their family simply has no concrete plan for how, when, and where homework will get done.  Kids may not act like it, but they need, and even like, having rules.  They feel better, safer, if they know exactly what is expected of them.  Think about your daily life, at work or at home.  Do you feel more confident, more calm, on days that you are unsure what your boss will want from you, when you don’t know what you are expected to do, or where you should do it and with what tools… or on days when you know exactly what is expected of you, where you know just what to do, where, when and how?  Most of us feel best when there is a routin