Four books on health to invest in this month

Four books on health to invest in this month
on Jul 15, 2021

These books are all about how to stay afloat with courage when things go wrong.

Life on a Knife’s Edge: a Brain Surgeon’s Reflections on Life, Loss and Survival

By Dr. Rahul Jandial The book is about understanding the mind of neurosurgeons, who are often locked in complicated life saving surgeries. Author Dr. Rahul Jandial, a dual-trained neurosurgeon and neurobiologist in Los Angeles, says professionals like him often draw the most important lessons from their patients. His book works both as a memoir and a science non-fiction script, with an account of different surgeries he has performed in his career. Surgeries that require resilience, belief, courage, and of course, skill. What it means to survive and how we deal with trauma are the core material for the book that celebrates modern medicine and simultaneously exposes the shortcomings of the healthcare system. Jandial is disarming as he writes about many patients with extreme forms of cancer, who came to him as the last hope, but could not be saved. He says his profession takes him deeper into the inner workings of his own mind, when decisions are made under unimaginable pressure. Saving and damaging life can haunt you forever, yet one needs to carry on when things go deadly wrong, he says.

Looking Inward: Meditating to Survive in a Changing World

By Swami Purnachaitanya In Looking Inward, Swami Purnachaitanya discusses the need to look within for strength, happiness, concentration and resilience. The book is a toolkit that helps in the journey of identifying the source of stress and addressing and transcending it. The author says the solution lies in meditation as it helps to soothe our distracted thoughts and refocus our energy in the present moment. The book highlights enlightening stories and precious insights from the yoga instructor who emphasizes the effectiveness of 10-minute exercises that can take people a step closer to mastering the mind and building a meditation practice. When you step out of the house to find the keys you left on the dining table means it is time to look within for inner peace. At the end of each chapter, he shares with readers a wisdom sutra and a 10-minute exercise to calm fears and frayed nerves. Shortcuts like DIY mindfulness apps do not help to get over difficult periods, he writes, and meditation is not a luxury but a necessity in today’s changing and challenging world.

The Occupied Clinic: Militarism and Care in Kashmir

By Saiba Varma In the world's most densely militarised place, Kashmir, it is not easy to fight the epidemic of depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and acute stress. The author delves into the psychological, ontological, and political entanglements between medicine and violence in the region. The long history of occupations, insurgencies, suppressions and natural disasters have harboured a crisis of public health infrastructure and human distress among medical professionals, civilians and social workers. The author claims majority of the State’s population suffers due to the encounters between healthcare providers and seekers, in an array of violent settings. She talks about how the political disorder disrupts life and alters the meaning and practices of care. She says that medical neutrality cannot be compromised. It is never quite what it seems because care is not and can never be a redemptive practice. Care is necessary for protection, welfare and maintenance of others,” she writes..

A Radical Awakening: Turn Pain Into Power, Embrace Your Truth, Live Free

By Shefali Tsabary The clinical psychologist reaches out to women in her latest book, telling them how to transcend their fears and illusions, break free from societal expectations, and rediscover the true person they are: happy, conscious, and fully present. The essence of living is to be able to live authentically as your true self and inspire and elevate others along the way, she says. The book is a guide to heal inner wounds and discover the power within to help heal yourself and others as well. Sharing some real-life experiences, with readers, Shefali shows women the path to tread on in order to uncover the true purpose of their living and be the person they always wanted to be. The extraordinary power exists within, it just needs to be unlocked to awaken the conscious self and deconstruct the archetypes that still exist in society . SOURCE - THE HINDU