Taoist Health Exercise Book
This is a revised and expanded version of a book that has already gone through two editions (Quick Fox, 1974, 1981). Two new chapters have been added, but the emphasis remains the same--preventing disease through Taoist methods of exercise and diet. For the most part, the exercises are simple and practical, and many can be done indoors and even in bed--a boon to the elderly and infirm. The food chapters stress such natural products as ginseng and garlic. The benefits of meditative breathing and of swallowing air (to alleviate hunger pangs) are discussed. The author writes persuasively, but it seems strange that the book's demonstrative illustrations are strictly male. After all, women are subject to most of the same ills as men, and the Taoist treatments presumably are nonsexist in effectiveness.- Natalie Kupferberg, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., New YorkCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.