The Tao of Fertility
By Daoshing Ni, DOM, LAc, PhD and Dana Herko
Collins, 2008
Reviewed by Natalie D-Napoleon
The Tao of Fertility
Daoshing Ni (better known as Dr. Dao) draws on his ancestral experience as a healer (belonging to seventy-four generations of masters) and his skill as an acupuncturist to present a holistic approach to conception using Taoist principles in conjunction with Western medicine. With co-author Dana Herko, this approach acknowledges women’s voices and provides a balanced and empowering approach to people dealing with fertility issues.
The Tao of Fertility offers the reader both emotional and practical support through the trials of fertility treatment. A reassuring tone prevails throughout with statements such as “Realize that no matter what the diagnosis is, you have options.” Dr. Dao and Herko list diet dos and don’ts, including a selective menu in synch with the menstrual cycle, recommend organic produce and outline fertility herbs.
Two well-structured questionnaires give the reader a chance to realistically reflect on the challenges they face in terms of health and fertility. The empowering components of this program give clear and practical instruction, such as Dr. Dao’s Qigong exercise program for fertility, self-help acupressure and the “Invocation for Fertility.” Support is also provided for situations when Western medicine proves necessary; Dr. Dao offers methods to work alongside medical interventions to ensure a successful outcome.
One of the strengths of The Tao of Fertility is the way the authors give women’s voices a prominent feature. By sharing case studies and first-person testimonials this is an approach that empowers women whose voices have increasingly been ignored in Western medicine. The Tao of Fertility is an often moving, well-presented book that covers the emotional, spiritual and medical journeys of fertility treatment with an Eastern heart and consideration for the Western mind.
The Therapeutic Yoga Kit
By Cheri Clampett and Biff Mithoeffer
Healing Arts Press, 2009
Reviewed by Felicia M Tomasko, RN
The Therapeutic Yoga Kit
Therapeutic Yoga is a remedy for the challenge of these stressful times,” say the authors of The Therapeutic Yoga Kit in this newly released multimedia work.
Authors Cheri Clampett and Biff Mithoeffer know about the healing potential of Yoga practice and offer this guide from their experience in their own lives and teaching. The two are both accomplished writers and teachers. Mithoeffer is also the author of the popular Yin Yoga Kit and in this work, teams up with his long-term dear friend Clampett. Clampett is known to many for her loving and gentle approach to therapeutic Yoga and she teaches ongoing classes, workshops and teacher trainings in her current home at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center, the White Lotus foundation, a number of Yoga studios and retreat centers (including Feathered Pipe Ranch and healing centers such as the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara). The synergy of the two authors and their intertwining expertise and suggestions drawn from putting these techniques into practice offers a treasure trove of wisdom.
In addition to the beautifully crafted text featuring self-care hints and practices to create a healing environment, the heart of the book offers sixteen therapeutic postures for healing and transformation that integrate quiet inward-focused yin awareness. Clampett and Mithoeffer sketch out a comprehensive map of how to utilize props and blankets to support a variety of body types, ability levels and circumstances. The kit also includes sixteen cards that outline the basics of each pose for reminders on the go or on the mat and an audio CD with instructions for four poses and a soothing and inspiring guided meditation, led by Clampett with healing music by Jack Lee.
This kit is an invaluable reference for teachers and students at any juncture of their practice, teaching or personal healing.
Spiritual Liberation
By Michael Bernard Beckwith
Atria Books / Beyond Words, 2008
Reviewed by Lindsay J. Greene
Spiritual Liberation
Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center and featured teacher in The Secret, has created a perfectly practical guide for the newbie spiritual seeker and the well-seasoned practitioner. Spiritual Liberation helps anyone navigate the inner and outer terrain of a life infused with conscious intentionality.
Beckwith possesses a beautiful capacity to recognize truth in every way of being, be it from a spiritual or healing tradition, or the words of a political leader or gas station attendant. The breadth and depth of his wholistic intelligence is illustrated in easeful reading and enticing wordsmithery, etymological expositions and masterful metaphors. Humorously human stories of his own awakening experiences mingle with excerpts from spiritual traditions, lyrics from his wife Rickie Byars Beckwith’s illumined music and affirmations along the path of spiritual awakening.
Affirmations and “embodiments” at each chapter’s close are particularly beautiful on the audio version which features sweet instrumental accompaniment from Rickie. Contemplations such as wishing well to fellow freeway drivers and guided gratitude meditations encourage the reader to evolve out of the limited “me and mine” mindset into a more generous way of being. Beckwith inspires readers to become more “spiritually mature” and explains how to “energetically shapeshift” out of habitual patterns that keep one stuck in fear, worry and doubt and entrain oneself into a feeling tonality of pulsating potential and limitless love. I recommend Liberation to all spirits expressing themselves in human form.
By Media Reviewers
