The Wellness Workbook

I love this book! and am grateful for its reintroduction into the marketplace. With its new look and updated content I can now use the Wellness Workbook in my college health classes without fear of being labeled out of date. The Wellness Workbook was one of the original shapers of the Wellness Movement in the early 1980s, and promoted the idea that health was more than the absence of disease. Authors Travis and Ryan encouraged, and still encourage, readers to think, "Why settle for getting by, when your one precious life could be so much more?" They present Wellness as a jouney, a way of living and thinking, rather than a destination. The Wellness Workbook gracefully suggests that we take a mindful look at our lifestyles, and consider the impact our lifestyles have, in every fine detail, on ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. When most people hear the word "Wellness," they think healthful diet, exercise, and maybe a little stress management. This book goes far beyond the standard superficial health advice found in most books with Wellness in their title. The Wellness Workbook presents the most holistic and integrated view of wellness I have ever found in my twenty plus years as a health educator. As an example of this, take a look at the chapter on Wellness and Eating, where Travis and Ryan encourage you to consider the many meanings of hunger and nourishment. Along with a discussion of Eating for High-Level Wellness you will also find sections on Food as a Pain Reliever, Filling Up the Emptiness, and Food as Emotional Insulation. Although these sections may sound somewhat gloomy, the thoughtful writing is nonjudgmental and interesting, and the humor found throughout the book allows the book to "walk its talk" and consider the many sides of every issue, and understand how the many facets of Wellness are related one to another.

The New Wellness Workbook, which was new to me with this 3rd edition, is the most comprehensive book that I have ever seen on wellness. Going far beyond cultural and medical ideas of health, the authors inspire us to look at our own wellbeing from the widest perspective, including emotional, social, and spiritual perspectives. As a holistic GP (family MD) I know that this book will be at the top of my recommended reading list.

I am a Certified HypnoBirthing® Childbirth Educator and I am sharing this with every person I know personally and every couple I come into contact professionally. I look forward to sharing it with my young daughter someday 10 years from now [hopefully Dr. Travis & Ms. Ryan will write future editions too]! I ate up each and every page, looking forward to the next. Plus it was easy to read and the index was so detailed that I could locate specific concerns quickly as if Dr. Travis was personally answering my inquiry. I loved the personal pictures from the authors' childhood and the last page [Grand Certificate] deserves to be on everyone's wall. If more parents followed the information in this book, the result would be lots of happier children, better balanced and less angry teenagers and less violent and money/status starved adults in our world. I know I will be referring to my copy for years to come ...or until the cover falls off! Perhaps by then the 4th edition will be birthed. I'm also planning to give copies as gifts since what it better but the gift of health!

Here is the revised and updated version of the book that started the wellness movement, and nearly 30 years later it's still the best! While other wellness books look primarily at diet and exercise, this book looks at the multi-dimensionality of wellness. It's a rich, well documented source of information, perspectives and questions that will, with a little self-responsible commitment on your part, change your life -- I promise. Jack Travis created the models you will find here. I see them in a lot of other books, usually without proper attribution. He is a visionary extraordinaire and he just keeps doing it -- looking to the possible and insisting it can be done. And sure enough, when you give it a try, it can be done and your life will never be the same. With Regina Ryan's wealth of experience, knowledge and extraordinary clarity, you have a resource that should be in every personal or public library. Put it in yours -- better yet, put it on your bedside table -- read it, use it until it is dog-eared and part of your life. Allow it to help you ask questions, find answers and experiment. Use it to find what works for you. It's not a Bible. It's more like a laboratory. It doesn't say, "This is the only way." It says, "Here are some questions. Here is the research, the information, some possibilities. Try them. See what you think." It's such a wealth of information and perspectives that from the first edition of The Wellness Workbook in the late `70's (in a 3-ring binder) to this new, classy edition, it's still on my bedside table, keeping me focused on my wellness process.

Every once in a while something really special shows up about creating health. This book is well written and documented. It touches on the basics of our lives with helpful pointers on developing healthy attitudes and practices. I found this to be a great book! Well worth the price!