Page Turners

“We can think of food in general, as well as the very act of cooking, in a similar vein. Good, fresh, wholesome ingredients have tremendous capacity to support the body and all its systems. Preparing those foods in ways that bring out their best—that make them more nourishing for the body and a feast for the senses—is a powerful form of medicine that cultivates the health of the body, mind, and spirit.”

—Brittany Wood Nickerson, Recipes from the Herbalist’s Kitchen

I’ve always loved that patch of stillness that succeeds the holidays: No work, no school, no parties to prepare for or gifts to buy. The sun doesn’t rise until 7:20 and it sets again just after 5, abandoning well over half of the day’s 24 hours to darkness. For me, this means I can embrace my tendencies toward hibernation without feeling antisocial. The first quiet days of January feel like a reprieve from the tumult of the previous year.

I’ve always had a compulsion to rid my closet of excess materials–clothing that has never been worn, books that have never been read, and papers that don’t provide any value – emotional, informational, or otherwise. While friends and family continued to collect clutter, I remained baffled at how they could sleep at night with messy bedrooms, kitchen cupboards so full they couldn't close, and desk drawers stuffed with random gadgets and trinkets that would never be touched again. Over the years, I believed myself to be the odd one out, forever plagued with a compulsion to clean.

The gut seems to be the next hot topic, with prebiotics, probiotics, and gut health as innocuous as talk about the weather.

Raw dairy, sprouted bread, cooked vegetables and organ meats might not seem like trending cuisines, but traditionally prepared foods are making a comeback, in part thanks to knowledgeable researchers and scientists. Catherine Shanahan, M.D., is one such researcher.

A dear friend gifted me the book How Yoga Works by Geshe Michael Roach. After tearing away the wrapping paper to expose a yellow cover displaying the chin mudra and the title How Yoga Works, my initial thought was, Okay, an instructional book about yoga…nice.

Self-Healing: Master Your life

By Chris King

Master Your Life contains some great and exciting information on how to heal yourself through powerful energy healing techniques, holistic healing mechanisms and positive affirmations. This book will empower you with the ability and belief that you can heal yourself -- a chance to become the captain of your own ship. You will explore the idea of psychological, social and spiritual stability as a cure for your sickness.  

This self-help book offers

It wasn’t until I started running (very) long distances that the need for proper nutrition became clear to me: I needed to reduce inflammation in my body and to do that, I needed to focus on anti-inflammatory foods. The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book by Jessica K. Black, N.D., was the perfect guide, or so it seemed.

Is it possible to look and feel your best while eating the most delicious food? Canadian nutritionist and founder of the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, Meghan Telpner, asks and answers that very question in her latest book, The Undiet Cookbook: the answer is a resounding yes!

Natural Health, Natural Medicine: The Complete Guide to Wellness and Self-Care for Optimum Health by Andrew Weil

This book is a guide to preventive health maintenance. It also includes suggestions for treating many common ailments on your own with methods that are safe, natural, effective, and not as expensive as standard medical treatments. If you are looking to live a more conscious and healthy lifestyle, this book is a good read for you.

This book offers: