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An Integration of Western Fitness with Eastern Wellness by JOYCE BUEKER, M.A. Llewellyn Publications $14.95 (softcover)
Joyce Bueker, an amateur bodybuilder, personal trainer, and yoga instructor has written a guidebook intended to help others learn how to return to a healthy state of balance between work and play, activity and repose. She offers us a glimpse into her personal journey that she began from a predominantly Western fitness/bodybuilder background to find balance with a harmonious Eastern approach to wellness. East and West meld beautifully in her book Ayurvedic Balancing. Ayurveda is a centuries-old Indian healing art that translates literally as "life science." For the newcomer to this medical science, the author offers an easy explanation of the elemental principles in Ayurveda to determine your specific constitution, a combination of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual nature. Each type has a particular mindset, prefers certain tastes in food, and has an inclination for a style of physical activity. Through several self-inquiry questionnaires, you will also discover what choices contribute to imbalance for each type and the unique requirements each needs to enhance fitness and wellness. As you begin to apply the tools throughout this book by making the right choices to fulfill your conscious needs, you will develop skills to set realistic goals and create a program for a balanced routine that allows you to cope with the ups and downs of life. The development of mental and emotional equanimity is based on nutritional choices that promote balance, stress reduction through meditation, and imagery or exercise: yoga, strength training routines, or cardiovascular fitness, depending on your constitution. To become more fully who we are, we must be willing to look objectively at ourselves, setting realistic, attainable goals that provide support toward greater achievement in all facets of our lives. Ayurvedic Balancing is a great first step in that direction. |
In today’s
fast-paced world, creating a semblance of balance can be a challenge.
Technological advances allow us to be highly productive with
the advent of online functions such as banking transactions;
communicating with friends and colleagues; and purchasing groceries,
books, clothing — virtually anything — without expending
energy running errands. This "virtual life" has severed
the connection we have to the natural rhythms of life.