Resources and Links

Holistic Medicine

www.holisticboard.org  American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine. This is the certifying body for MD’s and DO’s.

www.holisticmedicine.org   American Holistic Medical Association. This is the membership organization for holistic practitioners. The site includes general information on what holistic medicine is as well as a chat/forum for the public, monitored by holistic physicians.

www.amfoundation.org   The Alternative Medicine Foundation, a nonprofit organization striving to provide information about holistic/alternative medicine to the public and practitioners. Includes a link to HerbMed, a searchable database of information about herbs.

Please Don't Label My Child: Break the Doctor-Diagnosis-Drug Cycle and Discover Safe, Effective Choices for Your Child's Emotional Health by Scott Shannon, MD. Dr Shannon is a holistic child psychiatrist and friend of Dr Warner’s. This book outlines the underlying flaws of our current medical system when it comes to overdiagnosis and treatment of mental illness in children, and discusses how to delve into the child’s nutrition, family life, connections and other areas prior to turning to medication.

General Health Topics

Ultraprevention: The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life by Mark Liponis, MD and Mark Hyman, MD. This book covers “how to get and stay healthy” with essentially the same approach that we use at Medicine In Balance. It’s complete but not overwhelming. Highly recommended.

Meditation As Medicine: Activate the Power of Your Natural Healing Force by Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD. I often recommend this book to those who want to approach their healing from an energetic standpoint. Based in the Kundalini yoga tradition, this book covers a wide range of issues and is backed by a lot of scientific research. Fascinating work.

8 Weeks to Optimum Health. by Andrew Weil, MD. Dr. Weil is another outspoken, forward-thinking holistic physician. This book takes you through all aspects of your life, asking you to make small changes over 8 weeks. When you're done, your life (and health) will be different!

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Women's Health

Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, MD. A wonderful book of basic information to help you understand your body and plan your own healthcare. Keep it around for reference and give it to your daughter when she comes of age.

Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar. Rosemary is a well known herbalist; this book contains lots of herbal information including “recipes” for homemade remedies that really work.

Herbal Remedies for Women by Amanda McQuade Crawford. This book is imminently readable and especially helpful for younger women, who tend to get less attention from herbalists than menopausal women. An especially good section on PMS.

Healing Fibroids: A Doctor's Guide to a Natural Cure by Allan Warshowsky, MD. Dr Warshowsky is a holistic gynecologist and a friend of Dr Warner’s; this is a great book that explains causes of hormone imbalance leading to fibroids as well as a thorough holistic approach to their management.

Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Tori Hudson, ND. Dr Hudson is a well known, well published naturopath who practices in the classic naturopathic tradition, but with a good understanding of conventional medical practice. Lots of good advice.

Menopause

Menopausal Years, the Wise Woman Way by Susun Weed. This is a classic, left-of-center compendium for the menopausal woman. Susun gives good, practical advice from what to eat to what herbs to use. She tends to start with the least invasive options, moving to the more invasive options, always saving conventional medicine for last.

The Herbal Menopause Book by Amanda McQuade Crawford. Amanda is a British-trained herbalist living and practicing in the States. She gives good practical advice on what herbs to use for different symptoms, and is a bit more "conventional" than a lot of herbalists.

Herbal Medicine

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils by Julia Lawless. Everything you need to know about essential oils. Written for the public and well illustrated, this book will get you started using essential oils and answer most questions you may have.

Tyler's Honest Herbal by Steven Foster and Varro Tyler. A basic, classic herbal compendium for home use. Lists many herbs along with their uses, contraindications, side effects, etc. Written for the public, easy to use.

www.herbalgram.org   Site for the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit organization that serves to educate the public about herbs. A great book catalog and subscriptions to Herbal Gram, a journal of herbal medicine.

www.herbs.org.   The Herbal Research Foundation. Info on herbal products, research; good links.

www.herbaltherapeutics.net.   Site for David Winston, a well known herbalist in Northern NJ. An educator and author, David has a wealth of knowledge and this site has lots to offer.

Energy Medicine and Yoga Theory

Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies by Richard Gerber, MD.   Talks about the history of energy medicine as well as research on how it works.   Fairly technical, but fascinating and complete

Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System by Anodea Judith. A great basic book about the chakra system and how it relates to energy imbalances and disease. A must read.

Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self by Anodea Judith. Discusses the chakra system in light of Jungian psychology, childhood development theory, metaphysics and somatic therapy. A powerful synthesis that helps you maintain healing and balance.

Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich Schiffman. Ostensibly a text on Hatha Yoga, this book describes not only how to perform the postures, but also describes the internal workings of yoga in an inspired way. This is one of the best books I’ve read on learning yoga “from the inside out”.

Stillness and Meditation

Meditation As Medicine: Activate the Power of Your Natural Healing Force by Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD. Dr Khalsa is a Western trained physician and Kundalini yoga practitioner. He documents ancient yogic techniques to treat medical conditions and references research to support their findings. I often use this book to aid patients in their healing.

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn. A classic book on mindfulness meditation, a form of meditation that many people find more approachable than most. A must read.

The Breathing Book by Donna Farhi. Most Westerners, especially women, breathe in unhealthy patterns. This book describes the consequences of different breath patterns, helps you identify your own and how to work toward healthier breathing. Also includes some easy yoga postures. Especially good for those with anxiety.

Senses Wide Open by Johanna Putnoi. This book contains essays and exercises to help you get out of your head and into experience. Especially important for those anyone who analyzes their life away!

Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann. An older book, but a lovely treatise on the real reason we do yoga.

Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Lasater. A way to daily remind yourself of stillness and the basic premises of yoga. A delightful read.

Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home by Sue Bender. We were given this book by a friend. Often, as I read it, I stopped to let things sink in. That, to me, is the sign of a really powerful book. Highly recommended.

www.learningmeditation.com. Wonderful site to walk you through some simple guided imagery. A good beginning that can be done at your computer, in just a few minutes.

www.yogajournal.com. Yoga Journal's website; great articles that range from philosophy to asana practice to recipes and more.

Retreat Centers
 Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Phone: 800-741-7353 or online at www.kripalu.org. A yoga retreat center in the Berkshires of Western Mass. Ongoing classes and workshops in yoga, meditation, self awareness; a wonderful retreat and renewal spot. Spa facilities.

Omega Institute. Phone: 800-944-1001 or online at www.eomega.org. A holistic learning center near Rhinebeck, NY. Holds workshops in yoga, meditation, self improvement - closed during the winter. Like an adult summer camp, slightly less "spiritual" than Kripalu. Spa facilities and a great coed sauna.

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Healthy Eating

Food and Healing by Annemarie Colbin. Talks about our relationship to food and its effect on our health. Mostly philosophy, not recipes, but really interesting.

The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas. A great cookbook to learn simple wholefoods cooking. Easy, seasonal, no "weird" ingredients involved.

Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello. Based in Macrobiotic cooking, so some of the ingredients used are a little odd. However, very enlightening book. (She's local and has a tv cooking show on Sat aft on PBS).

The Kripalu Cookbook by Atma JoAnn Levitt. A good collection of vegetarian fare from my favorite yoga institute. Especially good dressings and soups.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. Everything you need to know about cooking veggies. It's big, but easy to read and really informative. Wonderful!

Low Fat Favorites by Moosewood Restaurant. One of many cookbooks from the famous vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY. (When my husband Brad was in college, he worked there!).

The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean by Sheryl and Mel London. Bean and grain basics for beginners. How to cook them, what they all are, and lots of recipes. Not too fancy; just the facts.

A Dietician's Cancer Story by Diana Dyer. Even for healthy people, this has great tips on eating a more healthful diet! Especially good section on how to get more fruits and veggies into your diet, even when you don’t really want to.

www.glycemicindex.com A site to explain the glycemic index and how to incorporate it in your eating.

www.vrg.org. The Vegetarian Resource Group. A great site for information on how to be a healthy vegan or vegetarian. Discusses plant proteins, has a section on issues for kids and teens, and lots of good recipes.

www.foodandhealing.com Annemarie Colbin, PhD’s site; lots of good information and articles, some recipes.

www.molliekatzen.com One of the original chefs at Moosewood Restaurant; lots of good articles and recipes. Take a look at her links, as well.

www.localharvest.org A site listing organic farms, community supported agriculture, restaurants using locally produced foods and more. Searchable.

www.buckscountyfoodshedalliance.org Bucks County Foodshed Alliance. This nonprofit organization lists all of the local farmers markets and has great information regarding sustainable agriculture. Go to this site to find all the local farmers Dr Warner patronizes---the food is as great as the people!

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Sexuality & Relationships

Good Vibrations Guide to Sex. Straightforward information on all manner of topics related to sex, including aging, changes in libido, masturbation, etc. A must read for both partners. (See online below for www.goodvibes.com.)

Sex Over 50 by Joel Block. Every chapter in this book is great. In-depth discussions about relationship issues, changing body image, self-esteem, how medical conditions change your sex life, lots about libido and detailed "how-to's". Another must read for both partners.

Passionate Marriage by David Schnarch. A good guide to achieving greater intimacy with your partner, both physically and emotionally. Very strongly recommended.

The Essential Tantra: A Modern Guide to Sacred Sexuality by Kenneth Ray Stubbs. Discusses a spiritual, sensual way of relating. Good section on sensual massage for couples. Mystical in some sections towards the end, which may put off some people.

The Multi-Orgasmic Woman by Rachel Abrams, MD. I’ve given talks with Rachel, who is a holistic family doc. This is a very approachable book that teaches some of the practices of Tantric yoga, which will do wonders for those having difficulty with their enjoyment of their bodies. It’s a book I recommend to patients all the time.

www.goodvibes.com. The site for Good Vibrations, a California sex shop. Lubricants you won't find elsewhere, books, toys, videos, good information. Highly recommended. Will NOT sell your name or addresses; very discrete.

www.councilforrelationships.org. The site for Penn Council for Relationships, an organization of counselors / sex therapists with offices throughout the Delaware Valley

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For Healing Professionals

Integrative Medicine (second edition) by David Rakel, MD, ed. Possibly the best overall reference on the market today.

Integrative Medicine (second edition) by David S Jones, MD, ed. Specifically about functional medicine, this text is dense, absolutely packed with information. I use it all the time in caring for patients and highly recommend it.

Herb, Nutrient, and Drug Interactions: Clinical Implications and Therapeutic Strategies by Mitchel Stargrove, Jonathan Treasure, Dwight McKee. I love this book! It’s both a quick, easy way to look up interactions and a wealth of information if you have more time to read.

Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain. As an MD, I didn’t learn anatomy this way. This book was used as a text in a “Anatomy of Yoga” course that I took, and it really opened up my eyes. Probably not new material for DO’s and others, but I still find myself looking things up.

www.holisticboard.org American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine. For those interested in learning more about holistic medicine, please see this site for the best CME review course ever. (Yes, I’m a part of it!). Also the place to go for physicians who wish to become board certified in holistic medicine. (For “patients” who are reading this—suggest to your doc that they attend our course, even if they don’t want to get certified. It will open up their eyes to a whole new way to practice medicine).

www.holisticmedicine.org American Holistic Medical Association. This is the membership organization for those practitioners involved in holistic medicine. Although there is a strong physician presence, others can also be members. Great place to find a professional community if you’re feeling alone!

www.findingbalanceproductions.com Finding Balance Productions. The lifework of my friend Lee Lipsenthal, MD. Lee is dedicated to helping healing professionals find balance in their lives, avoiding overcare and burnout. He offers in-person CME lectures and workshops, as well as online CME. He also offers the world’s best week-long workshop on Molokai, Hawaii. You need to meet him.

 

 

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