Healing Through Exercise

In Healing Through Exercise, internationally bestselling science writer Jörg Blech sets out the actual physiological effects of exercise: it triggers the growth of new brain cells, induces stem cells in blood vessels, and reverses symptoms of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Doctors are now using exercise to combat common ailments such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression. Every one of us—whether a healthy athlete, a patient seeking to overcome a chronic disease, or a person desiring a longer, more mentally active life—can use the new and important information in this book.

“Healthy Healing will not only guide you through your grief—it will literally save your life. It is about time we have a book that doesn’t leave the body behind after loss.” — Christina Rasmussen, author of Second Firsts: Live, Laugh and Love Again “I have never seen the road to ‘everything is going to be okay’ more clearly than in the pages of this book. It’s not just a call to action. It’s a call to life. Steinke takes your hand from page one and doesn’t let it go.” — Laura Munson, New York Times bestselling author of This Is Not the Story You Think It Is and founder of Haven Writing Retreats “Healthy Healing gives life to the notion that there can be beauty in the places that feel broken...get moving to a healthier life of hope and healing...become a living legacy in a way that really honors our loved ones.” — Bonnie Carroll, President and Founder of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and 2015 Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom “Michelle is a living example of her wise guidance on the power of endorphins and exercise to heal and empower your journey. May it propel you on your walk into a bright, renewed future full of unlimited possibility. Life changing from the inside out!” — Carolyn Moor, Founding Director at Modern Widows Club “If you are even remotely considering changing your lifestyle, and/or are struggling with grief, pick up this book. Not only will your body thank you, but in times of loss, your heart and soul will thank you.” — Girl Well Read “Practical, relatable, and life-affirming, Healthy Healing is a valuable resource for any grieving person. Michelle has not only found her own path through unthinkable tragedy, but she has created a roadmap for people facing any of life’s challenges.” — Michele Neff Hernandez, Founder and Executive Director, Soaring Spirits International

Explains how to improve health and physical fitness through a variety of methods, including running, acupressure, yoga, and weight training.

Provides information on improving one's mental and physical health through exercise.

Daoyin, the traditional Chinese practice of guiding the qi and stretching the body is the forerunner of Qigong, the modern form of exercise that has swept through China and is making increasing inroads in the West. Like other Asian body practices, Daoyin focuses on the body as the main vehicle of attainment; sees health and spiritual transformation as one continuum leading to perfection or self-realization; and works intensely and consciously with the breath and with the conscious guiding of internal energies. This book explores the different forms of Daoyin in historical sequence, beginning with the early medical manuscripts of the Han dynasty, then moving into its religious adaptation in Highest Clarity Daoism. After examining the medieval Daoyin Scripture and ways of integrating the practice into Tang Daoist immortality, the work outlines late imperial forms and describes the transformation of the practice in the modern world. Presenting a rich crop of specific exercises together with historical context and comparative insights, Chinese Healing Exercises is valuable for both specialists and general readers. It provides historical depth and opens concrete details of an important but as yet little-known health practice.

This practical guide to understanding the cranial nerves as the key to our psychological and physical well-being builds on Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory—one of the most important recent developments in human neurobiology. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience as a craniosacral therapist and Rolfer, Stanley Rosenberg explores the crucial role that the vagus nerve plays in determining our psychological and emotional states and explains that a myriad of common psychological and physical symptoms—from anxiety and depression to migraines and back pain—indicates a lack of proper functioning in the vagus nerve. Through a series of easy self-help exercises, the book illustrates the simple ways we can regulate the vagus nerve in order to initiate deep relaxation, improve sleep, and recover from injury and trauma. Additionally, by exploring the link between a well-regulated vagus nerve and social functioning, Rosenberg’s findings and methods offer new hope that by improving social behavior it is possible to alleviate some of the symptoms at the core of many cases of autism spectrum disorders. Useful for psychotherapists, doctors, bodyworkers, and caregivers, as well as anyone who experiences the symptoms of chronic stress and depression, this book shows how we can optimize autonomic functioning in ourselves and others, and bring the body into the state of safety that activates its innate capacity to heal.

A celebrated strength trainer and trauma practitioner offers a fresh and empowering approach to healing and thriving after trauma. In this innovative title, celebrated trainer and trauma practitioner Laura Khoudari brings a fresh approach to healing after trauma, using strength training as an embodied movement practice. Compassionate, witty and fastidiously researched, Khoudari’s debut, Lifting Heavy Things, is a breakthrough title that will empower and inspire you to develop resilience and build emotional and physical strength through working out with weights, while mindful of the ways that trauma can compromise the wellbeing of the mind and body. In Lifting Heavy Things, you’ll learn about: Managing chronic pain Creating the conditions for training and healing Understanding how trauma shows up in daily life Using embodied movement practices (beyond yoga) as a tool to comfortably re-inhabit the body Navigating interpersonal relationships during and after the healing process Why you don’t have to tell your trauma story (to everyone) Thriving with and moving beyond trauma With humor, tenderness and grit, Lifting Heavy Things takes readers on a journey of personal revelation and integration, helping them to lighten their emotional burden and build deep inner strength to lift all of the heavy things that life may bring with greater ease.

“Healthy Healing will not only guide you through your grief—it will literally save your life. It is about time we have a book that doesn’t leave the body behind after loss.” — Christina Rasmussen, author of Second Firsts: Live, Laugh and Love Again “I have never seen the road to ‘everything is going to be okay’ more clearly than in the pages of this book. It’s not just a call to action. It’s a call to life. Steinke takes your hand from page one and doesn’t let it go.” — Laura Munson, New York Times bestselling author of This Is Not the Story You Think It Is and founder of Haven Writing Retreats “Healthy Healing gives life to the notion that there can be beauty in the places that feel broken...get moving to a healthier life of hope and healing...become a living legacy in a way that really honors our loved ones.” — Bonnie Carroll, President and Founder of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and 2015 Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom “Michelle is a living example of her wise guidance on the power of endorphins and exercise to heal and empower your journey. May it propel you on your walk into a bright, renewed future full of unlimited possibility. Life changing from the inside out!” — Carolyn Moor, Founding Director at Modern Widows Club “If you are even remotely considering changing your lifestyle, and/or are struggling with grief, pick up this book. Not only will your body thank you, but in times of loss, your heart and soul will thank you.” — Girl Well Read “Practical, relatable, and life-affirming, Healthy Healing is a valuable resource for any grieving person. Michelle has not only found her own path through unthinkable tragedy, but she has created a roadmap for people facing any of life’s challenges.” — Michele Neff Hernandez, Founder and Executive Director, Soaring Spirits International