Customer Reviews

The Andrew Weil Audio Collection (Self Healing)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a first step into meditation, I would strongly recommend listening to these tapes. The first 90 minutes is a clear explanation by first Weil, but mostly Jon Kabat Zinn, on the best way of understanding meditation, what it can do for your life and your health. Then follows a 45 minute guided meditation on watching the breath. I have purchased many books on Buddhism, meditation or yoga. Jon Kabat Zinn, who also wrote the brilliant book Full Catastrophe Living, is along with Thich Nhat Hahn, my favourite writer. Kabat Zinn is particularly good at explaining meditation as a way of working with problems, rather than wishing them away. The focus with Kabat Zinn is on accepting your experience, opening yourself up to it, seeing how pain is there, but it is not you, on living fully- mindfully not mindlessly. He is great for people who suffer pains, physical or emotional. I think this tape is a perfect introduction to meditation as a way of healing the heart.

If you have never done breath work before, Dr. Weil's CD: Breathing The Master Key to Self Healing is an excellent first choice that will provide a series of short exercises to improve your breathing technique, quiet your mind, and help you clear your daily tension and anxiety prior to deeper meditation. This initial preparation assumes that you know little about breath discipline (a form of Yoga), and takes you from the very beginning with a kindly voice and beautiful music. Dr. Weil's producer has taken care to provide the best quality sound, the best musicians, and even a high quality CD that will resist wear. (I use my CD every day on my bus commute to town.)

This is my fourth purchase of Weil's CDs in the past 14 months. The first two were for my partner who was anticipating and then recovering from diverticulitis surgery. The second and third pairs were for friends enduring chemo and radiation after cancer surgery. The latest was for my oldest nephew who is dealing with a currently inoperable/untreatable intracranial hemorrage. My nephew, a hard-living Texas oil industry type, was the only one resistant to the concept. After actually trying the process, he's on his way to a 360. My partner and my friends didn't resist at all and put these meditational practices to good use immediately with very positive results. I might add that they, and I, continue to use the CDs for health maintenance.

I've been a fan of Dr. Weil's since his Eating Well for Optimum Health got me out of an unintentionally self-induced but serious health crisis. I'd recommend the CDs and the book as excellent purchases for anyone facing a well-being challenge, and as a particularly thoughtful gift for friends and family in need of support. They are five star contributions to the arts and crafts of living well and living WELL.

This may not seem important to some who don't take their health seriously.
Both of these programs are only as good as the user.
The breathing exercises are a great preparation for the meditation CD and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn to meditate.

Dr. Weil has done more for Natural Medicine than anyone in quite some time because he bases his claims in science

I've always thought meditation was a) a little goofy and b) impossible to do because who can think of nothing? But Dr. Weil and John Kabat-Zinn have put together a great selection of both teaching and guided meditation that even the most analytical, anxious, type-A person (me) can learn from.

I agree with the other reviewers, this probably is an excellent introduction to Yoga breathing and meditation, but that's not why I listened to it. If you are just an everyday, average Joe or Jane, don't think that this product is not for you! Weil teaches the breathing techniques outside of their cultural connotations and I often recommend the relaxing technique to clients and friends when they feel stressed and overwhelmed. It's a fabulous tool for taking back a little control in your life. Use it spiritually, or don't, but listen to the book!

I bought this and a few other CDs to see if I might help my sleep naturally. I think the ANdrew Weil Breathing CD's are very helpful if used daily for a period of time. I did not feel the meditation CD was as helpful as the Andrew Weil breathing CD. The Breathing CD is really a well thought out combination of meditation and breathing exercises. The Meditation only CD was too long for a beginner to take in. The speaker has a harsh voice compared to Dr Weil. The Weil CD has soothing music to help you meditate for shorter periods of time as opposed to the Meditation only CD which expects a beginner to meditate for an hour at a time. Unrealistic. It is harder than it sounds. The breathing exercises actually facilitate meditation as they calm the entire nervous system. If I had to buy this over again I would just buy the Andrew Weil breathing CD. I have used the entire CD twice a day for the past 2 1/2 months and now I sleep seven hours a night. The first week I started to fall asleep quicker. ( I also bought the Delta Wave CD which was a waste of money. It seemed to irritate my mind not soothe it into delta waves. I awoke more with that CD than on my own.) The Weil CD is organized as a series of exercises which can be used individually or as a program. As you become familiar with the meditation and breathing exercises you can then use them individually as you have time throughout the day. I gave this five stars for the Weil CD as it did not seem fair to penalize the Weil CD for the Meditation only CD. If you are already an accomplished meditator maybe the Meditation only CD is for you--It is kind of like asking a beginner skier to ski down the double black diamond slope.

I am a licensed therapist, and I recommend Weil's breathing techniques to many patients. I think it is a great natural aide in helping so many struggling with psychological issues. This collection will not disappoint!

Learn to breathe! It's very, very important.
I achieve much relaxation when i Stop. Concentrate. Breathe Deeply. Learning how is important, too.
But this set of tapes is poorly done.
The first tape is sales, WHY you should learn to breathe,
and what the benefits are. I already have the tape, i'm sold.
Please stop selling.

The second tape is laughable. The author fills the tape with minutes of dead space as we 'breathe together'. The author will say "Here's a breathing exercise. Let's try it." The explanation of how to do the exercise takes 1 minute. Then, there is 2 minutes of silence.
This happens quite often. The 2nd side of the 2nd tape has 5 minutes of new-age flute music, to get you in the mood.

For me, this book didn't work.