A detailed manual that makes a coherent case for its theories of physical and emotional wellness.
Physicist and physiologist Wallace, medical doctor Clark, and attorney Marcus provide readers with a tour of the mind and body’s “coherence” systems and unpacks their importance in this holistic-healing guide.
Optimal health, the authors say, is guided by the “coherence principle,” which aims to “prevent and overcome disorder and disease by creating order in the diseased part of the physiology.” Coherence, they assert, leads to a strong immune system, and fully functioning self-healing systems to repair DNA. Wallace, Clark, and Marcus lay out how the body’s physiological “levels”—which they define as skin, internal organs, tissues, cells, and DNA—are linked by this concept of coherence. “All biological functioning is rhythmic and harmonious,” they say, and they offer specific formulas for achieving maximum wellness through nontraditional methods. The book also details the immune-boosting effects of particular foods and spices, and asserts the healthful effects of the alternative therapy known as Vedic sound healing. It looks at cultural differences around food consumption, and turns a critical eye on the United States, noting Americans’ tendencies toward chronic diseases, obesity, and painkiller addiction, resulting in shorter lifespans. It also asserts that the fact that Americans treat symptoms, instead of underlying imbalances, may be a major part of the problem. The authors make bold claims at the start of this book, saying that it “describes a simple, yet profound formula for enhancing health and even generating happiness and high performance.” However, its in-depth research, cited studies, scientific charts, and references do effectively lay out its case regarding holistic- healing practice. They examine Transcendental Meditation at length, for example, citing it as “the best-known way to generate brain coherence” and noting multiple case studies that support the notion that beneficial physiological changes occur during meditation practice.
A detailed manual that makes a coherent case for its theories of physical and emotional wellness.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73546-504-3
Page Count: 364
Publisher: Armin Lear Press
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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