It feels like a long time since I’ve written a book review – indeed life as meant that my reading throughput has dropped off considerably in recent months.  I started this book in September last year, and have only just finished it.  Not because its a bad book, or a particularly long one – just, well, life.

Anyway Diabetes in all its forms is a very significant heath issue in modern society, and for anyone with diabetes its impact on their health is significant.

The “for” in this book doesn’t imply a prescriptive process for curing diabetes – indeed there is no cure as such, although in recent years emerging evidence has suggested that diet and lifestyle can help to generate s significant remission from Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome its precursor.   Rather the “for” in this title is a wide ranging look at how Yoga can help people with both Types 1 and 2 Diabetes.  As such the authors non judgemental approach, although we should expect nothing else in Yoga, is welcome, and doubtless guided by her own experiences of living with Diabetes. 

The author starts with an invitation to “Change the Narrative”, thats to say seeing Diabetes as part of a persons makeup rather than something which defines them – “I am whole, I am not Diabetes”.  She then guides us through some of the physiology of Diabetes and its link with stress.  We are then invited to look at how Yoga can assist in living with and managing Diabetes focusing especially on the energetic and emotional ramifications, and the effect of Diabetes on Mental Health. 

In all this comes across as a well written book for both those with Diabetes and those in the Yoga world supporting them.  It cuts a good balance between theory and practicalities, and shows positive ways to use Yoga manage the condition and promote general personal well-being alongside Diabetes.  In all a useful book.

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He is, of course, a Medical Doctor, and has had good verified results with his work on cardiac rehabilitation.

This book, written with his wife, is about his three stage approach to heading off, and reversing, chronic disease such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, high blood pressure, depression, weight gain and high cholesterol.

Thats quite a wide spectrum of conditions to take on.  The authors address this by looking at the science behind lifestyle medicine – promoting health through lifestyle rather than medical treatment.  In particular through a whole food plant based diet, moderate exercise, stress management and love, social support and intimacy  – summarised as “eat well, move more, stress less, love more”.   Its a persuasive combination, which the authors cover well, and, quite correctly, they caution not to disregard personal medical advice and treatment, including prescribed drugs, at the same time.  If I had a couple of criticisms of the book, first would be that its American in its outlook and some of the terminology reflects this, and secondly half of the 500 pages are recipes, again with an American orientated ingredient list.

Those two criticisms don’t detract from an otherwise useful book, and a useful contribution to the lifestyle medicine field.  I’d endorse it to anyone who is facing chronic conditions.

You can buy UnDo It by Dean and Anne Ornish from Amazon

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Unwinding Anxiety – Train Your Brain to Heal Your Mind

Anxiety. What’s your response to the word?

Before I trained as a Yoga Therapist anxiety was something I saw in the abstract; it didn’t effect me, or those in my circle. I’d admit that Yoga Therapy changed my outlook on, and indeed my attunement to, anxiety – my experience is it’s prevalence is much higher that we realise, and indeed we don’t always appreciate how anxiety forms a part of our emotional landscape. Not, of course, for everyone, but more common than we realise.

Anyway, it is one thing to recognise anxiety, another thing to tackle it and disentangle it’s threads. Here is where this book comes in.

It’s a useful guide to how our brains process circumstances and situations, and how anxiety is part of that, and practical ways we can change – in the authors words unwind – this link. The author sets out to guide us through this journey on a practical basis, with explanation, suggested ways of reframing our thinking, and case histories from his practice.

It would be easy for a book like this to fall into being trite and simplistic, or overly technical, but to the authors credit it’s neither. I feel there is enough detail to explain the problems from a neuro-scientific perspective, and enough practical wisdom to provide suggestions for action. If there was an observation on my part it would be that the authors approach seems somewhat formulaic, which will suit some people and not others, but clearly if the approach works for you then all well and good.

In all I felt this a useful well written book, and for anyone experiencing anxiety it’s worth the read.

You can buy Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer on Amazon

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The Clot Thickens – The Enduring Mystery of Heart Disease

Many of us have concerns about Heart Disease, which seems to be a scourge of modern society.  And many of us probably try and eat low fat, and watch our cholesterol levels.

So far so good.  But the science and research isn’t always clear.  That much is obvious if you consider all the different diet approaches recommended – low fat, low carb, high protein, etc.

Dr Kendrick is a British GP and author who gets beneath some of the research and asks the awkward questions.  Is what we know, and common health approaches, actually backed up by research and science?  In this case, are the causes of Heart Disease as simple as poor diet and high cholesterol?  Are there other factors?

I’m not going to précis Dr Kendricks thoughts as they are complex, and a short post won’t do them justice; suffice to say he suggests that the causes of heart disease are more nuanced.  What I will say is he has an engaging and clear writing style, with a good mix of detail versus readability, and for anyone concerned about their heart health – all of us, maybe – the book is worth a read. 

One thing I did note was his endorsement of both nasal breathing and the importance of relaxation, for which he suggests yoga but recognises there are other options.

In short a well written book, and an important contribution to promoting health and well-being.  Worth a read if you are interested in this field.

You can buy The Clot Thickens – The Enduring Mystery of Heart Disease by Dr Malcolm Kendrick on Amazon

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A short book about Wisdom, this is based on the Toltec Tradition, which I hadn’t heard of, apparently stemming from Mexico.

Wisdom, so long as filtered through common sense, is Wisdom.  And the ideas here could easily come from India, China or Europe.  That is not intended to cause offence in any way, but practically there are overlaps in what the various Wisdom traditions teach, especially when it comes to practical rules of daily living. and observance.

That said its nice to read a different perspective on Wisdom – it stimulates thought and contemplation.

The Four Agreements are stated as:

• Be Impeccable With Your Word
• Don’t Take Anything Personally
• Don’t Make Assumptions
• Always Do Your Best

I think its hard to argue with those?  Yet how often do we not adhere to them?  I know I am someone who easily takes things too personally, and almost certainly I jump to assumptions.

Over 140 easy to read pages the author then expands these concepts, and whilst there were no earth shattering revelations here, none the less the exposition was useful and thought provoking.  Hopefully a bit of it rubbed off.

If you would like some holiday reading, something for a train or plane journey, or a fresh outlook, you could do worse than this little book.

You can buy The Four Agreements on Amazon

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The Happy Brain – The Science of Where Happiness Comes From, and Why

I guess happiness comes fairly high up the list for all of us, but sometimes its difficult to put of finger on exactly what it is, and how we achieve it.

Although there are many philosophical approaches to this question, in this book the author concerns himself with neurobiology of happiness; what makes our brain happy, and what does this mean in practice?

In short its complex.  Thats not surprising, else science would have delivered us the elixir of happiness.  However we can see patterns in the brain that correlate to happiness, and use these to understand a little more about the idea, and its this that the author tackles.   I would suggest this book is aimed at the amateur scientist – thats to say its not a weighty professional manual, but equally its not a glib and forthy read-this-and-be-happy manual.  The author has an engaging and accessible writing style, with sufficient detail for understanding without getting bogged down.

For me, as is often the case, there was little new in this book, but it was a useful refresher of previous reading, study and training, and helped to cement my understanding.  As such its a book I’d recommend to practitioners and professionals interested in the idea of happiness, and wanting to learn a little more about how it presents in the brain.

Worth a read.

The Happy Brain by Dean Burnett can be purchased from Amazon, and if you use this link, Yinspire earns a small commission

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Restoring Prana – A Therapeutic Guide to Pranayama and Healing Through the Breath for Yoga Therapists, Yoga Teachers and Healthcare Practitioners

The breath holds a critical place in both our physiological and our emotional landscapes; at one level the breath sustains physical life and cellular respiration; at another it is the link between the voluntary and autonomic branches of the nervous system; at yet another level it is a key barometer on how we feel, our inner landscape, at any one time; and then yet further still yogis endow the breath as being synonymous with Prana, the life force and essential energy behind our subtle bodies.

Writing a comprehensive and multi faceted guide to these disparate threads is a tall order, but one the author has achieved as she systematically works through the physiology, anatomy and biochemistry of breathing along with Prana, the subtle body and our Energy.

Pranayama – the yogic breath practices – come with quite a legacy of differing practices, methods and intentions across differing yoga styles, and the author does well to avoid getting caught up in competing dogmas in this area.  Instead she strips Pranayama back to simple practices with little effort behind them, which certainly appeals to myself as a practitioner.

On such a wide ranging topic there cannot be definitive approaches to what are very personal experiences and practices, and inevitably there are aspects of the authors recommendations for therapeutic use of the breath I would diverge from; yet I found  this book a stimulus to benchmark, challenge and reconsider practices, professional and personal, even if my own experiences differ.

This is, as the sub title suggests, very much a book for the professional in yoga, therapy or healthcare, but experienced practitioners will certainly gain from it as well. 

At just under 400 pages its a comprehensive work, one which I learned from, and which I will keep to return to.

Restoring Prana by Robin L Rothenberg can be purchased on Amazon

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We Are Our Brains – From the Womb to Alzheimers

Thinking about the brain has a tendency to become existential – how can a brain comprehend a brain?  In dissection class I’ve been privileged on a couple of occasions to hold the football sized object that science suggests makes us who we are – our thoughts, our memories, our personalities. 

Of course there are external influences on our brains – genetic inheritance, nurture, the environment we find ourselves in.  Some would argue for external spiritual and energetic influences.   But it all comes together in the brain and nervous system.

Needless to say the brain is complex.  And so the author, a neurobiologist embarks on this 400 page magnum opus exploring what goes on in our brains from conception to death.

Its a big topic, and one which he dispatches with an easy understandable style, interspersed with opinion and practical asides.  The book comes across as aimed very much at the non specialist reader, be it professionals in other health and wellbeing disciplines, or the curious lay reader – certainly its not a textbook as such, more an exploration and exposition.

A lot of the content I had covered before in professional training, but as always there were a few nuggets of extra information, plus reinforcement of prior knowledge, and it was a book I found both useful and fascinating, and one which demanded attention.

For anyone interested. professionally or personally, in the brain, its a book I’d recommend.

We Are Our Brains by Dick Swaab can be purchased on Amazon

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I read recently – and alas I cannot track down the quote now – something along the lines of “Although their beliefs may differ, in practical terms the lifestyle of a devout Buddhist, a devout Christian and a devout Muslim, wouldn’t be much different” – thats not to trivialise the differences in our cultures and beliefs, but to highlight that often the practical differences are not great.

And so to this book, written by an Anglican Priest who is also a Zen Teacher.  Within it the author explores the parallels between Zen Wisdom and aspects of Christianity, most notably contemplative prayer, and looks at how Zen Wisdom can support the contemplative aspects of Christianity.

Its a useful work, and one which I found helpful to myself in setting out that reconciliation between the differing philosophies.  Its a reflective work, and not one to rush.  For anyone interested in how a broader philosophical view can support their faith, it certainly is a book I’d recommend.

Zen Wisdom for Christians by Christopher Collingwood can be purchased from Amazon, and using this link enables Yinspire to earn a small commission

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I was pleasantly surprised by this book – its eminently readable, and practical, and benefits from the insights of a Monk and Neuroscientist. The approach is to try and create a “user manual” for the Human Experience, something both ambitious and at risk of being trite, but in fact comes across well.

Topics covered include Evolution – how we got the brains we did – Thoughts, Emotions, Compassion, Addiction.  These are looked at it terms of what Brain and Mind are doing, and how we may both understand and influence that process.  This is back up by the “riff” – discussion – between Wax and her Monk and Neuroscientist friends to see their perspectives.

It comes across well, and whilst there was little new for me, it certainly was refreshing to see the content in an easy to understand format and I benefited from the update and revisiting these ideas.

For anyone wanting to know a little more about why they think, feel and behave the way they do, I’d endorse this work.

How To Be Human can be purchased on Amazon

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Sometimes, I’m sure we all agree, life can be a bit “meh”.  Unfulfilling.  Uninspiring   Eastern originating philosophies like Yoga and Buddhism, unsurprisingly, have thoughts on this, as indeed, albeit slightly differently does the Judeo-Christian philosophy thats dominant in our society,

From the Eastern perspective such issues tend to boil down to “discontent”.  Language and culture doesn’t help us here; we tend to automatically associate discontent with “put up and shut up”; but the Eastern approach is more to understand the roots of discontent, and to ask how our outlook can be changed?  Sometimes this requires hard, critical, work; anything other than that and we risk falling into the trap of spiritual bypassing.

Into this arena comes this book.  The cover describes the author as “combining Jungian, Buddhist and mythic perspectives in his work”.  His thrust is to look at some of the common longings we all have – Love, Meaning, Freedom, Happiness and Growth in his analysis – and to understand what we are seeking, and what prevents us from enjoying it.

The work runs to some 170 pages – mercifully shorter than some other authors – and has an accessible approach which avoids being dictatorial or confrontational, but instead takes the reader through a process of analysis and consideration.

From my perspective there was little new in this book.  But thats no bad thing, sometimes we need to re-emphasise the basics and re-consider our perspectives.

For anyone who is looking at opportunities for personal growth, or to shake off malaise, then although this book won’t be a quick fix, and indeed doesn’t claim to be, certainly its thought provoking and worth a few hours reading. 

The Five Longings by David Richo is available on Amazon, and using this link will generate a small commission for Yinspire.

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Buddhism for Busy People – Finding Happiness in an Uncertain World

Well, we could all use a little more happiness, right?

Alas there are no simple solutions, but over the years the tenets of Buddhism have certainly peculated into the lives of many people and helped to change peoples outlook.  In turn the changed outlook helps us release suffering and find a contentment – happiness – underneath.

Framed around a period in the his life, and to that extent autobiographical, in this book the author explores someone the key concepts of Buddhism in a simple and relevant manner with a beginners mind.  Its not a full exposition of the topic, but certainly provides a useful primer for the interested.  Many of the ideas from Buddhism translate across to a yogic outlook on life.

The author has a warm and easy writing style, and this was an easy read. 

Its worth mentioning that many of the Eastern philosophies – Yoga and Buddhism for example – take one step back from a theistic understanding of God, and to this end, certainly for me, can live alongside being a Christian – they are philosophies and ideas which can exist alongside other faiths.

A book that is worth a read if you are interested in the basics of Buddhism or Buddhist spiritual concepts.

Buddhism for Busy People: Finding Happiness in an Uncertain World can be purchased on Amazon

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Topics covered are “The Mirror of God”, “The Sadhana of Joy”, “The Sadhana of Peace” and “The Sadhana of Love”.  Sadhana, by the way, may be thought of as a disciplined practice.

Yoga philosophies are many, diverse and complexly interwoven and although this work only scratches the surface, the topics are thought provoking and inspiring.  The view I take is that all reading of this nature helps ideas to peculate and settle in our spiritual awareness.

This is an ideal book for someone wanting to scratch the surface a little on Yoga philosophies or someone seeking a little bit of inspirational and uplifting holiday reading.

Inner Treasures by Swami Chidvilasananda is available on Amazon

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Yoga for Diabetes- How to Manage Your Health with Yoga and Ayurveda

Diabetes is a common condition in the UK, thought to effect 6% of the population. It has a number of negative impacts on people’s health.

There is evidence that yoga can play a part in managing Diabetes and promoting good health, alongside traditional medical treatment.

The author of this book was diagnosed with Late Onset Adult Diabetes, LADA, and writes from her own experience.

For someone with Diabetes interested in how yoga may help them, this book will be a useful primer on the topic, but not at the expense of working with an experienced Yoga Therapist or Yoga Teacher. It’s focused on a mixture of Yoga, Ayurveda and lifestyle, all of which will assist. It also features a little of the authors personal journey which may well be useful in inspiring people.

However as a Yoga Therapist I was a little disappointed in the scope of the work, in so far as it didn’t really look at the science behind Yoga and Diabetes, and how Yoga can influence Endocrine response and secondary symptoms; I wished for a book that went somewhat further.

So, in summary, a useful book for the yoga practitioner, but not really in depth enough for the yoga professional.

The post Reading: Yoga for Diabetes- Rachel Zinman (2017) appeared first on Yinspire Yoga Therapy.

The Path – A New Way to Think About Everything

In the Yoga world Eastern philosophies are very popular, but mostly from the area we now know as India, less so from the western side of the Himalayas, the area we know as China, where the philosophy is both less well known and considered more esoteric.

This book is a easy to read primer on Chinese philosophy.  Its focus is on looking at the works of various Traditional Chinese philosophers, and relating what they taught in the past to modern day Western world; potentially a difficult task, but one which the authors manage very well, with both clarity and accessibility.  The authors keep very much on focus and manage to explain the concepts without getting bogged down in semantics. 

The book isn’t a philosophy textbook in the normal sense, and its audience is definitely the casual reader rather than the philosophy student.  Its likely to be a engaging read for anyone with an interest in philosophy and thinking, looking to take a first step into the topic.  I found it useful to expand my limited existing understanding of this body of thinking.  A very readable work, 200 pages or so, which I would recommend.

The Path by Professor Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh can be purchased on Amazon, and using this link earns Yinspire a referral commission

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The author is a Consultant Neurologist, and in this work she is investigating a selection of unusual psychosomatic illnesses – conditions which span mind and body, and which defy conventional treatments.  Amongst other things she investigates refugee children who will not wake up; mystery symptoms of US diplomats in Cuba; clusters of children in one school having seizures.

At first glance this isn’t a Yoga book, so why am I writing about it?  Well, as many readers will know as well as being a Yoga Teacher I am a Yoga Therapist, the latter being a discipline which bridges Yoga and Healthcare, and from that perspective I see many instances where simple solutions are applied without success to more complex problems; this is partly a failing of medics not being as thorough at they might; partly of patients seeking simple solutions – the “pop a pill” culture; and partly a failing of a society where medical treatment is time pressurised and medics are guided toward quick fixes.  But some things aren’t quick fixes, and can’t be cured with a course of tablets – its cases of this nature that the author is considering. 

And all of this goes to emphasise how we create false dichotomies of physical and mental health – the Cartesian Divide – whereas in reality the two exist in close interdependency, hence the idea of a BioPsychoSocial model of health, recognising Biological, Psychological and Social influences on health.   In turn this firmly brings us within the ambit of practices like Yoga – so called “Mind Body” practices – where we can work on all these threads.  None of which is, of course, to say Yoga would have cured or prevented the illnesses the author writes about.  But the author’s investigations underscore the importance of a wider approach to health, of which Yoga can be part.

Fascinating reading for anyone interested in Mind Body health.

The Sleeping Beauties by Suzanne O’Sullivan can be purchased on Amazon

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Originally published in 1989, this is the 2015 revision and the author takes the opportunity to reflect on developments in the intervening period.   Its fair to say a lot has changed in those 26 years, and much of the authors writing, which would have been radical back in 1989, is now more accepted.  There are two central tenets to his writing.  The first of these is that there is more to healing than medical treatment delivered by doctors, and our own lifestyle choices and psycho- emotional outlook can influence our health and recovery from illness.  The second tenet is that there is more to our make-up than cells and DNA; there is some type of source behind how we develop – this is where his use of “Quantum” comes in, defined loosely as the “smallest unit that can be called particlelike”, thats to say the cause or source behind our makeup – yogis may know it as Prana or lifeforce; Christians as the creator – its stepping outside of science and into philosophy, which is no bad thing, but the boundary does need to be acknowledged.

The problem with this genre of book is that it can be “preaching to the choir”, thats to say those who read it are already to a large degree aligned to its values and content, and thus its message largely fails to reach a wider audience.

For anyone interested in Mind Body Medicine this is an interesting read, but it is grounded more in opinion and anecdote than science, and the tone is a little bombastic.  As I say its not a bad work, but maybe not the best or clearest.  I enjoyed it, and it re-enforced some of my existing learning, but I can’t say I gained a lot from its content. 

Quantum Healing can be purchased on Amazon, and using this link earns a small commission for Yinspire.

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It was worth waiting for!  It is a book that bridges science and what may loosely be called “new age” well-being, and it does so well. 

The author was a Psychopharmacologist whose professional career was largely around the molecular basis of emotion in our body – what happens and a physiological basis when we feel?  This book takes that further – what does this mean in our daily life, and how does it tie into more esoteric concepts around wisdom, energy and spirit?  The late author addresses these points in a novel, but effective way, by charting the very course of emotions and difficulties that came up whilst she was writing the book, and simultaneous difficulties and tensions in her professional careerer, and how these may be understood from a perspective of science and spirit.  This could be at best a difficult way of writing, at worst clumsy, but along with her co-author Nancy Marriot, she pulls it off well, and the book presents a coherent and grounded work, reconciling the two polarities of science and spirit well.

Is everything she says correct?  Maybe, maybe not, some of the spiritual concepts are beyond anything other than empirical personal proof, but it can’t be denied that we benefit from reconciling the polarities of scientific discovery and empirical wisdom, and the late author has made a useful contribution to this.

When writing these reviews I often ask myself what did I learn from the book?  Difficult, as its a narrative of the authors own journey, but certainly there was a useful refresher here of some things I’ve covered before in my own studies and exploration, and the writing was helpful to me in both refreshing my outlook, bringing concepts together and giving me some new perspectives to think on,

Its not a text book, but an exploration of the boundaries between science and spirit, and worth a read if you are interested in that area.

Everything You Need to Know to Feel Good can be purchased on Amazon, and using this link Yinspire earns a small referral fee

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A Mind of Its Own – How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives

The human brain is a wonderful thing to behold – not much to look at and hold, but far more powerful and versatile than any man made computer or artificial intelligence device.  However, as someone wise once said, each advantage has an equal and opposite disadvantage, and in the case of the human brain, one of these disadvantages is that it can distort reality and jump to conclusions, trying to be too clever.

I hasten to make it clear, this is not an intentional process.  But much of the human brains power comes from an element of anticipation and pre processing – for example if you touch something hot, you start to flinch and move away before your brain has registered pain in concious awareness, as other quicker brain systems have already acted.  A protective flinch is one thing, but the brain also interprets a lot of what we hear, see and feel, to give us quick and nuanced responses in ways we are not aware.  So far so good, but that process induces certain biases – nominative determinism is a well known and perhaps fun one, but there are other more subtle biases in how we see ourselves others and the world around us, and how we react.  Factors as diverse as childhood, time of day, diet and mood can influence responses; likewise our brains can be “primed” by scientists to exhibit certain biases.

The author is a Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science, so is well equipped to help us explore some of these biases, as she does so variously describing our brains as Vain, Immoral, Deluded. Pig Headed, Secretive, Weak Willed and Bigoted.  Ouch!  But all these traits are a part of how our brain filters and presents information and senses to us efficiently.  Of course the flip side is the biases can be manipulated nefariously, and they can also set the seeds for Mental Health concerns.  She explores these topics with humour and in a readable and approachable manner, with, at least for me, the right level of detail and interest.  Unusually for a neuroscience based book approaching 15 years old, it still feels contemporary.

For anyone interested in how the brain misleads and distorts, this certainly is a useful and interesting read.  Whilst most of its content I had covered before, it was certainly a welcome refresher, and equally useful to see some aspects under a different light. 

A Mind of Its Own by Cordelia Fine can be purchased on Amazon, and using this link earns Yinspire a small commission

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Of late I’ve been a little jaded about spirituality / self help / wisdom titles, and being honest I went into this book with low expectations, indeed, not wanting to like it.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by its practicality and warmth, and came away feeling this is one of the better books of the genre.

The author defines Radical Acceptance as “Radical Acceptance reverses our habit of living at war with experiences that are unfamiliar, frightening or intense.  It is the necessary antidote to years of neglecting ourselves, years of judging and treating ourselves harshly, years of rejecting this moment’s experience.  Radical Acceptance is the willingness to experience ourselves and our life as it is.  A moment of Radical Acceptance is a moment of genuine freedom.”. 

The author is both a Buddhist Teacher and a Clinical Psychologist, and this sees a work which encompass both Western and Eastern Psychological aspects; my own experience is blending the two works well, and I felt aligned with a lot of what she was suggesting.

The danger with any approach to acceptance is Spiritual Bypassing – simply getting lost in Spirituality and not dealing with the nitty gritty – and this work does well to steer well away from that tendency, which makes it a far better work than some I have read.  Instead there is a gentle and readable focus around insight and understanding how we are how we are.  Again, this is something I warm to – if I were to be asked to summarise my Yoga practice in one word, Insight would be it.

In short, if you are dealing with “stuff” – low self esteem, mental health, recovery from life trauma, then this is a good practical book on Insight style Buddhist enquiry practices that may help – nothing OTT, just good wisdom.  Its a book I’m happy to recommend.

You can buy Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach on Amazon.

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