Complementary-Therapy Books

Reviewed by Kelley Anderson for Reader Views (4/06)
"Take Back Your Health: A Total Wellness Guide for You and Your Family" is a well organized guide to overcoming common illnesses and conditions for the whole family. It gives you alternatives to doctor prescribed antibiotics and drugs and instead suggests nutrition and relaxation techniques to take control of your health. The language is simple and easy for the average person to understand, with an organized glossary for some of the less common clinical terms used. Although it is a total wellness guide for the entire family, I found the book to be geared more toward women and how to take care of their families. Most men I know that suffer from these health problems don't really consider them more of a nuisance than a problem.

The author has a lot of useful suggestions on how to eat more natural, whole foods as a part of the healthy lifestyle process. She also helped me to understand the difference between food allergies and food intolerance. Although I can see the point of most of what she wrote, there are a lot of suggestions on supplements to take and foods to eliminate and reintroduce into your diet if you feel you may have a food intolerance. I don't think that an ordinary family living paycheck to paycheck can afford to buy these supplements or switch to a different type of food (organic, soy, etc). In addition, I live in a small town, rural area and most of these things are not readily available to buy. I agree that people with some of the conditions covered (ADHD, autism, menopausal symptoms) may benefit from the switch, but it is not very practical in real life.

However, if you are someone who is having frequent health issues that have become unbearable, this is a good book for you to read and try. I also think that more emphasis should be placed on running any nutritional or exercise programs by your doctor first. Also, the section on stress and disease was interesting and some of the relaxation suggestions were a good reminder. I had been forgetting to take time for myself and my making sure to effectively cope with stress now, I will be helping myself out in the long run.

"Take Back Your Health" was easy to read, well organized and had many good suggestions not only for those suffering from an illness, but also anyone hoping to prevent future illness. If you are interested in using the improved diet, exercise and stress management techniques or would like to learn more about nutritional testing and supplementation, you can find practical tips to improve your health and that of your family.

"Take Back Your Health", is a practical, thorough and easy to read book that addresses many common health issues. Renee Simon, promotes healthy living by giving us insight on her personal health battles and real case studies. I especially like the "total wellness makeover" approach where she lists the symptoms of her patients before and after her treatment plan. The last section of the book "Anti- Aging Program for Energy and Vitality" is a wonderful step by step guide to a healthy mind and body. The resource section provides great information on supplement companies, diagnostic laboratories, websites, organizations and special diets. As a Nutritionist, I found this book to be very handy, educational, and resourceful. I highly recommend it to my friends and patients.

I purchased this book 4 months ago and both my husband and I have used it on several occasions to gather additional information on how to treat and respond to various health questions. My husband wanted to know more about fish oil and it's affects on cholesteral so I pointed to the book. He was very happy with the information he found. I wanted to research childhood Asthma for my brother's son and I found helpful case studies on the topic. I found this book useful and informative, I especially liked reading case studies they were more helpful than reading an experts opinion. I will keep this book as both a tool and a reference in our family library for years to come.

My reading Take Back Your Health resulted in a classic "a-ha!" moment, when I clearly could see what I had half suspected: that poor nutrition and stress were contributing to my feeling generally "unwell" and burnt out. But even more importantly, I continue to use Take Back Your Health as a guide to understanding how to make easy and long term changes to my diet and outlook. It's the kind of book you pick up again and again, to refresh your understanding of good nutrition and exercise habits and to connect with the many real-life case studies included. Renee Simon has written a thoroughly accessible and practical book, and I thank her!

Renee Simon's book is a "must have" for every household. "Take Back Your Health" is a concise and informative guide to well being. Renee's own story illustrates the predicament many of us find ourselves in and provides the map for the journey out. What better testimonial than to say unequivocally: I've never felt better in all of my adult 50 years! What a pleasure to feel good every day.

Benson's book "Timeless Healing," contrary to its subtitle, "The Power and Biology of Belief," is not just for believers. Benson defines belief in epistemologically correct way: belief is nothing other than a set of operating assumptions, as a substitute for immediate and direct experience. It is with this epistemologically value-neutral manner that Dr. Benson approaches the topic at hand - the biology of expectation.

Benson - as most psychologists know from their grad studies - is the guy that brought the Relaxation Response to the West. Sure, the East-West synthesis had predated his writings and research, but Benson is arguably the first to have empirically studied and reported on the physiology that underlies relaxation.

The present book is an excellent resource for a behavioral medicine/health psychology clinician as well as for a general reader who is interested in leveraging the mind-over-body self-help. The book offers a cogent, highly accessible coverage of the concept of placebo (and its "evil twin," nocebo); it details the psycho-neuro-physiology of the relaxation response; it examines the variables that potentiate therapeutic suggestion and expectation in the clinician-client interactions; the book summarizes the mind-over-body research, and generally succeeds in making a good case for the need to infuse a greater degree of psychological savvy into the Western medical training.

The book is in some ways auto-biographical. Benson shares his journey from the medical establishment to the study of the relaxation response and, arguably, back to the medical establishment but on a mission of integrating what he had learnt.

As such, the book is a kind of life-review, perhaps, an attempt at professional legacy, and a suggested mission statement. A particularly secular reader might find Benson's book to be slightly evangelical. But Benson doesn't deceive: he checks his faith at the door, so to say, and offers an explicit "disclosure of belief." As a scientist-practitioner, he appears to be acutely aware of his potential for bias and narrates in a respectfully parenthetical manner, always seemingly cognizant of not overstepping the value boundaries of his hypotheses.

In short, Benson's "Timeless Healing" is an effective attempt to redefine "faith healing" in medical terms and to ground it in the axioms of behavioral medicine. Benson - in my opinion - succeeds in leaving a cosmopolitan enough legacy that is compatible both with secular and non-secular worldviews.

Pavel Somov, Ph.D.
Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, Nov. 2008)

This book is WONDERFUL not only for the one needing to be healed but for the "healers." I highly recommend it to anyone who is going through an illness or recovery process and those who are helping them through it.

I think what is amazing about this book is that Herbert Benson states without a doubt that faith in God is healthy for us. While our ancestors took it for granted that God healed them, as Dr. Benson explains, we have been taught to see healing purely in technical scientific terms. Dr. Benson explains that when we repudiated the importance of belief in healing we deprived ourselves of a powerful healing force.

Dr. Benson knows that his rational-scientific audience will be skeptical of his arguements. So, he provides us with well-reasoned arguements supported by ample evidence. He explains that we need to relax our over-stressed minds on a regular basis. We need this as an antedote to our hurried lives that stress us out and make us sick. He cites many studies (much from his own research) that daily meditation stimulates the bodies natural healing mechanisms.

Now, the radical finding of Dr. Benson's research is that belief in God makes a difference in healing. If a person meditates regularly using a spiritual phrase they are more likely to heal than those who use a secular word such as "peace". The person's religion doesn't matter. It seems that God is an equal opportunity healer.

Through many of the medical observations made by the authors, this book provides some interesting ideas about the connection between the mind and body. Even though we all know that stress (which comes from our minds) influences our health, many of us find it difficult to put the mind and body together in one equation. This book is a great attempt to begin making the bridge between the subjective and objective world. It is full of insightful ideas and inspiring anecdotes. Just excellent overall. If you'd like to read about a sound theoretical framework that explains many of these things, I strongly suggest "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. When I read Sato's book, everything clicked so much is was unbelievable!

This is a well-written book that clearly describes the links between our thoughts and our physical health. It is written in an accessible personal style, without the "guru" overtones of works by Deepak Chopra or Wayne Dyer (good writers, just with a different style). Everyone, regardless of their view of God, can benfit from the concepts of Remembered Wellness and the Relaxation Response described in this book. A personal recomendation - couple this book, with its "unproven healing energy", with Greg Bradden's "The Divine Matrix", which describes this energy, and you will be good to go.

Great book. You need to own this book. Gardner has really done her homework. I was amazed how much info is in this book. I actually started in the middle of the book, read a few chapters and now I have started from the front. I have learned a lot of new things, and things I didn't even think about. The only thing I disagree on is where Gardner wrote about Sundances. Perhaps the dances she has been to do no pierce but I have seen piercing and know many who do pierce. Other than that the book in a AA+ in my book. You will not be disappointed in the book.

This book is loaded with very useful information. I've referred several people to it for a variety of reasons.
It is sort of a clearing house for a number of healing modalities so it's useful as an overview. It doesn't offer in-depth information on any of the subjects covered, but has many references for further reading and research.
I would catagorize this book as a starting point if one is wanting to learn about healing with light and color, sound, crystals or aromatherapy.

Vibrational Healing Through The Chakras: With Light, Color, Sound, Crystals, and Aromatherapy This is a great book for those interested in alternative healing measures. It is fairly easy reading, even if you are not very familiar with waves and frequencies, etc., although I will probably have to read it again before it all sinks in. I would recommend it.

This is a all in one compendium of Vibrational Energy healing techniques. The author has a candid way to relate emotional defiant feelings and also reviews all the technical knowledge behind the facts in a "oh so simple language". I've already recommended it to 4 other friends (2 of which are healers). I love this book and I love you Joy!!!!
Thank you giving us as a gift, a share of your knowledge!!!

This book describes in great detail how the chakra system is influenced by light, color, sound, crystals and Aromatherapy. When you read it, it seems like a "connect the dots" effect. It gives you a good understanding how our physical & emotional body is influenced by our evironment. I can only recommend this read!

This is the definitive book on feng shue! It is not for people who are looking for fluff - this is serious, and well thought out. It has really worked to get me to focus on the important things in life and has helped in explaining the balance that we all need to have. I am now giving this book as a gift to people I care about! Thank you, Ms. Reichstein, for writing such a wonderful book.

As a Shiatsu (3rd year)student, this book is so helpfull for me, that I am using it every day.
It explaines every Element in such a way, that you can realy understand it and use it in every day's life.
I reccomend this book to everyone who wants to know more.

We all love now to take care of our own health, right ?! Few of us understand, though, the Chinese medicine, unless you read a lot of books on same subject. And then you have to "digest" the information and apply it patiently to yourself. WE ALL ARE UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS. And the ones who will borrow or buy this book will prove to be the smart ones too. Not only that I would recommend this book to all of you who want to change your life for the better (and get rid of your daily pains) but this book --among the thousands written -- is an eye-opener to many other self-healing directions. Beware, at first you will say to yourself that you will need TIME and PATIENCE to go through it (which none of us HAVE anymore!), but you will feel smarter than any doctor in this world, after you assimilate the knowledge in this book. It is better than you imagined by its modest title. One of the best-kept secrets (until now !), trust me on this one. Good luck to all of you !

this books is well written and provides a beautiful overview of the 5 elements and how they manifest in our world. i was looking for something that was more oriented towards the overall charater of the elements and less concerned with the technicalities of chinese medicine. i got what i was looking for.

This book is excellent for anyone starting to learn any aspect of Chinese healing or astrology. Everything is interconnected and this book expands that horizon. This should be a text book for a curriculum of any "Chinese" course. I have had no previous teachings of Chinese culture and this book explains it all without being too political

Bought this book for my yoga TT and found it very interesting, informative and deep. Definitely can recommend it. Sharka

i've got this book after a recomendation of my yoga instractor and just like she said - it helps put the yoga i take at the gym, which is mainly asanas (postures) in a larger context of both spiritual guidness and preseption as well as other live guiding filds, like breathing, eating, and over all living.

though it deals with a lot of topics who were new to me, and a lot of sanskrit turms, the book's very well arange and repeat to explain certion parts more then once so that i was sure to understand, it's very methodic and though it doesn't creat or recoment a spasific practice to live, like some, mostly more shallow book does, it give you certion guidlines and directions to find yourself withing the path of yoga and ayurveda.

the book approach the 3 dosha (type) help you realize what type you belong to (air, fire or water) and what are the best approachs for you concerning breathing, eating, asana practice, meditation and other filds of life. on top of that it gives a very whole phylosofical approach that i liked.

frewley is a very good teacher, he phrases things very clearly and arranged a lot of half known turms while filling a lot of the gaps for me, i enjoyed this book a lot and it had direct influence on my yoga practic.

The kind of books I like are the ones that are tagged, underlined,and worn. That indicates that it is not just another book for another books sake. This is one of those books. Teaching or practicing yoga without knowledge of ayurveda is like teaching with some knowledge of life missing. It links us to the macrocosm aswell as understanding our constitution beyond the physical body and is a must buy and study. It helps us to understand what we have to re-wire on an individual level to make progress on the spiritual path. Camella Nair - Author of Aqua Kriya Yoga

This book is perfect for those who already have some understanding of ayurveda/yoga/holistic health. It addresses the core principles and practices with a beautiful blend of spiritual lineage and academic rigor. This is definitely not an introductory-level book; it is a wonderful reference for those ready to move more deeply into these practices.

This book introduces, and covers a good deal of areas that, as far as I know, have never been covered before. His explanation of Soma is very sober and answers alot of questions. There is enough info in here for any person to gain, not only from his perspective but also for an informational aspect. Though there are meditation techniques I wouldn't just take up without Intensive Study into both subjects.

This is a very good manual, don't expect detailed explanations because there aren't. However, the diagrams are clear, precise and even though they are in black and white images they show everything that is necessary.
I have no experience on acupressure and I can say that this manual is really useful. I have tried the explanations exposed here and to my surprise they really work! immediately, great, useful knowledge!
Congratulations to the author.
Amazon's delivery to Mexico is just excellent, quick and efficient.

I am not generally the type to resort to alternative medicine but found this book extremely helpful. Several months ago I began having migrane headaches and consulted several doctors who prescribed painkillers. That didn't help, plus I really didn't want to be taking such medication full time. Then I came across this book, which was recommended by a friend. At first I was sceptical but my wife insisted that I try the techniques and I eventually saw improvement. Although the headaches sometimes recurr, I now know the techniques for managing them and don't feel the need for full time medication. Overall, I'd suggest this book to others who want to try to avoid doctor visits and tons of unnecessary medicine.

I have read a number of acupressure books before. Dr. Stein's book is the easiest to use. Finally, I can understand the location of acupoints, duration of massage, and direction of force. The illustrations are black and white but very clear.

My wrist was bothering me for over a year. I have tried wearing the splint but achieved little effect. My doctor was considering operation on my carpal tunnel nerve. I have decided to give a try to this Acupressure book. I was able to find trigger points indicated in the book easily - the description of the points was satisfactory. I have been massaging the points indicated in the book for several minutes each point. The pain subsided quickly after the massage. I have stopped treatment 2 weeks later. Now 3 weeks after I have stopped treatment I still have no problem with my hand.

Acupressure has been around for ages but as other holistic medical techniques it has not been a part of our Westen medical practice. People usually resorted to it after everything else (drugs, surgery, etc) failed to help in their particular medical condition.

Clearly, simple, self-administered, drug-free acupressure trechniques should be a starting point for treatment of any disease that is known to respond.

This book does not intend to give you a cure-all solution. To the contrary, the book (based on author's extensive research) gives you a "know-how" on addressing basic and common human medical problems that have been known since ancient China to respond to acupressure methods.

And this book proves it. Finally someone has let the cat out of the bag that alternative medicine has been used for centuries to conquer alcohol craving and alcohol abuse.
I'm happy drinkers have more options with this book. Now, in addition to cutting down or stopping, they can get a little extra help with the herbs and supplements in this book. Every drinker should own this book.

that message is we have to start thinking out of the box when it comes to
alcohol abuse treatment. i gave this book to a friend of mine who has a
drinking problem but was dead against stopping or going to AA. he was
receptive to this book because it gave him some organic alternatives to
drinking less. in other words it got him started doing something about
his drinking.

some people just need a little shove to do something about their drinking
and this book provided that little shove.

I'm a drinker who has struggled on and off with booze for years and I'm ecstatic someone has finally written about a more organic approach to problem drinking. This book gave me a different perspective. I was especially interested in how chinese and ayurvedic medicine treat drinkers and the concept of "balancing" my life so booze becomes less important and I drink less.

This book opened my mind up. I guess no ones written about alternative medicine to address alcohol abuse because the disease concept and AA are so deeply ingrained in the US.

I am so happy I came across this book at amazon. It's the only book I've
found that talks about how other alternative medicines and other cultures
view alcohol abuse and how to treat it. I was thinking about getting
prescription medication to cut the desire to drink but after reading this
I don't need to. There are lots of herbs to do that at the natural food
store. I've read Cornett's other book, 7 Weeks to Safe Social Drinking:
How to Effectively Moderate Your Alcohol Intake, and she always covers
interesting things.

For me the vitamin and supplement part was the best. It talks about things
you can buy over the counter to cut craving. The Chinese and Ayurveda
medicine parts were really interesting too.

I realize this is only one take on problem drinking. But if you take these
suggestions in the book, along with her program in her other book to
improve your drinking habits you can cut craving and consumption without
prescription medicine.

This is one of the most interesting books I've read about alcohol abuse - it really offers a different take on problem drinking and how to fix it. It's the first book I've found which discusses how different alternative medicine approaches have treated alcohol abuse for centuries - long before AA came along.
Homeopathic, Chinese and Ayurvedic and western herbs are covered - explaining how each of these systems views alcohol abuse, how it develops and the best ways to treat it. Another major theme of the book is balance. If one's life is a balance of physical, mental and spiritual components, the less need there is for alcohol. Truly a fascinating read and helpful to me personally.

This is one of my favorite books. I think I have purchased one for every family member. It gives a comprehensive look at conventional medicine, herbal medicine and homeopathy. What is particularly nice is that it gives the pros and cons of each treatment. After just being at my wits end years ago with going to my regular doctor and being prescribed antibiotics for a recurring infection this book gave me the tools to treat the problem and 6 years later I have never had another problem with the infection again. I can't stress enough how helpful this book can be, especially in a day and age when the doctor prescribes so many medications you need additional medications to combat the side effects from one or the other.

I am very glad I have this book as part of my reference library. It has come in handy several times. Dr. Walker is great!!

I like this book because it paints a broad picture: covering traditional medicine and then offering alternatives in homeopathy, herbal and chinese medicine. This is one of the only books I have seen which covers such a broad scope of alternative medicines from different disciplines and countries.

I have read this book and would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking into aternatives for modern medicine! This is one of the best herbal remedy books I have read. It gives what modern medicine would do for the problem, then gives many different herbal remedies to try.

This is an excellent resource for everyone. These are simple remedies that actually work. This book is an excellent alternative resource for many common problems. Most Americans are reluctant to try alternative remedies, but the rest of the world has used them with sucess for ages.

Very nice book for beginners and those who already know some.

I found this book easy to understand and great pictures to go with it

Liz Simpson was straightforward in describing the various aspects of crystals and their metaphysical properties. She brought enlightenment and inspiration to my practices. I definetly recomend this be the first book for a beginner!

The Book of Crystal Healing by Liz Simpson is one of the most comprehensive and informative books I have read dealing with crystals and chakra energy. It is a wonderful guide for new explorers and presents scientific beliefs as well as the ancient and spiritual. I especially loved the photos, art and all the references to ancient healing practices.

This book has lots of useful info. for those interested in Crystals. It gives a brief overview of the science and mystics behind crystals, as well as a brief description of the properties of 20 common crystals. It also has a short section on healing layouts. There are lots of beautiful pictures! However, this book doesn't give a very detailed description of any of the crystals, and is very limited in the amount of information it supplies. A great 'diving board', though.

The Book of Crystal Healing by Liz Simpson is one of the most comprehensive and informative books I have read dealing with crystals and chakra energy. It is a wonderful guide for new explorers and presents scientific beliefs as well as the ancient and spiritual. I especially loved the photos, art and all the references to ancient healing practices.

With modern medicine, Cancer is no longer a death sentence. "Cancer: The Complete Recovery Guide" is an inspirational guide dedicated to battling cancer and doing everything one can to fight the disease and hopefully overcome it. Doing its best to arm the reader with knowledge from everything about the various tests one must endure when faced with cancer to possible lifestyle alterations to various treatment methods, it lets the reader know that knowledge is power and to never give up. With many heart wrenching and heart warming stories as well, "Cancer: The Complete Recovery Guide" is a must for anyone who fears the dreadful diagnosis.

This book gives hope where before there was none.. It also lets you know that there is an answer to cancer and many different ways to recover from it besides radiation and chemo

Jonathan,
I applaud you....
The Sheridan family would love to speak with you about Protocel.
I did not know how to get a hold of you.. please contact me at
kathiedub@aol.com. thank you kathie

A very well written book and beautifully organized and easy to read and understand!
June

This book tells you what cancer is; what the pros and cons are with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy; what the other new mainstream treatments are; why cancer research is failing and what the alternative therapies are that many people are doing - often with great success: the additional diagnostic tests you might want to consider; the detox regimes; the diets, herbs, vitamins, supplements and other approaches that have helped. And it tells you about the pioneers that have been vilified despite anecdotal reports of success - and so on. This book aims to provide a complete picture of the world of cancer. And it does so without hectoring or vilifying people who hold different opinions. It recognises that we are all different and will make different choices. I should declare my own interest in this book. I am the author and I researched this book as a result of my wife dying from cancer (and from the direct effects of the treatment she submitted to). I vowed that I would not go the same way - but I needed to know what the options were. This book was written above all to inform myself. In the book I tell the stories of over a dozen people who recovered from their cancers using alternative approaches - and they used different approaches so I think it is fair to say there are dozens of cures for cancer - but you can't do them if you don't know what they are. And this book is written to be accessible. One reader wrote to me: " I devoured the entire [book] in one sitting. As I read hope grew and grew. I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You gave us hope when all we could see was despair and you gave us a path when we thought all was lost. "