Discover the way to true satisfaction: writing your thoughts down can change your life. This new book shows you how. . - Great Readers for Better Health - reviews of: - Writing the Mind Alive: The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice - Walking Yoga - Gut Reactions - Saving Your Brain - Secrets from a Healthy Asian Kitchen - Natural Highs - book review

Natural Health, August, 2002 by Francesca Forrest, Amanda Lydon, Adina Davis, Judy Bass, Karen English, Benjamin A. Bensadon

Spotlight

Writing the Mind Alive: The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice BY LINDA TRICHTER METCALF, PH.D., AND TOBIN SIMON, PH.D.: BALLANTINE BOOKS: $14.95

ALTHOUGH THE TITLE IS mysterious, what this unusual book offers is insight. Back in the 1970s while working as a college English professor, Linda Trichter Metcalf, Ph.D., discovered a writing technique that let her "hear" her own thoughts clearly. Since then, she and co-author Tobin Simon, Ph.D., have been teaching "proprioceptive writing" around the country. This is the first book to make her popular technique widely available.

Proprioceptive writing was designed to help you express ideas and insights you haven't been able to articulate. Following the clear instructions in this book, you'll be able to sneak past your inhibitions. You simply settle down in a quiet place with a piece of unlined paper and a pen or pencil. As with meditation, you allow thoughts to rise unbidden--but you write one down. Your next step is to question that thought, using the formula, "What do I mean by X?" with X being any element of the thought. You then continue by asking the same question of every answer. At the end of about 25 minutes of questions and answers, you'll have had, essentially, a conversation with yourself (and unlike with meditation, you'll have a record of it). The technique has proved better than therapy for some workshop participants.

According to the authors, proprioceptive writing can also become a secular spiritual practice, allowing you to draw closer to your deeper self. In her introduction to the book, Christiane Northrup, M.D., a women's health expert and bestselling author, credits the technique with having given her the courage to write her books.

As the mother of preteens, I found myself thinking how this technique could help young people discover for themselves what they really value and how they really feel, without peer or parental pressure interfering. At whatever age you try it, proprioceptive writing might really change your life.

In Brief

Walking Yoga BY ILA SARLEY AND GARRETT SARLEY; FIRESIDE BOOKS; $15

Written by husband and wife yoga teachers, this reader-friendly book gives clear and concise instructions for yoga positions and suggestions for how to include them in your walk. The marriage of yoga and walking will keep you connected to nature, the authors say. They point out that their easy-to-learn, energy-boosting routine is ideal because it costs nothing to do it, takes only 30 minutes a day, and can be practiced alone or with loved ones. The authors also offer insight for sustaining a fitness practice: The secret, they say, is in the motivation. You'll never stick to an exercise program because you should. You'll stick with it because it will make you feel better--which is the promise of walking yoga. --Amanda Lydon

Gut Reactions BY RAPHAEL KELLMAN, M.D., WITH CAROL COLMAN; BROADWAY BOOKS; $14.95

Kellman, a physician and founder of the Kellman Center for Progressive Medicine in New York City, lays out a four-step plan to combat chronic stomach distress. He explains that the gut, or stomach, is home to more immune cells than any other organ in the body, and he reminds us that it's our first line of defense against toxins in our food. Moreover, the gut is a smart organ that's like a second mind--it even produces serotonin, a powerful neurotransmitter also produced in the brain--and our "gut reactions" are often our truest, deepest feelings. Understanding how this other mind works, says the author, is the key to stomach health. Arresting as this information is, the plan itself, which includes a diet rich in antioxidants, sounds like plain common sense. Still, the book is an excellent resource and will help you choose the right holistic program to fix your stomach troubles. --Adina Davis

Saving Your Brain BY JEFF VICTOROFF, M.D.; BANTAM BOOKS; $25.95

Four million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease. And countless more fear what Victoroff calls "aging-related neurodegeneration," like senility and memory loss. What's intriguing about this engaging book is its central argument, which is that brain deterioration is not inevitable. The author, a neurologist, examined thousands of scientific articles and abstracts to formulate his recommendations. He pinpoints what he believes are the major culprits responsible for brain drain: severe stress, which sends powerful chemicals known as glucocorticoids to the brain, where they can harm areas related to memory; environmental dangers like pesticides; hypertension, which decreases the brain's blood supply; physical inactivity; head trauma; and a poor diet. Victoroff advocates limiting exposure to antacids, antiperspirants, and aluminum in drinking water. His tips are good for your health anyway, and if they also keep your gray matter functioning well, so much the better. --Judy Bass

Secrets from a Healthy Asian Kitchen BY YING CHANG COMPESTINE; PENGUIN PUTNAM; $16.95

The Asian food pyramid may be one of the healthiest around, but many American cooks still hesitate to try many of the unfamiliar ingredients found in the pyramid. But here's one enthusiastic new cookbook that should put even reluctant wok users at ease. The exotic ingredients are introduced at the beginning of the book (with descriptions that will make you want to try them), and in the recipes that follow you'll find familiar standbys like rice along with ingredients borrowed from other cuisines but available at your local supermarket, like tortillas and dried cranberries. Author and cooking teacher Compestine flavors her discussions of ingredients with lessons she learned as a child in her grandmother's kitchen. But she promotes improvisation and enjoyment rather than authenticity. There's even a recipe for peanut butter raisin cookies--I'm sure her grandmother would have loved them. --Karen English