The Creation of Health: The Emotional, Psychological, and Spiritual Responses That Promote Health and Healing

Who can help asking "Why?" when they develop a disease? According to theologian and "medical intuitive" Caroline Myss, Ph.D., and co-worker C. Norman Shealy, M.D., who is a physician, neurosurgeon, and expert on pain and stress management, the answer goes further than a medical explanation. The Creation of Health explores the emotional, physical, and spiritual patterns that form health and the stresses that can cause disease.

Myss identifies eight dysfunctional patterns that lead to illness. Being aware that "negative attitudes create negative responses within the physical body" allows you to make changes toward health after identifying your emotional, psychological, and spiritual stresses. The most interesting chapters discuss specific diseases in terms of lifestyle factors, stress, and psychological patterns and energy factors, with case studies. A heart attack, for example, is "an explosion of energy attempting to break down an emotional barrier ... caused by warehousing fears and anger," says Myss. The authors alternate, rather than co-write, chapters and topics, so you know whose perspective you're reading. The theoretical sections are not easy reading, but the insights you can apply to your own health make the work immensely worthwhile. --Joan Price