Reading, Writing & Pondering

Essential oils are everywhere these days. Do you know how to use them safely? The Family Guide to Aromatherapy by Erika Galentin gives a lot of good basic information on how to use essential oils and how to use them safely for your whole family. The Family Guide to Aromatherapy starts with a basic introduction to aromatherapy. Galentin then gives benefits and recipes for those who are pregnant or are in labor with safety precautions especially at this time. She goes through recipes, guidelines and safety precautions for babies, kids, adults, seniors and universal recipes for the whole household. In the second part of the book, Galentin has basic information pages on each of the top thirty essential oils such as clary sage, lavender, tea tree oil and many more. The back of the book includes some basic reference charts for a labor essential oils kit, a quick reference guide for common ailments, a guide with possible prescription drug interactions, and a handy index and recipe guide...

To really live well and feel good in today's world, we need to look at living better through our body, mind and spirit. Spiritual wellness expert and certified nutritional counselor Laura Harris Smith shares her advice for true health today in The Healthy Living Handbook . The Healthy Living Handbook is divided into three sections with the top ten healthy living habits for your spirit, your mind, and your body. Her advice is primarily practical and designed to help you feel good inside and out. At the end of each chapter, she has a question or two to ask yourself and a prayer to pray before going on to the next chapter. There is a lot of good practical advice on living healthy in The Healthy Living Handbook . I especially like that her advice is holistic and she encourages readers to improve their health through body, mind and spirit. However, I think the spiritual aspect of the book is best for a charismatic Christian reader as she talks about speaking in tongues and bein...

It seems like many of us end up with one form of arthritis or another by the time we are elderly. Instead of being one of those statistics, this book could help change those odds. Healing Arthritis: A 3-Step Process to Conquering Arthritis Naturally by Dr. Susan Blum, a leading expert in functional medicine, offers a better approach to healing arthritis permanently. Even more inspiring to me, she shares her own personal healing story in this book along with her expertise. I have osteoarthritis in an ankle that I broke when I was in my early 20s. I didn't really feel the arthritis until the last couple of years due to a combination of stress and a tendon tear in the same ankle. I don't want to take a lot of medication so I decided to read Dr. Blum's book to see if I could make a difference naturally. Dr. Blum gives a lot of information in an easy to read format. She first explains the various types of arthritis that one can contract. She also shares stories of real pe...

Every day we see countless advertisements for medications. We go to the doctor and expect that we will leave with a prescription that will make us better. But do all of these drugs really make us better? Dr. Andrew Weil in Mind Over Meds helps readers make informed decisions on medication use. Mind Over Meds goes through most of the commonly prescribed medications in the United States: antibiotics, statins, medicine for Gerd, antihistamines, cold/flu medicines, sleep aids, steroids, psych medicines for adults and children, and several other categories of popularly used medications both over-the-counter and prescribed. Dr. Weil also writes chapters on over-medication for children and over-medication for the elderly. The last chapter of the book covers medications with a pharmacist, whom Dr. Weil says is an underutilized medical person in the management of medications. All of these chapters were written with other medical personnel who specialize in these areas since Dr. Weil says...

Prescription for Natural Cures is a great reference for holistic treatments and natural remedies for the health problems that one encounters. The cover states this book is a self-care guide for treating health problems with natural remedies including diet, nutrition, supplements and other holistic methods. We have an HSA for our health care needs so we often try to heal simple health issues ourselves before heading to the doctor. While you may also choose to talk to a physician or other healthcare provider about these issues, this book offers helpful ways to pursue healing along with a doctor's advice or it may also give you information you can discuss with your doctor. Prescription for Natural Cures is so handy to have around, although it is a thick reference manual at 835 pages. It is easy to use with conditions organized alphabetically from A to Z. There are over 200 conditions referenced in this book.It is up-to-date with the latest information from natural health resear...