A Womans Book of Yoga or Mediterranean Women Stay Slim Too

A Woman's Book of Yoga: Embracing Our Natural Life Cycles

Author: Machelle M Seibel

Interest in yoga is at an all-time high, especially among women. Whether readers wish to begin the practice or are already involved in yoga, this innovative book will help them understand the unique benefits yoga provides for a woman's health and mental well-being.

The authors lead women of all ages through the health and life cycles specific to females by illustrating the spiritual and physical advantages of Kundalini yoga, as taught by yoga master Yogi Bhajan. Hari Khalsa applies ancient wisdom to explain how to determine and enhance one's own special relationship with the mind, body, and soul. Using his expertise on women's health issues, Dr. Siebel reveals the scientific basis for yoga's positive effects on the brain. Together, Dr. Siebel and Hari Khalsa create a dialogue of spiritualism and science, elucidating how every woman can reap the rewards of yoga for a lifetime.

Author Biography: Machelle M. Siebel, M.D., is a reproductive endocrinologist at the Fertility Center of New England and a clinical professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Boston University School of Medicine. He is an expert in alternative and nutritional approaches to gynecology.

Hari Kaur Khalsa is one of the most respected Kundalini yoga and meditation teachers in the world, and has created specialized yoga programs for pregnant women, senior citizens, and youngsters. She lives in the Boston area.

Library Journal

These two titles explain how women can use yoga to help deal with unique female health issues as well as to relieve stress and improve the quality of their lives. In A Woman's Book of Yoga, gynecologist Seibel and yoga teacher Khalsa introduce readers to Kundalini yoga, which emphasizes the feminine energy of creation and the relationship among mind, body, and soul. Photographs illustrate the various exercises, and the text addresses such topics as menstruation, sexuality, childbearing, menopause, food and digestion, self-healing, and natural beauty. The text can be rather mystical, discussing moon centers, chakras, and "the ten bodies," so readers must pay close attention because the authors refer to these concepts when explaining how to breathe and meditate and how to perform poses and postures. An optional choice for larger collections. Written by expert yoga writer Sparrowe and leading yoga instructor Walden, The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health is less mystical than A Woman's Book of Yoga and may be a more comfortable choice for beginners, thanks to its conversational style. The authors focus on Iyengar yoga, which emphasizes precise alignment and provides modifications (props like blocks, bolsters, and straps) for beginners and less flexible women. Photographs demonstrate the exercises, including modifications; the benefits of each movement, as well as cautions, are indicated. The topics covered include the menstrual cycle, the immune system, eating disorders, childbearing, back care, headache relief, depression, menopause, digestion, osteoporosis, and the heart. Highly recommended for all libraries supporting women's health.-Samantha Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Look this: Quick Fit or Vaccines

Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too: Eating to Be Sexy, Fit, and Fabulous

Author: Melissa Kelly

For centuries, Mediterranean women—from classic beauty Helen of Troy to our own "reel"-time goddess Sophia Loren—have known the secret of healthy eating, living, and being. Mediterranean women have long embraced a natural vitality, sensual earthiness, grace, and warmth that allows them to be authentically themselves, to live long, spiritually rewarding—and thin!—lives, freed from empty calories, empty diet promises, impossible standards, and a "say no to food" mentality.

Thanks to the influence of cooking lessons in her Italian grandmother's kitchen, Melissa Kelly, co-owner and executive chef of Primo Restaurant, revels in sharing how every woman can extract the essence of the Mediterranean spirit and make it uniquely her own. From the cuisines of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, women learn how to maintain a healthy weight even as they discover and delight in the Mediterranean approach to food: the joy of the colors, textures, aromas, and flavors.

In addition, science now confirms that eating the Mediterranean way, getting most of the fat in your diet from olive oil instead of from meat and other sources of animal fats, is heart-healthy, immune-boosting . . . and, yes, slimming, too!

Mediterranean is a way of living, a celebration of family and togetherness woven with pleasure, laughter, and sensual delight. Flavor, variety, abundance, love of family, and soulful adventure are what Mediterranean women embody. Chef Kelly helps women bring these traditional qualities of Mediterranean hearth and health into their own homes.

Overflowing with a cornucopia of more than one hundred diverse and mouth-watering recipes,as well as a detailed menu planner, Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too gives women delicious food to eat in the context of an easy-to-follow plan. While sampling everything from traditional Hummus to Quick-Cooked Salmon with Fall Vegetable Pistou, to exploring the complex and satisfying layering of flavors in Prosciutto, Fennel, and Pear Salad with Persimmon Vinaigrette, you'll join women in enjoying the timeless, artful Mediterranean way of eating well and living a long, sensuous, beautiful life. Opa!