Thinking about herbs and their value in healing? Wondering how acupressure works? Not sure what macrobiotics are? Wondering how to heal yourself through good nutrition and supplements? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this complete natural healing collection is a book you simply must own.Whether you are interested for the sake of wellness or in need of natural healing for a condition or disease, you will find the information you need inside the cover of this book. The book itself is larger than an encyclopedia, 10 1/2 by 13 3/4". It includes chapters on naturopathy, herbalism, homeopathy, aromatherapy, Eastern healing methods, energy healing, flower essences, mind-body healing techniques, healing with foods, nutrition, diet and supplements, and other healing techniques. Wow ... nearly 500 pages of information, suggestions, tips, charts, and tables. Amazing!
My favorites are the chapters on nutrition and herbs. There are some things that at the moment I don't have time to do, like growing my own sprouts, but with suggestions for every condition from eating disorders to high blood pressure and everything in between, the pages of this book are sure to be frequently referenced in my home, like the next time one of us gets poison ivy. Since we live in a wooded area, that happens more frequently than I like to remember.
Like Susan Schenk, I also am quite interested in the section on targeted nutrition. Most people wait until they have an affliction before they do anything about it. In the hospital where I work, our insurance costs are skyrocketing, and the top five diseases and conditions causing this rise are totally preventable. Many of our health problems today are due to our lousy diet.
Interested in prevention and natural healing? This is one book you need to order!
There is a very useful, complete index of ailments for easy reference to find natural remedies for those conditions.
Each healing modality includes many do-it-yourself formulas and recipes. For example, under aromatherapy you can find essential oils for complaints like insomnia, grief and depression, complete with specific recipes for formulas to treat those conditions. There are numerous herbal formulas and homeopathy prescriptions--remedies for all kinds of disorders in each category of healing.
There is an entire chapter devoted to healing with different nutritional methods such as macrobiotics, raw foods, fasting, supplements and more. As an author of a raw food book, I was amazed to see so much practical information on the raw food diet: types of raw diets, drying time for dehydrating specific foods, sprouting chart for specific seeds, pages & pages of raw food recipes, and even a listing of raw foods (produce, nuts, seeds, etc.) and their definitions!
Included in the nutrition chapter are several pages of "targeted nutrition" which I found particularly interesting. It lists foods to eat or avoid for each organ.
As an acupuncturist, I was also impressed with all the information on Chinese medicine, including the philosophy, and details about herbs, acupuncture, and acupressure (complete with charts).
In this book you will find numerous tips and tools for whatever ails you. There are some very obscure things I never heard of in my 30-some years of being informed of natural healing--things like oil for varicose veins, a test to see which of the seven eating styles you have, and sprout fasting. This is sure to be a great reference for all, and an instructional book for even the most seasoned natural healers and patients.
Susan Schenck, author of The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet
and
Beyond Broccoli, Creating a Biologically Balanced Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn't WorkI admit that I received this book thinking that it was another of those touchy-feely manuals on curing minor ailments through some combination of yoga and "positive energy." But when I did finally start looking through it, I discovered that the advice was both sensible and interesting.
The major chapters are as follows: Naturopathy, Herbalism, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy & Essential Oils, Eastern Healing Methods, Energy Healing, Flower Essences, Mind-Body Healing Techniques, Healing with Foods, Nutrition, Diet, and Supplements.
In Chapter 1: Naturopathy, I found advice on healing allergic reactions, bruises (cayenne liniment), burns, and colds. I tried to compare the advice dispensed to common knowledge and found that the opinions were sound, or at least not unheard of. For instance, "sweating therapy" is commonly used in Chinese households to get over the common cold.
If you did an Internet search for any of the given ailments, you'd probably find all of the advice, but having it densely crammed together in one manual is useful. The book is actually very large -about the size of a 15" laptop, and each page is arranged newsprint style on what actually feels like newspaper (recycled paper?) -three small-print columns with the occasional sketch drawing.
The next chapter I visited was 5, Eastern Healing Methods. I didn't think it'd be accurate, especially because all of the herbs and medicines would be referred to by their Chinese names (translated phonetically into English), but my parents corroborated much of the advice. For ease of use, the author also included Latin names in addition to Chinese names. I can't say for sure that Traditional Chinese Medicine is useful, but I do think this book accurately reflects the principles and advice of TCM.
The only chapter I skipped out of general disbelief was Energy Healing, which started out with descriptions of the First to Seventh Chakra... I didn't really get beyond that because I knew I'd spend the whole chapter rolling my eyes, but I would say that the chapter is clearly organized and includes lists of characteristics involved in every type of chakra energy.
Moving on... my favorite chapter was 9: Healing with Foods, Nutrition, Diet, and Supplements. This was a particularly fat section of the book that provides detailed information about various fruits and vegetables. Also included are sections on macrobiotics; natural home remedies like ginger footbaths, taro potato plasters, umesho tea; dried foods (dehydration); and raw foods. At the end of the chapter are healthful recipes.
Overall, I consider myself a skeptic about anything outside the realm of Western medicine but found a lot of new stuff in this book. My copy was a gift and something I wouldn't have thought about getting for myself, so this was truly a wonderful surprise.The information is extensive and includes bibliographical information, but the extra-large format is unwieldy and difficult to use. On top of that, add the VERY small print and the usefulness of this book takes a nosedive. The addition of a hard cover in a spiral binding would make it far easier to read and use the recipes and charts included in the text. Or several smaller, but larger-print volumes sold as a set or separately could work as well.
The articles are quite comprehensive and fairly well documented as to sources, but I am frustrated trying to overcome the physical presentation to research the subjects included.My mother is a great enthusiast of all things natural healing, and may I also note, not always the most gracious when receiving gifts. So as a Christmas gift, it was a gamble to hand over this gigantic (about 12"x18", give or take) and slightly clumsy book on all things natural healing, especially for my guest who flew to visit me and who always travels almost comedically light. Home run! The moment I knew it for certain was when she informed me that she has often thought of which five books she'd bring into the woods with her if she had to flee the zombie apocalypse, and that "Natural Healing Wisdom and Know-How" had just bumped one of her other books off the list. (Might I also suggest "Survival Wisdom and Know-How" for such a need)
Despite its being 'gigantic and slightly clumsy' (think reading the newspaper rather than a novel) it is an absolutely worthwhile investment as it is about as comprehensive as you can get without buying books on each individual topic. And the range of topics is spectacular. From herbalism to sound therapy, NHW&KH tackles forms of non-westernized treatment and medicine that I didn't even know existed. The only complaint/suggestion I would make is to find some homemade way to tab some basics you'll reference often, such as recipes. Try as we might, we had a terrible time finding the base recipes referenced in several portions of the book. No trouble finding the alterations, but the starting point was tricky. At any rate, EXCELLENT book. And go for the hard copy, not the Kindle edition. The cover/overall physicality of the book is beautiful. The pages have a sort of 'newspaper' feel and weight.
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