by Brenda Schnable ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2012
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
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by Sloane Crosley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 2024
A marvelously tender memoir on suicide and loss.
An essayist and novelist turns her attention to the heartache of a friend’s suicide.
Crosley’s memoir is not only a joy to read, but also a respectful and philosophical work about a colleague’s recent suicide. “All burglaries are alike, but every burglary is uninsured in its own way,” she begins, in reference to the thief who stole the jewelry from her New York apartment in 2019. Among the stolen items was her grandmother’s “green dome cocktail ring with tiers of tourmaline (think kryptonite, think dish soap).” She wrote those words two months after the burglary and “one month since the violent death of my dearest friend.” That friend was Russell Perreault, referred to only by his first name, her boss when she was a publicist at Vintage Books. Russell, who loved “cheap trinkets” from flea markets, had “the timeless charm of a movie star, the competitive edge of a Spartan,” and—one of many marvelous details—a “thatch of salt-and-pepper hair, seemingly scalped from the roof of an English country house.” Over the years, the two became more than boss and subordinate, teasing one another at work, sharing dinners, enjoying “idyllic scenes” at his Connecticut country home, “a modest farmhouse with peeling paint and fragile plumbing…the house that Windex forgot.” It was in the barn at that house that Russell took his own life. Despite the obvious difference in the severity of robbery and suicide, Crosley fashions a sharp narrative that finds commonality in the dislocation brought on by these events. The book is no hagiography—she notes harassment complaints against Russell for thoughtlessly tossed-off comments, plus critiques of the “deeply antiquated and often backward” publishing industry—but the result is a warm remembrance sure to resonate with anyone who has experienced loss.
A marvelously tender memoir on suicide and loss.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780374609849
Page Count: 208
Publisher: MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
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by Anne Heche ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 2023
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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