Reveal

A manual that offers clearheaded advice on how to change negative routines.

Mandalapu (Replenish, 2013), a practicing neurologist in Austin, Texas, delivers a simple, informal regimen to help readers change destructive old habits and implement constructive new ones. His approach blends daily meditation, improved diet and strategies to help reduce worry. He stresses throughout that the ultimate responsibility for change comes down to the individual (“If you are not able to change the way you deal with daily habits; if you cannot change your pattern of behavior…then egoism may be the cause.”). He presents an odd cast of characters—Gandhi, Buddha, Darwin, Newton, Steve Jobs and others—as examples of people who changed the world by first changing themselves. In a refreshing difference from most self-help books, he looks at the central role of adversity, quoting Swami Vivekananda: “In a day when you do not come across any problems, you can be sure you are traveling the wrong path.” In a perhaps unsurprising move for a neurologist, he highlights the infinite capacity of the human mind to effect its own changes (“The immense joy and potential the trained mind can create is limitless.”). Mandalapu also discusses substance abuse and addictions—including caffeine, alcohol and tobacco—with the levelheaded dispassion of a physician. In every chapter, the author offers common-sense advice, such as exercising moderation in all things, refraining from smoking or drinking alcohol, and keeping up an active mental life by reading regularly. But Mandalapu’s main point is that all these good actions come together best through the practice of meditation; he cautions that learning to meditate effectively takes time, and “consistency is the key to success.” Although the observations here sometimes tend toward the banal—“Paucity and adversity are our teachers”—they nonetheless have an engaging, cumulative positive effect.

A successful fusion of Western medical advice and Eastern spiritual guidance.