An enlightening, alternative approach to nourishing emotional, mental and physical well-being through Eastern philosophy and...
A yoga instructor and therapist outlines best practices for healthier living.
Schnable, a yoga instructor and therapist, takes an Eastern approach to healthier living. The author outlines Indian Ayurveda, yoga and Qi views of energy and how they manifest in the body with regard to different physical and emotional ailments. She asserts that there are three distinct energy systems—gunas, doshas, and vayus—each “constantly occurring even within your own body.” Schnable unpacks yoga’s history and tradition, as well as the purpose of harnessing this ancient practice to keep the body and mind nimble and healthy. She describes a central notion in yoga tradition, the chakras, or “spinning vortices of energy” that are within us all. She lists the specific parts of the body and potential afflictions associated with each of the seven chakras that run vertically from the neck down to the legs: crown, third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and root. Also here is practical advice on what foods and gentle yogic exercises nourish the different chakras. Diagrams illustrate the easy-to-replicate yoga postures that aim to promote health and healing. Schnable founded a unique hybrid of yoga and Qigong which she coined “Qi Infused Yoga,” geared for the baby boomers who might not be able to handle the acrobatic yoga positions commonly practiced. Schnable asserts that Qigong and yoga are similar, as “they are both considered mind/body practices” and “breath essential.” The practice itself has “equal focus on physical movement and the movement of energy.” Schnable’s ability to strike a tone that’s respectful of both Western thought and Eastern practice makes the book palatable to a broad audience. The accessible descriptions and how-to pictorial models for her Qi Infused Yoga bring new ideas to the flooded market of instructional yoga books.
An enlightening, alternative approach to nourishing emotional, mental and physical well-being through Eastern philosophy and practice.Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-1478281658
Page Count: 166
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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