Chicken Soup for the Soul and Harvard Health serve up inspiration, information

Sipping a steaming bowl of chicken soup is good for body and soul. Words from chicken soup—specifically Chicken Soup for the Soul books—can also be good for your health. That’s why I’m excited to announce a new series of books from Harvard Medical School, published in collaboration with Chicken Soup for the Soul Health.

Stories are a terrific way to motivate and educate people. The books in this series combine real stories from real people with the latest medical advice from top doctors at Harvard Medical School. The combination of stories providing hope, inspiration, and great person-to-person advice plus straight talk and life-changing medical information from Harvard Medical School will help readers live healthier, more satisfying lives.

Each book focuses on a single topic. The first four will be available beginning May 22, 2012. They are:

• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Boost Your Brain Power! by top neurologist Dr. Marie Pasinski, with Liz Neporent (ISBN 978-1-935096-86-3)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbye to Back Pain! by leading physical medicine expert Dr. Julie Silver, who is also Harvard Health Publishing Chief Editor of Books (ISBN 978-1-935096-87-0)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbye to Stress! by noted psychologist Dr. Jeff Brown, with Liz Neporent (ISBN 978-1-935096-88-7)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Hello to a Better Body! by respected internist Dr. Suzanne Koven (ISBN 978-1-935096-89-4)

Here’s an excerpt from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbye to Stress!

So here we were, Dad going through his chemotherapy and me recovering from surgery and then beginning chemotherapy, too… It was the radiation nurse who gave me a solution, not for changing things, but for dealing with it all. “Spend time every day in music therapy,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be relaxation music. Just go to a quiet place, all alone, and listen to anything you want.”… I played Billy Joel and Paul Simon over and over, until I eventually felt strong enough to get up and face life again with a smile.–Teena Maenza (an award-winning journalist and freelance writer living in West Columbia, TX)

Different things cause different levels of stress. As described in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Say Goodbye to Stress! you can gauge your stress level with the Holmes and Rahe Stress Inventory. It was developed to investigate the relationship between events which can happen to us, stress, and susceptibility to illness. Look over the events listed below. Mark the item if it has happened to you within the last twelve months. (You can multiply by the number of times if you want to really check!)