self-help

This little book is full of helpful insights for anyone wondering how to restore or preserve good health. Instead of dwelling on sickness, Chopra shows us how our health is really in our own hands. It is wonderfully refreshing to find a doctor who is not in the business of pushing pills for every ill and ache. Instead of giving us the five-minute look-over and writing a prescription, Dr. Chopra shows us the way to influence our body so it can cure itself. He tell us what we already know, but always wanted to hear from a doctor: That all drugs have side effects and most are expensive. Don't we all want an alternative?

Chopra provides beginning chapters on common illnesses and at times gives typical doctor instructions on what to eat and what to avoid ("don't drink alcohol, even in moderation"). But he moves beyond that, looking inside the sick person and inviting us to look inside ourselves. Our emotions and attitudes affect our bodies, and if we learn to control emotions we can improve our health. Chopra recommends meditation as a means of marshalling our inner resources.

While there must be some limit to this approach to health, there nevertheless is much evidence for its effectiveness. I particularly enjoyed his case histories and anecdotes. In one case, he admits lying to a patient. She had cancer, but he told her he removed gall stones. She believed him and the cancer went away! He attributes her recovery to her belief that she was well, a manifestation of the placebo effect that no one can explain, other than "mind over matter." Doctors dismiss diseases that go away by themselves by saying the patient is "in remission." But that is not an explanation. Chopra looks at these spontaneous healings as the body's ability to heal itself through the power inside the person, the body's natural intelligence. Intelligence, says Dr. Chopra, is in everything that's alive. I think of Chopra's nature intelligence when I see my cat make a graceful leap from porch to pillar. His body is using its built-in intelligence to make a perfect landing! Perhaps if we can become aware that our bodies use built-in intelligence, we can, as Dr. Chopra suggests, create health.

Hey folks, I really recommend this book to you. Although you might get bored by the disease descriptions in first chapter, don't let that get you down. Continue and you will find the treasure of life secrets. I have experienced it and I am sure any one can. Go get it now!

The basic idea of Deepak Chopra's work is that your attitude to the world, the way you think and interpret the reality creates different chemicals and hormones which have an enormous impact on your body and your health. This is how mind connects to the body. But the best part is, that your attitude and your thinking is in your hands, which means that your health is also in your hands. Chopra is a big promotor of alternative health care methods and an opponent of the traditional medicine.

Chopra builds on old tradition from India and introduces his own advances including a breath-focused meditation. The book is easy to follow since Chopra uses very logical sequence of ideas and has a very clear syntax.

If you like this book then I would recommend to you also Deepak Chopra's most famous Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.