I would have preferred this CD to be in a book format instead of a soundtrack. It would have been less expensive to buy and easier to use that way. The first CD, which is one hour long talks about breathing & health but I really didn't find it interesting or informative. I was rather bored. I thought everything he said was common sense and there was no fresh information. Basically this first CD is a one-time listening thing, so not really worth the purchase. My problem with the second CD, which has the 7 breathing exercises, is that it's one hour long and there is no way to "jump" between exercises 1 to 7. It is all one track. In the accompanying 6-page CD booklet all the exercises are very clearly explained and detailed in text... so you don't really need the CD at all! On the up side, I'm glad there are exercises out there on this subject that Dr.Weil made available to me. I have not been doing the exercises long enough to notice any changes yet.

Weil explains breathing. Exciting? Depends on you. Discovering breathing is like having had a PC for years and suddenly discovering "right click." There it is; you've never thought about it; discovering it makes your use of the machine so much more efficient. Weil's breathing exercises are easy and basic. They are like meditation: you have to decide to stick with the program. Results? That will depend on you and your needs. For people with normal breathing capacity, it must be equivalent to developing your quads and pecs after working for years at a desk. For those of us who have asthma and other breathing disorders, it feels like regaining "normal." Weil's gentle, intelligent guidance inspires confidence.

Andy Weil takes you through the steps to us your own breathing as a tool for healing and for life. I enjoyed listening to his opening comments and have used the breathing technique almost dialy ever since.

It is a SCANDAL that Canyon Ranch would publish this book as I am personnaly aware of the age discrimination that this company practices. They recently fired their 69-year-old demonstration chef, Ruby Goodnoff,to replace her with a young man. This pattern of age discrimination contradicts and belies the title of this book.

This is an excellant way to find out how to be truly good to yourself. To treat yourself inside and out positively, in a 12th grade level, yet still very formal. I highly recommend this book for those of you who are beginning a lifestyle change towards healthy living, or if you have been living healthy. An excellant way to keep you on your toes!

This book was a breath of fresh air. Most of what you read in the personal development genre seems to make you feel guilty for your lifestyle. This book tells you that you're okay and how to work with what you have to make your life even better. I was so inspired by the book that I recently went to Canyon Ranch in Tucson. That place is fantastic! The introduction in the book claims that they are trying to put the spa resort in a book in case you can't make it there. From first hand experience, I can say that this book really does sum up the philosophy and spirit of Canyon Ranch. I highly recommend this read.

I think the book is well thought out and is a great overall resource for the reader. Dr. Weil is open, honest and has had many experiences firsthand. While I am an avid opponent of Western medicine in many ways, Dr. Weil does a fine job at showing both sides of the coin in health care. The "Coin" certainly referring to our monstrous & capitalistic health care system in the United States. There is nothing "Caring" about Health Care in this country & the overuse and danger of the "medicine"....(DRUGS) they use and hand out like candy will be the cause of enormous problems down the line.

I think this book would have deserved 5 stars in my mind. However...On page 296 Dr. Weil advises readers to stay away from Maharishi Auyrveda. This is one of the best organizations in the United States for traditional products that WORK. The claim by him that it is expensive I disagree with. Check it out for yourself. The company is an invaluable resource and has products that are like none other. I am a long-time student of Ayurveda and I am grateful to have them as a resource.

This is such a great book, I don't know where to start! It has changed the way I look at food and over-the-counter medicine. I am buying this book for my mother, and for my sister-in-law who is training to be a nurse and believes that echinacea only works if you take it before you get sick. (I'm in no position to offer medical advice, but in my family echinacea and vitamin C will shorten any cold to just two days! and that includes my 2 year old son). I recommend this book for anyone who wants to feel good and be healthy. I especially recommend this book to anyone and EVERYONE in the medical professions.

Andrew Weil, who is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School and the author of a number of best-selling books on medicine, consciousness, health and diet, is one of those rare men who have managed to acquire a prestigious conventional education and then build on that with unconventional experiences in other parts of the world. He has studied botany and medicine in the Amazon jungle and elsewhere, and alternative medicine in the far east before establishing his practice in the United States. This book, first published in 1995, is the result of what Weil has learned over the years. There is nothing spectacularly new here, but there is a carefully presented, enormously compelling argument for the power of our bodies to heal themselves if only we would give them the opportunity.

Problem number one is a medical establishment that sees its interventions as the cause of healing, when it occurs, and the failure of the body, when it does not. Every physician should humbly realize that it is the healing mechanisms of the body that defeat disease, not the treatment. Weil makes this point even in the case of antibiotics: "Antibiotics reduce numbers of invading germs to a point where the immune system can take over and finish the job. The real cause of the cure is the immune system, which may be unable to end an infection because it is overwhelmed by sheer numbers of bacteria and" their toxic products (p. 110). I would add that even in the case of setting a bone or removing a bullet, it is the body that does the healing. Properly understood, Weil advises, the function of the physician is to aid the defenses of the body. This is how medicine is understood in cultures of ancient linage around the world, particularly in the time-honored Chinese and Ayurvedic systems. There is much we could learn from them. The tech-heavy Western approach fails to treat the whole patient--mind, body, emotions and spirit--and therefore has great difficulty in dealing with chronic illnesses. Weil emphasizes prevention, and when illness does occur, the cultivation of habits and a lifestyle conducive to spontaneous healing.

Included in the text are a number of testimonials of spontaneous healing from people given up on by conventional medicine. Dr. Weil is fascinated by these "anecdotal" cases and believes that the medical establishment is missing something by dismissing them because they cannot be scientifically validated. Weil counts heads and comes to the obvious conclusion that something is going on here, whether it can be baselined and graphed or not. People do indeed get well for no apparent reason. There are literately thousands of documented cases. How does this happen? Weil calls it the phenomenon of "spontaneous healing," and believes that we are all capable of performing this "miracle." Personally, it happened to me (if you'll forgive the Yogi Berra-ism) at my daughter's wedding. I had strained the instep of my right foot playing basketball and it would not heal. Weeks went by. I either could not stay off it enough and/or I was re-injuring it to the point where I could not walk without pain. A friend and I walked around the Stanford campus during the day, which I should not have done. The pain was very annoying, but in the evening, fortified with the festive occasion and the refreshments, I danced wildly, joyously, one might say, ignoring the pain, realizing that I would pay for it the next day. But in the morning when I woke up there was no pain at all, and although it has been almost ten years, the pain has never returned.

Not exactly a miracle, but proof enough to me that spontaneous healing is a reality.

What Dr. Weil does here, relying on his wisdom and experience, is to present a program of right practice, right habit, right diet, and right attitude (e.g., "Regard illness as a gift...a powerful stimulus to change...[an] opportunity...for personal growth and development..." p. 251) that will, he believes, greatly increase anyone's chance of healing spontaneously. (Chapter 17, "Seven Strategies of Successful Patients" is a precise prescription.) I think he makes a cogent and compelling case. And, as usual, his felicity of expression, almost meditative in tone and effect, is a huge plus. Weil has a gift for making the spiritual and mysterious aspects of our existence seem the very bedrock of rationality! Noteworthy is a chapter on "Medical Pessimism" in which Weil argues that conventional doctors consciously or unconsciously infect their patients with a reverse placebo with their negative attitudes. "Simply put: too many doctors are deeply pessimistic about the possibility of people getting better, and they communicate their pessimism to patients and families" (P. 59). He calls this "medical hexing" (p. 64). He adds, on page 61, "So-called voodoo death is the ultimate example of a negative placebo response."

Weil believes that the pessimism of the medical profession has its roots in "the lopsided nature of medical education, which focuses almost exclusively on disease and its treatment rather than on health and its maintenance...the word is used rarely...the term not at all."

This last point, I believe, points directly to what is the central problem with conventional medicine in this country. Medical schools are too exclusive and expensive, preventing many people who would truly love to help others from attending. Their programs are also flawed because of a too narrowly focused curriculum that ignores the thousands of years of experience of practitioners from around the world. The emphasis is on the exclusivity and status of the profession and not on the healing arts. Dr. Weil, because he is a rare product of that system, is a man especially to be listened to. I consider this book a "quiet classic" that someday will be recognized as a catalyst that helped revolutionize conventional medical practice. At least I hope so.

The idea that your body possesses natural ability to heal and maintain itself is usually not within the realm of believability for many. But this Harvard M.D. presents evidence and explains body mechanisms that can overcome life-threatening illness and pain.

A "how to" book, on the one hand, Dr. Weil also points out shortcomings of our medical system. He calls it "medical pessimism" because the end result is that often nothing more can be done. This comes about, he contends, because modem medical practice is based on the view that human beings are an assemblage of structures that can be neatly programmed. Western medicine, the Chinese, for example, believe the human organism has defensive spheres such as ~onsils, adenoids and appendix, which can be stimulated and are components of an immune system. Modem medicine, he believes, also writes off the importance of the mind, looking instead for physical causes of changes in health or illness.

A realist, Dr. Weil concedes that life is uncertain and while we don't have control over life and death, we have the ability to understand how the human organism can heal itself and this is reason enough for doctors and patients to be optimistic.

"My purpose in writing this book," he states, "is to convince more people to rely on our innate potential for maintaining health and overcoming illness but, he goes on to say, "I cannot easily give you a picture this system (I) because there is a lack of organized research (2) the human organism is complex and (3) the ability of the body to repair itself is a complex function."

The DNA healing system: Is always on call and works continuously; it diagnoses damage; removes damaged structures and replaces them; acts to neutralize injury and make corrections. The challenge is to discover how to turn the right switches to activate this process. The author maintains that the final cause of all cures is the healing system with or without outside treatment. When treatments work, they do so by activating innate healing mechanisms

You can boost the efficiency of your healing system but this does not necessarily produce immediate, noticeable change. It is a long-term investment in the future. These areas seem to be emerging from current studies of diet and health: Modify diet to reduce calories; eat a limited diet one day a week; reduce animal fats (replace with fish and soy protein); increase consumption of polyunsaturated fats found in corn, soy, sesame, safflower, olives, canola, peanut and avocado oils; eat more fruit, vegetables and whole grains such as wheat and oat bran.

Greatest threats to everyday health and well-being: Toxic overload from harmful substances in the environment including chemical fertilizers, toxins in the workplace, water we drink, air pollution. The author suggests some anti-toxin formulas: Vitamins C and E, Selenium, Beta Carotene, Ginseng, Garlic, Ginger, Green Tea, Milk Thistle, Astragalus, to name a few.

The seven strategies of successful patients: (1) Don't take "NO" for an answer. Believe there is help to be found somewhere. (2) Search for help. Ask questions; read books; go to libraries; ask for ideas, visit promising practitioners. (3) Talk to others who have been healed. (4) Form partnerships with health professionals who support your search for answers. (5) Don't hesitate to make radical lifestyle changes. (6) Regard illness as a stimulus to change (7) Remember that change is more likely to occur in a climate of self-acceptance than in one of confrontation with the universe.

This popular book suggest ways to optimize your healing system and paints this upbeat scenario of the level of good health we have a right to expect. Says Dr. Weil: "We pay little aft ention to our health when it is good. "You recover from illness and injuries heal uneventfully "Stresses of ordinary life may be annoying, but they don't derange digestion or blood pressure. "Sleep should be restful, sex enjoyable. "Aging of your body occurs gradually, allowing you to moderate your activity appropriately and live out a normal life span without discomfort. "You would not get heart disease or cancer in middle age, be crippled by arthritis in later life or lose your mind to premature senility. "This scenario is possible and worth working toward because the body wants to be healthy," says Dr. Weil.

Well worth reading if you want to live in better health whatever your age.

This bestselling book emphasizes the need to incorporate alternative medicine into current medical practices. Spontaneous Healing decribes a "healing system" that makes use of components of recognized systems of the body, including the immune, nervous, endocrine, and circulatory, to reveal how the body can heal itself and how those who are inflicted can enhance that healing. Dr. Weil asserts that the body has within it a healing system, responsible not only for remissions of life-threatening diseases but also for day-to-day maintenance and for positive responses to everyday illnesses

An EXCELLENT book. At last someone presents a new point of view. Having been the "victim" of countless western medicine proponents, this book was the answer to my prayers. I began his 8 week program (also found on his website) and have noticed a remarkable improvement in my physical well being, not to mention my attitude about life in general.Dr. Weil points out that in order to achieve this state of well being, you yourself must first undergo a change. It is not an easy task; it requires a lifestyle change as well as a belief and spirit in yourself that what you are doing will yield positive long term benefits. Unfortunately, our society promotes drugs to ease our ills. Our medical community promotes this for their own benefit. Dr. Weil offers alternatives which are safer, less expensive and much more beneficial in the long run. If you REALLY want to feel your best then read this book.It is beyond me how some people just don't "get it". I think many of those people who criticize this book are getting something out of their suffering.

I quickly found out what the "Ask Dr. Weil..." series of books are like. I have read two of Dr. Weil's full length books and was expecting more of the same. This book is 75 pages of Question and Answer format articles about vitamins and some herbal remedies, almost like a high quality Internet FAQ.

The book is interesting with a number of specific recomendations on how to take vitamins for particular illnesses. It is good information for the price (...).

If you have read one of Dr. Weil's previous full length books that deal with vitamins you will feel like you are reading a condensed version of the same information. Like all of Dr. Weil's books there is a good Resources section to help you find more in-depth information.

In this 83 page book, health guru Andrew Weil, M.D. offers his expert advice and guidance to help you remain healthy and fight off illness with the help of selected vitamins, minerals, and herbs. He sets the record straight regarding multivitamins and minerals, Vitamin B12, herbal remedies, antioxidants and other products that are in vogue today. Dr. Weil helps you get on the best road to recovery from sickness and/or improve your overall health. There's an awful lot of valuable information and advice in this little book. It's certainly worth the price and the quick read. I find myself referring to it often. It's a great companion to his other books.

Dr. Weil gives a brief description of many vitamin and mineral supplements. While many authors today are selling supplements that do not live up to their promises, Dr. Weil gives common sense advise on what to spend your money on that actually will make a difference in your life, and health. This is a pocket book that your will use over and over. Buy it and use it with all of Dr. Weils' books to heal your life.

Weil did indeed lead a colorful life, and he certainly was a dominant figure in maths. But if one writes an autobiography, he should be honest when speaking both of his best and his worst. Unlike this, Weil strictly restrains from the reader the chapters of his life which he is not so proud of. I will name just two. First, in the book his wife (with a young son from her previous marriage) simply occurs in his life, and the reader is never told how and where they met, and who was the husband she abandoned because of this acquaintance (I here only comment that it was another French mathematician of the period, and earlier a friend of Weil, but he is not mentioned anywhere in the story). And second, his evading the military service; surely, most of us do not want to die, but to explain that we do not want to serve because we have a hinduistic view of the World is an overused trick (though perhaps it was not overused in those times). One so devoted to that view would definitely not feel at home in Princeton. In addition, in his well-known style Weil is extremely critical of the professional qualities of practically everyone, with exception of his "family" - the Bourbaki. Most of the textbooks by other people were awful, the knowledge of most other people catastrophically incomplete.

Still, there are some interesting facts for those who want to know what a life of a mathematician can involve, and two stars are justly earned. Perhaps this would have been a better book has it been written more in the spirit of Hardy's Apology, omitting the family matters and focusing on what the title promises.

There is only a small number of autobiographies by mathematicians. Andre Weil was a giant in math. His autobio, written late in life, is fun to read. Weil has strong opinions that may perhaps not appeal to all. Even so, the book light reading, agreeing or not; and it fun too. For me it was a page-turner. To others perhaps a little pompous. Judge for yourself. While perhaps self-absorbed, I think Weil in his autobio gives personal and fresh insight into the tumultuous period in history, between the two World Wars in Europe, as it relates to math. The main part of the book covers Weil's life before he came to the US.
Weil had a monumental impact on math, and he also wrote some lovely history of math books, --number theory; and then of course some specialized books, that are corner stones in math, but not especially easy to read, at least for beginners. But Andre Weil is a central figure in math. His younger sister Simone Weil was an author and philosopher, and a political activist on the left in French politics in the 1930ties. She died young.

Weil led a colorful, fascinating life. He became a well-known mathematician at an early age, and mastered several languages. Additionally, he traveled around the world, and narrowly escaped execution. His autobiography allows the reader to come to know him for himself, rather than for his work. If the reader pays close attention, he/she will see his subtle humor, which is cleverly woven in to his life story.

Ask Dr. Weil Your Top Health Concerns is a collection of questions and answers from his web site. The book addresses various complementary medical approaches to health problems ranging from athlete's foot (tea tree oil) to carpal tunnel (Vitamin B-6). He also addresses preventive medicine topics including exercise, multivitamins, and mammograms. His tips on health habits including smoking and drinking are helpful.

Not meant to be exhaustive, your top health concern may not be included. There is no table of contents, but the index is helpful if you are looking for a specific topic. Good reading material if you are caught somewhere waiting as the topics are short and can be read in snatches; but the book's greatest value is to introduce the reader to integrative medicine, the specialty of this upbeat and lively professor-physician.

When I first read this book, I knew little about natural medicine. Now I keep it as a handy resource for its valuable information on preventing common diseases and natural solutions to common problems. The ideas in this book have reformed my view of health entirely, and I have much more control over my health now than ever before. My only fault is that Dr. Weil often relies heavily on his own experiences and can be very opinionated at times. But overall, this is an excellent introduction to the field of alternative medicine.

Thank you Dr. Weil-Your book has had a dramatic impact on my life. I am 44yr old male 5ft 7in and weigh in at (formerly 289lb.) 247lbs. I had high blood pressure and took an alpha blocker and a beta blocker for prevention. Also I developed diabetes and was taking oral medication for control of my sugar. Well to make a long story short, I Knew I was killing myself, and needed to do somthing, so I purchased your book after scanning it in the book store. Since that time I have been practicing as much as possible the guidelines that you have laid out about living a natural healthy life. And I am pleased to say today that I do not take any medications for sugar or for hypertension any more. I can hardly beleive it!! I have so much energy now, I hope that this testimony reaches many people in similar situations in the hope that they will take to heart the information in this book. I have underlined and highlighted lots of different passages that are inspiring and helpful. One of the quotes in this book that I now live by,"It is our lazy self,the principle of inertia in us, that tells us we do not need to excercise or do not have time for it. The only way to deal with this voice is to pay no attention to it." Well I don't want to ramble here but if anyone reads this and wants to e-mail me, I would be happy to respond and help anyone that might need to share where they are in their efforts to live healthy. In closing I would like to thank Dr.Weil for his efforts in compiling this information. I AM A NEW PERSON!! thank you Gary Coutcher PS Thank you

I was recently diagnosed with systemic lupus and upon researching my illness, discovered the world of Dr. Weil. This was the first book I read from him and I'm hooked! I met him personally at his book signing in Virginia recently and he's wonderful in person too! After reading this book, I have a better understanding at what foods will or will not irritate my illness and I have improved miraculously in a short period of time. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their health and live longer.

After reading Andrew Weil's Eating for Optimum Health, I was very excited that he was coming out with a cookbook. I thought the recipes in Eating for Optimum health were very flavorful. I bought The Healthy Kitchen the week it came out and have tried about half the recipes. My overall reaction is disappointment. Andrew Weil only contributed a small number of recipes (his greens with Tangy Dressing is fantastic) and they are as excellent as the recipes in Eating for Optimum Health. The problem is with Rosie Daley's recipes. First of all, she doesn't always use healthy ingredients (some recipes include butter, large amounts of sugar, sour cream, etc.) By far my biggest complaint is how careless her recipes are. The measurements are frequently inacurate. Some recipes are so spicey they are inedible and others so bland they need a lot a doctoring. The fish tacos is the only recipe of Rosie's that I haven't had to alter in some way. That being said, I would still recommend this book if you are trying to cook in a healthier way. Just approach Rosie's recipe's with a dose of skepticism and your intincts intact.

OVERVIEW: This book is not only about healthy and delicious recipes. Intermixed is also basic nutritional information, tips about shopping and stocking your kitchen, food preparation techniques, a menu-planning guide, and the introduction of foods and ingredients not commonly used.

I believe this book is intended for a typical American consumer who: 1) wants to eat more healthy but doesn't know how or where to start, 2) is confused about what nutritional information is important and what isn't, 3) is unaware of food alternatives (such as olive oil or nut milk), or 4) wants to add healthy and delicious recipes to their repertoire (try the muesli for breakfast!).

FLAWS: As some reviewers have noted, additional editing would have caught some the errors and discrepancies in the recipes. A time estimate could also have been included for the recipe preparation. However, the errors are at most an annoyance (you are still be able to make the food), and I believe there is good number of quick and simple recipes, along with some that are more elaborate.

Some of the reviewers who gave low ratings appear to be "hard-core" nutritionalists, who complain about the use of some ingredients. These people have already researched their diet and eating habits and are not the typical consumer, yet I am sure they have picked up a few insights and recipes.

OVERALL: As Dr. Weil stated, "good nutrition is one of the most important influences on health". Most people can benefit from eating healthier, and this book serves as a great resource for both recipes and nutritional information. This book has a great chance to be a hit for people on your holiday shopping list.

I absolutely love this cookbook. My new year's resolution was to start cooking better. I got tired of walking around the grocery store with all of the sodium, preservative, fat and sugar laden products. Before I found this cookbook, I would rarely stumble on a healthy recipe from a magazine or cookbook that would actually taste good. It was really quite discouraging to learn to cook healthy.

There is not a single recipe in this cookbook that I do not like. Everything turns out perfect and the flavors are incredible. It's amazing to me that my husband, who lives for burgers, pizza and red meat, really loves the food from "the Santa Claus dude book" (referring to Dr. Weil).

Sure, it takes longer to shop for the ingredients and make the recipes. Instead of grumbling, I use the time to practice mindfulness -- using all of my senses (sight, taste, smell, etc.) to get lost in the process. It relaxes me at the end of a long day. The rewards are a wonderful meal and knowing that I did something positive by choosing to eat healthy.

Learn to breathe! It's very, very important.
I achieve much relaxation when i Stop. Concentrate. Breathe Deeply. Learning how is important, too.
But this set of tapes is poorly done.
The first tape is sales, WHY you should learn to breathe,
and what the benefits are. I already have the tape, i'm sold.
Please stop selling.

The second tape is laughable. The author fills the tape with minutes of dead space as we 'breathe together'. The author will say "Here's a breathing exercise. Let's try it." The explanation of how to do the exercise takes 1 minute. Then, there is 2 minutes of silence.
This happens quite often. The 2nd side of the 2nd tape has 5 minutes of new-age flute music, to get you in the mood.

For me, this book didn't work.

As a first step into meditation, I would strongly recommend listening to these tapes. The first 90 minutes is a clear explanation by first Weil, but mostly Jon Kabat Zinn, on the best way of understanding meditation, what it can do for your life and your health. Then follows a 45 minute guided meditation on watching the breath. I have purchased many books on Buddhism, meditation or yoga. Jon Kabat Zinn, who also wrote the brilliant book Full Catastrophe Living, is along with Thich Nhat Hahn, my favourite writer. Kabat Zinn is particularly good at explaining meditation as a way of working with problems, rather than wishing them away. The focus with Kabat Zinn is on accepting your experience, opening yourself up to it, seeing how pain is there, but it is not you, on living fully- mindfully not mindlessly. He is great for people who suffer pains, physical or emotional. I think this tape is a perfect introduction to meditation as a way of healing the heart.