We are an intrinsic part nature. Understanding the principles of nature and how they apply to our own lives is the basis of holistic health. ‘Living rhythm with nature – Simple steps to holistic health’ explores this theme in a manner that provides a simple and refreshing insight into the power of nature in our lives.

This book dwells on the transformative impact of lifestyle choices on holistic health. These lifestyle choices include a nutritious diet and physical activity. They also encompass a positive attitude towards life, warm relationships with people and a life led with spontaneity and acceptance.

The author brings back the important message in her book that life style modification is the order of the day for wellness. I think it is time the man on the street gets this message in this era of the prevailing Medical Scare System where everyone is being lured into the system to become a patient. This is a very useful book which must find a place in the bookshelf of every household everywhere. If we don’t follow Ms. Raghavan’s sane advice there will be no well person in society any more. Everyone will have been labeled as a patient.

Ms. Prema Raghavan has written a very useful and lovely book on wellness, a concept which I introduced in the 1980s vis-a-vis illness. I was delighted to go through its pages echoing my sentiments in abundance, especially in the chapter on physiology of the human body. Prema has rightly pointed out the futility of hanging on to the reductionist view that the body is made up of organs which could be dealt with in isolation. She has also delved deep into the realm of human consciousness, the kingpin in the game of human existence. Here the author has been supported by a professor in the leading American University, Mary Tinnetti, who wrote an excellent article in the American Journal of Medicine (2004; 116: 179) entitled The end of the disease era.

The human body works as a whole and in conjunction with nature. Physicist Fritz-Albert Popp's Bio-photon camera shows how even a small dab of an ointment on the dorsum of one's palm stimulates brain cells. This holistic view of human life has been clearly brought out in this book in simple language which is easy for the lay person to understand. The author writes in fluent English which flows smoothly like a placid river but explains matters lucidly for the reader.

The chapter which takes the cake in this book is her learned exposition of the leading killer of mankind, Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR). She rightly points out how reductionist chemical molecules (pharmaceutical drugs) are alien to the human system. The body tries to destroy them with the help of the liver; in the bargain where the latter also gets damaged. The leading researcher in this field has been Professor Douglas C Wallace who, with his innovative mitochondrial chip (MIT chip), had demonstrated this damage in his study published recently (Genetics 2008; 179: 727).

Change of mode of living, otherwise called life style modification, is the essence of healthy living which has been dealt with in great detail here. This is praiseworthy. The first textbook of medicine, written in 1773 AD by a brilliant professor of medicine in Vienna, Charles Scharsmidst, lists the three steps to recovery from illness in this order of merit.

The author brings back this important message in her book that life style modification is the order of the day for wellness. The chapters on Yoga, meditation and tranquillity of mind are also superb. I think it is time the man on the street gets this message in this era of the prevailing Medical Scare System where everyone is being lured into the system to become a patient - the so called disease mongering, which has been found to be universally rampant in a study done recently by Ray Moynihan, the editor of PLOS medicine. Any human being who sees a doctor becomes a patient!

Prema writes with passion and compassion for mankind. Her infectious commitment for human well-being comes out loud and clear in the underlying message of the book. The book has come out very well. All concerned, in addition to the author, also need a pat on the back. This is a very useful book which must find a place in the bookshelf of every household everywhere. The book gets very high marks in my assessment and passes with distinction. Consequently, I sincerely recommend it very, very strongly. If we don't follow Ms. Raghavan's sane advice there will be no well person in society any more. Everyone will have been labelled as a patient. This book will be a good companion for that classic by Professor Nortin Hadler, professor of medicine in a leading US university, titled The Last Well Person.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an institution of National Eminence and I am happy that they have agreed to publish this book. They will do a good job for sure. I wish the book and its author God speed and all success.

Simplicity and sustainability are mere concepts until we are able to understand and implement them at an individual level. Sustainability at an individual level is the practice of holistic living. This book presents various lifestyle-related aspects of holistic health and living. The common thread that runs through them is that every such initiative creates a direct bond between us and the natural flow of the world.

My son visited a cheese farm in the southern part of India a few years ago. Over a period of 6 years, the owners had developed a farm on the slopes of the Nilgiri hills, grown their own food, raised 14 cows and earmarked a grazing area for them, built a mini cheese-making plant and used the rest of the space to build small cottages which they gave out on rent to travellers. They led a sustainable life with their social, environmental and economic needs in a healthy balance. The handmade cheese was sold to visitors and in the local town market. While demand always outstripped supply, the amount of cheese they produced never increased because production volumes were not determined by the market but by the amount of land their cattle needed to graze on, which is unmoved by the laws of demand and supply. To my son this approach appeared to be an economic revelation.

When we make the choice to live in a sustainable way, it transforms our paradigm and reshapes the world into a better place. At the heart of our ability to make this shift is the way we choose. Holistic living is the act of reconnecting with our own intuitive wisdom. Transforming our lifestyle habits to be more aligned with our own true nature.

Every aspect of our lives, in terms of our food and lifestyle habit routines, our mental and emotional state and the conviction and purpose that shape and drive our lives are navigated by our own intuitive wisdom - once we learn how to listen. This book is an effort to share my experiences and understanding of holistic health. It is an exploration of how the simple act of living in alignment with nature can transform the world within and around us.

One of the fulcrums of holistic health is the power of habit. Habits have an extensive influence over our physical, mental and emotional responses that would undermine conventional ideas of free choice. Positive habit routines provide an incremental, fundamental and lasting impact on the way we live. If these habits are consciously founded on the principles of holistic health, it will ease our journey towards a simpler and more fulfilling life.

In the backdrop of an evolving appreciation of the elegant simplicity with which nature functions, I offer this humble submission on holistic health. The journey towards holistic health, like all other significant aspects of our lives, is an exploration. To rediscover our interconnectedness with the world around us, and return to a life of harmony. To walk in barefoot simplicity, experience the rejuvenating touch of the earth and quietly embrace our instinct to align with the rhythms of nature.