Complementary-Therapy Books

I have the audio tapes of the book. Dr. Lad's speaking voice is soothing, clear and enunciation exact. The difference in cultural background requires a bit of consideration for some words but listening carefully any doubt is quickly alayed. I can't imagine anyone with English as a second language pronouncing it more clearly or charmingly. He sings parts of the Vedas, which is the basis of the Teaching of Ayurveda, melodically, clearly with resonance...I would love to sit in his classes and learn from him.

The information given starts at the most basic and allowed me to build a comprehensive data base upon which to build my learning. His many examples of the three doshas, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, give neumonics to attach my imagination to. He is thorough and the tape on conception, pregnancy and child care is outstanding...should be required teaching in every school. Ayurveda is about "The Science of Life," he says...and I would add, "of Living carefully and respectfully," with a vision to the next seven generations certainly...and beyond and back, most likely.

Dr. Lad's descriptions of the Philosophy of Ayurveda proves to me the theory that humans are the microcosmos of the macrocosmos. As simply as he states it, he equally completes the picture. Thank you, Dr. Vasant Lad!!

Ayurveda and its principles have been gradually becoming more
accessible to Westerners over the last thirty years. During this time,
a few books have appeared by Westerners on the topic offering an
overview of the field, a few have described materia medica in
Ayurvedic terms, and a few texts from India may be available. To date,
however, there has not been a single comprehensive textbook on the
topic written for the Westerner, by a Western clinical practitioner.
Todd Caldecott's book now fills that gap, and also corrects some
common misconceptions about Ayurveda.
Ayurveda was a dying medical system in India by the turn of the
twentieth century, preserved in a few family lineages in South Asia,
but largely supplanted by British colonial medicine and, in parts of
India, by Unani Tibb. After Indian independence in 1948, there was a
resurgence of interest in this traditional national system. The
resurgence unfortunately was not based on the extant thin lineages of
clinical practice, but on books, and filtered through the lens of a
sometimes-fundamentalist approach of twentieth-century Hinduism. Two
aspects of the resurrected Ayurveda as taught in North America are at
odds with the authentic original tradition. First, original Ayurveda was not a vegetarian system, contrary to common contemporary practice in North America. Second, the pulse diagnosis system in Ayurveda does not
differ essentially from the Chinese system. Caldecott, who was trained in a legitimate lineage in India, practices now in Canada, and supervised a teaching clinic there for some years at the Wild Rose College in Calgary, has corrected these distortions. This is not just a philosophical consideration. Fewer than 3% of the North American population adhere to a strict vegetarian diet, and insisting on this as the ideal diet, besides contradicting core original Ayurvedic literature, essentially rules out benefit to much of the other 97%. Caldecott's text shows how the broad principles of Ayurveda can be applied in the social and dietary realities of 21st century North America.
The book has everything you would expect in a textbook of humoral
medicine: theory, constitutional considerations, dietary and lifestyle
considerations, pharmacology and pharmacy, pathology and disease,
clinical methodology for assessment, therapeutic methods, a materia
medica of the fifty most important Ayurvedic herbs, and a formulary.

I have this one CD actually but it's the same. It's such a great and informative set of lectures to have. Great for serious students who are studying to practice Ayurveda and also just people who wish to improve the lives of themselves and family with Ayurveda.

If you want to get into the healing process very fast, start exercising, and rejuvenate your self very quickly. This is the book for you. It will show you the process of healing in steps including exercises. It is full of guided tables and provides a resource list for more info. and products at the end of each chapter. I have worked on some of the exercises and the cleansing process and I felt the Difference. ?

Thank you

This book builds on Ayurvedic Beauty Care by Melanie Sachs. Some of the material can be found in both books. If you don't have Ayurvedic Beauty Care, just get this. If you already have it, be prepared for thinking you've seen some bits of this book before, but most of them are covered in greater detail in this book.
This book is trying to be a book for home use AND for the professional massage/beauty therapist. This means some of the professional sections won't interest the home user (it means you'd skip over about a third of the book), and lots of professionals would think they don't have to worry about the home care sections, though they should - there is still a LOT of info in the home care sections that can be used by the professional (about a quater is aimed at the home user, the rest is aimed at the professional AND the home user). The basics are covered, but they also reveal some subtleties that are very important and explain why they are important.

NOTE: There are typos in the book, every now and then I had to stop and go 'what???' and then figure out what word it was meant to be - they need a better proof reader.

This book helped me so much, in trying to find out why my cat was pulling her fur out. We, along with our Vet, had tried everything, and nothing seemed to work. A friend recommended I try Dr. Bach`s Rescue Remedy, that is used to calm people and pets. I tried it, and then bought this book from Amazon.com. I found answers I needed, in this book, and went to their web site to send an email, asking if they had a remedy for cats pulling out their fur. They recommended two remedies, which I ordered. My cat has finally stopped pulling out her fur, and seems much more happy now! This is a very helpful book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has cats.

This is a great guidebook for the Bach flower remedy practicioner and lay person alike. It consists of a repertory of symptoms and lists the approrpriate remedy for each symptom. I've been using the remedies for a while, and it gave me some interesting new insights. I find that I am constantly consulting this book. This is a must for the library of any serious flower remedy user!

Dr. Borenstein is an engaging author who has written a book that demystifies back pain. The title page shows him in caricature as a physician who holds the prescription for your back pain. He dedicates the book to his patients and this caring, kindly tone is maintained throughout the book. The first chapters of the book introduce the basics of back pain causes and offer insights into understanding and making the most of physician visits. The book continues to explain diagnostic tests, basic back pain relief, mechanical back pain causes and treatments, medical causes of back pain, medications, exercise, complementary therapies, surgery, back pain prevention and sex with back pain. This is a useful, approachable book written by a concerned and knowledgeable practitioner. The illustrations are almost exclusively line art diagrams, they are of good quality but more illustrations would be helpful in conveying key concepts in the book. I will recommend this to those who have back pain.

Dylana Accolla and Peter Yates simplify chinese medicine and herbology for handling physical and emotional problems. Shows how to easily prepare chinese herbal remedies and also includes special exercises for special needs. This book is very easy to read and follow. A great book for anyone who wants to understand chinese medicine, but has been confused reading other books on the subject. I have personally used the treatments in this book and they work. I'm glad they wrote it!

Bradford Keeney begins the book by recounting an incredible story. He and his crew arrived in Bali in 2000 to interview and photograph a number of balians, who are the traditional healers of Bali. They can be male or female. The first problem was that their photographic equipment and luggage did not show up at the airport. Well, that happens. Bradford Keeney then turned in for the night in his guide's compound. At two in the morning he woke up to a huge explosion and the sound of rocks and sand sliding down the outside of his room and a thunderous stomping of feet on the roof. He was terrified and called for help but nobody heard him. Bradford Keeney wondered what he should do. He didn't really want to stay in Bali another night.

Then he remembered that balians make magical drawings. The cameras were gone, so he decided to change the nature of the project and publish a book about these magical drawings. His guide could collect them and he could leave Bali immediately. Instantly the terrible noises stopped. When he emerged in the morning everyone thought that this was a sign of what he should do. His guide then took him to Mangku Alit, the top balian in Bali, who went into a trance and contacted the god for all shamans, Jero Gede Macaling. He confirmed it. The luggage turned up without explanation. It was a good omen.

For a month they visited various balians, all of whom confirmed approval of the project. The book contains interviews with six balians, Mangku Alit, Jero Sekar Manik, Jero Tapakan, Jero Mangku Srikandi, Mangku I. Made Pogog and I Gusti Gede Raka Antara. They are not terribly revealing. There is no analysis or explanation such as undertaken by Angela Hobart in Healing Performances of Bali. The interviews are short and the balians just explain that the Balinese visit them when they suspect that invisible forces are at work and want protection. The balians go into trance and get the reasons for any misfortunes. Often they prescribe magical drawings. The vocation usually runs in the family.

The book's strength and interest lies in fifty five magical drawings. There are also pages of wonderful black and white photographs, although many do not appear to have anything to do with the subject matter of the book. That does not matter. The drawings are in a unique Balinese style, but probably influenced by Indian Hindu art. They are powerful and wildly surreal in appearance: deformed bodies, disembodied heads, multiple limbs, half human, half animal, snake like protuberances and tails, and flames emanating from heads, knees and feet.

Balians can be of the right or the left side - those on the right side use their powers for good. The drawings depicted in the book are all of the right. They are not frightening; they are just very strange. A page is devoted to each drawing and facing it is a brief description, how it is prepared and its purpose.

The magical drawings are usually drawn on white cloth with Chinese ink. They can also be engraved on gold, copper or tin plate, or even clay fragments. Some are worn in your pocket or belt for safety; some are attached to the entrance gate of a compound to stop evil forces or robbers from entering; and some are placed above the bedroom door to give you long life or above the bed for protection. One is drawn on a betel leaf and spat at a person who needs protection from witches. Another is drawn on a turmeric root and swallowed to stop you being poisoned. Yet another prevents smallpox entering the compound. The most intriguing are those than can make you invisible or help you fly. They are not all to do with people. Some protect animals; some prevent mice coming in; and some protect crops against disease.

The drawings are intriguing works of art in themselves. They are not art for art's sake: they have a serious purpose and function. Indirectly they lay bare the innermost concerns of the Balinese. They remind me of the elegant, energetic, expressive drawings of the remarkable I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, who lived from 1862 to 1978. It would be good to research if he was influenced by them. He was well-known to be interested in sorcery.

The magical drawings of the balians were shrouded in secrecy. This book reveals a bit of that secret knowledge and provides us with a great opportunity to see them. Most people never get the chance.

Murni
Ubud, Bali