Stark Reality of Stretching or The Thinking Persons Guide to Sobriety

Stark Reality of Stretching: An Informed Approach for All Activities and Every Sport

Author: Steven D Stark

Improper muscle preparation prior to exercise is the most common cause of acute pain, strain, and permanent damage. Many of these injuries are preventable with proper lower extremity stretching. This book addresses the need for warm-up exercises, analyzes the stretching process, and illustrates anatomy and basic biomechanics. Myths associated with stretching are dispelled. For example, many people believe that stretches and warm-up exercises are the same, when in fact, warm-up exercises should be a preparation for stretches. Applying the strategies outlined in this book will help keep an athlete healthy, build strength and power, and, most important prevent injury.

Interesting textbook: Short History of the American Stomach or The Physiology of Taste

The Thinking Person's Guide to Sobriety

Author: Bert Pluymen

"Could I, of all people have a drinking problem?"

That is the question Bert Pluymen once asked himself. As a highly successful attorney, he was the last person anyone would think of as an alcoholic. Can a busy person who never misses a day of work, never drinks in the morning or wakes up with the shakes, who's never been arrested or lost a job, be addicted to alcohol? When he considered two crucial questions, Bert Pluymen came up with his answer.
-Do I regularly try to moderate the amount I drink?
-Do I need alcohol to have fun?
Answering yes to these questions sparked Pluymen's realization that life could be so much more fulfilling if he was sober. This book is Bert Pluymen's story of struggle and triumph over alcohol addiction. It also contains insightful, witty, uplifting, and wryly humorous stories of the many people Pluymen met who were also searching for sobriety. This is an informative book that will shed new light on how alcohol abuse can ruin people's lives--even if they thought it could never happen to them.

Kate Jacobs

This book is transformative. I can't begin to tell you how many people have been moved to examine their lives because of it. -- WKRC Radio, Cincinnati

EastSide Weekend

Much more than a book that shatters some of the most commonly held notions about alcoholism, The Thinking Person's Guide to Sobriety is about living a joyful, passionate, and peaceful life.

Cassandra Moreno

One of the best books I've ever read. -- KWHY-TV, Los Angeles

CBS Radio

Uplifting, inspiring, enlightening. A must-read for people in early recovery, and all who want to stay up to date. -- (Charlie and Jeff, CBS Radio, "The Addiction and Recovery Show")

What People Are Saying

Donald W. Goodwin
This book is not necessarily for the full-blown alcoholic, but for people who worry about whether their drinking has 'crossed the line.' Full of facts, interspersed with anecdotes, this is a worthy addition to alcoholism literature. -- (Donald W. Goodwin, M.D., author of Alcoholism: The Facts)

Ann W. Richards
Plain talk and personal experiences make Bert Pluymen's book a real guide for anyone whose life has been touched by addiction. The section on women is especially good. -- (Ann W. Richards, former governor of Texas)

Table of Contents:

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xiii
AUTHOR'S NOTE	xv
PART ONE: WAKE-UP CALL
CHAPTER ONE
Bottom's Up!	3
The Fun's Just Beginning	4
I'll Have What the Gentleman on the Floor Is Having	6
You Can Always Tell an Alcoholic	but You Can't Tell
'Em Much	7
No Hay Problema	8
CHAPTER TWO
Denial Is Not a River in Egypt	9
The Great Fog Machine	11
Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over While
Expecting a Different Result	14
CHAPTER THREE
Now Hear This!	18
That's the Spirit!	19
Sex and Spirit	21
CHAPTER FOUR
Your Mind Is Like a Bad Neighborhood: Never Go in There
by Yourself	23
Una Mas, por Favor	25
Desperado	27
CHAPTER FIVE
Thirty Minutes of Begging Is Not Foreplay	31
Put a Fork in Me, I'm Done	33
PART TWO: RECOVERY
CHAPTER SIX
Lie Down on Your Back and Yell,"Uncle!"	39
Wanted: New General Manager of Universe	41
CHAPTER SEVEN
HALT	47
Relief	49
CHAPTER EIGHT
"You're Not an Alcoholic"	52
CHAPTER NINE
Don't Feel Bad	55
CHAPTER TEN
Wind Chimes	57
PART THREE: PERSONAL & SCIENTIFIC SNAPSHOTS
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Who Are the Alcoholics Among Us?	63
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ashley	67
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Grandpa Made Me	78
Adoption Studies	79
How Many Times Have You Been Divorced?	80
He's Got Nothing to Do with Me	80
Broken Homes and Poverty	80
When the Family Tree House Is a Tavern	81
Our Family's Had Enough to Drink	81
Out of Sight, Out of Mind	81
Twin Studies	81
Sorry, Alcohol Is No Excuse for Your Personality	82
Why Couldn't I Have Inherited a High Tolerance for Money
Instead?	83
I Knew I Peaked Too Soon	84
Conclusion	85
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Michael	86
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I've Got the Bomb, When Does It Explode?	95
Isn't It About Time You Graduated?	95
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tony	98
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Wake-up Call for Women	111
Conclusion	114
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jessica	115
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Michelle	132
CHAPTER TWENTY
Sarah Beth	142
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Don't Get Stressed Out in the Dark Listening to Slow Music	153
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
God Created Alcohol So the Irish Wouldn't Conquer the
World--and the Chinese Would	155
Why Bars Are Not Guarded	155
If Only I Could Remember It the Next Day	156
We Like to Drink, Ltd	157
Moving to a Land of Beer and Money	157
I'm in Love, Pass the Rice Wine	158
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Kevin	160
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Nicole	170
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It's All in Your Head	176
Dopamine--the Pleasure Transmitter	177
Serotonin--the Happiness Transmitter	177
GABA--the Depressant Transmitter	179
Opioids--the Pain Relief Transmitter	180
Conclusion	181
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Daniel	182
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Where Blindness Leads	192
The Heart	192
The Big C	193
The Ominous Threat of Epidemic	193
There's Nothing Worse Than an Airhead	195
Unless it's an Anxious Airhead	195
Strokes	195
Hepatitis C	196
No Wonder So Many Urinals Have Cigarette Butts	196
Where's That Nonsmoking Meeting?	196
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
What Can I Do?	198
Controlled-Drinking Training	199
Shrinks	199
Inpatient Treatment	200
Day Clinics	201
Evening Treatment	201
The Pain Treatment Program	201
Man, I Want Another Drug	202
A Proven and Free Solution	202
Other Mutual-Support Groups	203
Conclusion	204
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Thinking Person's Test	205
EPILOGUE	209
POSTSCRIPT	211
APPENDIX	213
The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous	213
"New Life" Acceptance Program of Women for Sobriety, Inc	214
Secular Organizations for Sobriety	216
NOTES	217