The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle

by Michelle S. Fondin

Build Optimal Energy and Health in Body, Mind, and Spirit

Ever wondered why you’re feeling out of balance, stressed-out, sick, and exhausted but still can’t sleep? Western medicine often ignores the underlying issues that can lead to fatigue, illness, and disease, but there is a way to revitalize your body and mind without drugs or dangerous side effects. Ayurveda, the “science of life,” is a complete wellness system that includes all that we associate with medical care — prevention of disease, observation, diagnosis, and treatment — as well as self-care practices that are generally absent from Western medicine. This truly holistic approach considers not just diet, exercise, and genetics but also relationships, life purpose, finances, environment, and past experiences. In this thorough and practical book, Michelle Fondin guides you gently through self-assessment questions designed to zero in on your needs and the best practices for addressing them, such as eating plans, addiction treatment, detoxification, and techniques for improving relationships. She outlines easy steps you can take, with minimal cost, to heal common ailments such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, excess weight, anxiety, and depression. These time-tested methods for body, mind, and spirit wellness offer benefits to anyone at any age.

Genres: Health, Self Help, Nonfiction, Medical, Lifestyle

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 4, 2014

About the author

Author of the latest book, The Eight Limbs of Yoga for Modern Times, The Empowered Divine Feminine: Becoming an Unstoppable Woman in the 21st Century and Beyond, Twin Flame Union: 7 Keys to Healthy Twin Flame Journey. She's also the author of Twin Flame Romance: The Journey to Unconditional Love, Heal Yourself A Return to Wholeness: The Integration of Body, Mind, Soul, and Spirit, The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle, Chakra Healing for Vibrant Energy, and Enlightened Medicine Your Power to Get Well Now, and more, Michelle is a Chopra Center Vedic Master, YouTuber, and intuitive. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who's quite familiar with Ayurveda, I was afraid this book would be redundant. However, the author does an excellent job of explaining everything in a way that is not boring. I especially recommend this for someone new to learning about Ayurveda, but even those with some knowledge of it will appreciate reading this book. Bonus: there's an excellent list of Recommended Reading in the back!

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book thanks to Goodread's First Read Program and here is my unbiased review

This is a great introduction to Ayurveda, which is awesome because I have been meaning to look into it more. The thing that really pulled me into this book was the introduction, asking 'why is this happening' with regards to a medical problem, I have Fibromyalgia (among other things) and I have been asking 'why do I have this' 'what caused this to happen' for a while now and sadly, Western medicine has not given me a clear answer. With Ayurveda, you are looking at the mind, body, and spirit as one entity, not a group of systems. Not that there is anything wrong with Western medicine, I have often just felt it is not enough.

My favorite thing about this book is its function as a guidebook, with prompts for self exploration. My only complaint is at times it seems a little, not really preachy, but in that vein. It is quite mild and only happens a few times, but it seems I am overly sensitive to that tone of writing in a self help book. Overall though I liked it, this book is a good starting point to Ayurveda.

[Belann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found little information about Ayurvedic healing, which is what I was looking for. Although she covered a number of things that affect health, I was looking for more usable information on the Ayurveda approach to health. It was disappointing.

[Debbie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Around one year ago, I decided that I needed more peace, happiness and balance in my life. I'm so thankful that I found Michelle Fondin's yoga studio, The Ayurvedic Path, in Herndon, VA to practice yoga. During my practices, I learned of Michelle's book, "The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda". I had heard some things about Ayurveda, but didn't really know what it was, how it worked and if it could help me. So I decided to read Michelle's book. So glad I did! I found it to be an extremely informative and helpful introduction to Ayurveda. Michelle really breaks Ayurveda theory and practice down so that readers can understand and use it in a functional way. I love everything about this book including the very helpful questionnaires, checklists and exercises. I've learned many things, but most importantly I've learned that our health is multidimensional. This quote says it all, "Health is an integration of my mind, emotions, soul, spirit, physical body and purpose in life". So true. As Michelle says, "If one of these is out of balance, they are all out of balance, rest assured." This book has really helped me to think about my health in a different way.

I highly recommend "The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda" to help you on your path to health, healing and happiness!

[Kate Rappe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend introduced me to Ayurveda - a 5000 year old practice of health, fitness and finding balance and purpose in your life. This book was a great way to jump into the concepts without being overwhelmed. Much of the ideas are things I already knew and practiced but it was a good reminder about how quickly we can be out of balance and uphappy when one part of our life is not in the right place (exercise, nutrition, finances, relationships etc.). I want to learn more about are the 3 different Dosha's or personality types, and how to feed your dosha the right things in life to find that purpose and balance. Still more to learn, but a good place to start if you're interested in self-helpy books.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good, extensive book on Ayurvedic medicine and lifestyle. I thought it was a good book, not just for the diet, but for holistic living. The only criticism I had with it was that the food suggestions were a little bit too strict and specific. I have read other books where the food was more wholesome and the variety keeps you focused on the beauty of eating that way rather than any lack you are experiencing.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required Reading for my yoga teacher training but very informative and easy to read. Accessible and suggested for anyone interested in the science of yoga

[Michelle Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for anyone who is new to Ayerveda or the yogi lifestyle. Those seasoned may find this book quite simple.

[Shrikanth Gopalan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book from the local library to get some insight into Ayurveda.
But I'm pleasantly surprised I found this book way more useful than what I had in mind.

There are probably hundreds of books out there on Healthy Lifestyle - which may or may not fully apply to all of us.
Here the author begins by helping the reader - identify his Ayurvedic mind-body type (using a worksheet). Then systematically takes the reader thru different aspects of physical, emotional, relationship, occupational and even financial health. Relating each weakness or imbalance to these mind-body types. Not only this mind-body type helps the reader reset himself, but also helps him better understand similar situations with other types in his family, friends or workplace.,

I rarely read books cover-to-cover - but I had difficulty putting this down and yes I'm buying this for sure for re-reading. Ayurveda or not - This one is definitely a great read for the holidays, for new beginnings in the New Year and anytime we need a reset in our lives.

[Aldene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book on Ayurveda I have ever read. I found the information to be written in an easy to follow manner and I really appreciated the book list in the back to look deeper into different aspects of health and healing. I have anxiety and was most interested in supporting myself in that area. I won this copy and was so surprised it was signed and personalized by the author Michelle. Michelle writes like she really does care and lays out the information in a way that's no to hippy scary for a complete newbie. If you are at all interested in alternative healing methods I highly recommend giving The Wheel of Healing a try.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ayurveda portion of it: fine, and an approachable introduction if you put your blinders on.

Be aware going into this that the author really ascribes to significant inherent differences between the sexes and traditional gender roles (only two!) and stereotypes. To be honest, I felt there was no reason to include any of these tidbits because while relationships are a part of the wheel, there are universal truths that don’t fall only on a binary and this isn’t a book on how to have a successful hetero relationship.

For a book published in 2015 about a subject encouraging an authentic, healthy, expansive way of life I guess I expected better.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a powerful personal and professional tool for applying fundamental principles of Ayurveda to everyday situations. I'm a yoga instructor and while some Ayurvedic books seem incongruent with western lifestyles, I love the way The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda seamlessly integrates Eastern and Western understanding to make Ayurvedic teachings so accessible in everyday life. The author's experience and skill with Ayurveda are evident in this well-thought out book. I have recommended this book to multiple people and I use it in a workshop for yoga teacher trainees.

[Niimka Niimka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally liked this book. It was giving some refreshments about healthy, natural and traditional living style. I would say this book is excellent for the people who are new to Ayurveda or any traditional eastern medicine. I found that Mongolian traditional medicine and Ayurveda are closely connected to each other. The concept of Vata, Pitta, and Kappa doshas are exactly the same as "Khii, Shar, Badgana" of Mongolian traditional medicine.

[The Farmer's Wife · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid advice from an eastern path of thinking. The diet and exercise parts were pretty weak. The relationship advice was inconsistent (for example, she urges the reader to let relationships go that are stunting growth - and then goes on to say to love - wait for it - "unconditionally..."). The self diagnosing tests that begin the book and the financial tips were well done. Probably the strongest argument of the book was the mind-body-emotion connection...

[Mander Pander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The irony of sitting in a Panera's, reading this while chomping down a grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch (and did I want a pastry for an additional 99cents? Of course I did!) does not escape me.

...So..I'd file this under "informational, but not life changing." And grilled cheese / tomato soup combo at Panera's is magnificent.

[Alexandria Blaelock · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there is some information about healing, it’s

This book is more about healing by a healthy life rather than healing per se. A healthy life takes care of your mental and spiritual needs, not just physical. And it takes into account your past experiences, your relationships, work, finances and environment. There’s a lot here to help you discover and deal with the other aspects of healing

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting thoughts on healthy living

[Library Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was more of a self-help style book, then a true Ayurveda healing book.

[Bode Cauthon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first experience with Ayurveda was definitely and positive and eye opening one with the author’s sincere voice and desire to help and heal. I’ll be taking her advice and reading it over again before starting any of the exercises.

[Nicole Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to Ayurvedic practices. Felt like dipping my toes in a bit, would have loved to learn more history of the practice personally, but I suppose I can seek that out in other books as I continue to explore this philosophy.

[Nikkers · Rating 4 out of 5]

While great info, I had read this before and I recall, again, that I test as one particular dosha but the recommendations she makes for a different dosha is what makes me feel better. I need to do more digging with a different resource.

[Laura Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Infinite flexibility is the key to immortality.” 58

“Deciding to let go is as easy as making a decision. Feel the freedom that arises as you decide to move on. Change the stories you tell yourself and others so you can reshape the path of your future.” 148

[Kellragan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear and easy read.

[Shaunda Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m just learning about Ayurveda but this was good practical information with a variety of areas addressed

[Vis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ayurveda mixed with a lot of other ideas, didn't really enjoy.

[Julieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayurveda lifestyle for Westerners...totally adaptable for anyone-

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. An interesting way to look at ayurveda through different aspects of life. Could have done without the outdated masculine/feminine gender roles though.

[Lisa Rosenow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read! I am going to get Matt to read it too

[Cory Sydee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for looking at how you can apply ayurvedic aspects to different areas of your life. I did not like how condescending and judgemental the author’s voice came across.

[Illari IC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una buena guía de consejos a poner en pràctica según tu dosha, te ayudará a reencontrar equilibrio y sostenerlo.