Review by Booklist Review
Chopra, known for his philosophy of better living through quantum physics, returns to his central message: that the mind-body connection is a major player in all facets of health. Here he puts aging under the microscope and concludes that to age or not to age just might be a question we have some control over. Though at first it seems as if Chopra is saying that illness and even death might be obsolete, he backs off from that premise a little, acknowledging that, on a practical level, doing away with death is still a little tricky. Still, he contends the concept is valid; after all, he argues, there are spiritual masters who are said to have lived for several centuries. More useful for ordinary mortals are Chopra's discussions about how the body takes its clues from the programming it receives. He urges readers to realize that the body is a product of awareness, that beliefs, thoughts, and emotions cause chemical reactions in cells, and that if you change your perception, you can change the experience of your body and the world. Many of the practical suggestions Chopra offers--involving exercise, dieting, and relaxation techniques--are not news, but he does provide a genuinely fresh way of looking at the aging process, empowering his readers to make choices that will positively influence the way they age. There's no doubt this book will attract an audience, but skeptics are sure to ask, Does any of this work or is it just more New Age mumbo jumbo? Like my grandmother used to say, "Try it. What can it hurt?" (Reviewed May 15, 1993)0517592576Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Chopra ( Quantum Healing ) is one of our perennial gurus, appealing to millions but offering them a suspect brew of panacea and escapism. The message of his new book? ``We are not victims of aging, sickness, and death. These are part of the scenery, not of the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being.'' The basis for his belief, Chopra argues, is quantum physics and the work of such scientists as Heisenberg, Bohr and Einstein, with whose help Chopra proposes to tell us how to stave off the inevitable changes brought on by mortality and the passing of years. He advises us on how to ``defeat entropy,'' to ``believe'' enough to offer palpable resistance to processes of physical alteration, and to ``reinterpret your body'' such that renewal will come of it. He himself believes in ``a land where no one is old,'' and where ``we create our bodies as we create the experience of our world.'' He is also a proponent of ``the science of longevity,'' and cites research by doctors (sometimes nameless) to back himself up when expounding upon it. But alert readers will finish the book with unsettling questions, the result of a book that is rife with inspirational conviction but at times thin on substance. 150,000 first printing; major ad/promo; author tour; BOMC and QPB selection. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Chopra, a proponent of the Indian Maharishi Ayurveda system of healing, has written a book that combines philosophy, biology, and modern health research in an attempt to convince the reader that the effects of aging are largely preventable. Since the practical suggestions are mixed in with theory, case studies, and rather complicated biological data, the book sometimes rambles and seems disorganized. Several of the recommendations about diet and exercise contradict each other. Followers of Chopra will demand this book. For libraries that have the author's previous books ( Perfect Health , LJ 6/1/90) and large alternative medicine collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/93.-- Natalie Kupferberg, Montana State Univ. Lib., Bozeman (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
You can live to be a hundred and enjoy each of those years as a fully functioning person--or so says Chopra (Unconditional Life, 1991, etc.) in this challenging work. An intriguing set of Census Bureau statistics cited here notes that the number of centenarians is twice what it was ten years ago- -and is expected to double again by the millennium. Prolonging fruitful lives is not a question of mind over matter, Chopra contends, but, rather, of mind and matter--mind and body--together at one with the universe. It's often hard for pragmatic Westerners to deal with this kind of mind/spirit/body talk, but Chopra has a talent for anchoring the ephemeral in what's generally considered reality, and for leading spiritual novices through the swamps of such concepts as awareness, detachment, and self without resorting overly to New Age slang. In discussing how awareness--or lack of it--affects the physical symptoms of aging, for instance, Chopra builds an authoritative base using research from Harvard, Duke, and Stanford that shows that mental, social, and intellectual activity can keep people vital and alert as they age. But because many of us have poor models for aging, we accept the idea that getting old means pain, intellectual decay, and inactivity. Bringing attention or awareness to areas of discomfort is the first step to changing problems, Chopra argues, offering a step-by-step routine to make one or more of those changes. Along with reflections on such provocative concepts as cellular memory and ``metabolizing time,'' the author also tackles the positive aspects of aging--creativity and wisdom--and the value of those old standbys, diet and exercise. A separate chapter examines, not altogether satisfactorily, India's traditional medical system of Ayurveda. A guide to longevity that's also a thoughtful and sometimes inspiring reflection on our remarkable place in the cosmic scheme of things.
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