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The subject of energy is never far from most people's minds. We wish we had more, we wonder where what we used to have went, and we worry that our future energy is overcommitted to work and other obligations from which we derive no pleasure. Vital Energy seems the perfect book for solving this increasingly widespread dilemma. Based on the ancient healing system of Ayurveda, which originated in India, it will help you identify yourself as an earth-, fire-, or wind-based personality. (Earth people tend to be more nurturing, fire people more competitive and driven, wind people more flighty and creative.) And then it presents seven key ways in which each of those types can improve their lives: finding yourself, eliminating toxins, feeding yourself better, building loving relationships, exercising, finding meaning in your work, playing passionately, and finding happiness and contentment by simply being alive. While that may sound like an ethereal set of goals and standards, Dr. David Simon's advice is really focused and easy to apply. For example, in the chapter on exercise, a fire person is told to choose outdoor or water-based fitness activities and to not make exercise another way in which he asserts his competitive drive. In the chapter on building loving relationships, Dr. Simon offers a way to "metabolize" feelings so that you can digest them, absorb what you need, and eliminate the rest, as you would with food. There's even advice on how to have better bowel movements in the morning. Dr. Simon is medical director of Deepak Chopra's Center for Well Being, so the readers most interested in Dr. Chopra's work will probably be drawn to Vital Energy. But it would be a shame if this book only ended up in the hands of those already familiar with Ayurvedic medicine and philosophy. Vital Energy is a completely engaging, easy-to-follow introduction to Ayurveda, and anyone searching for better health, vitality, and well-being should give it a read. --Lou Schuler
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