Aveda Rituals : A Daily Guide to Natural Health and Beauty [Paperback]

Horst Rechelbacher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1999

A lushly illustrated guide to holistic beauty and health by the founder of AVEDA(r)cross promotion with AVEDA.

The understanding that our beauty and health are depent on the environment around us as well as the personal landscape of our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls, is the foundation of Horst Rechelbacher's holistic guide. More than 100 color photographs complement the practical text in AVEDA Rituals, which highlights the interconnectedness of all things: of health and beauty; of mind, body, and spirit; of our bodies and the larger body we must care for, Earth.

Horst Rechelbacher founded AVEDA by creating pure plant-based beauty products in his own sink. Over the past twenty years he has developed it into a multimillion-dollar company with a conscience. Now he has written AVEDA Rituals, which provides a broad new holistic approach to health, beauty, and wellness. First, the author introduces and discusses Ayurveda, aromatherapy, and his own personal philosophies for life. Then he goes on to provide a wide array of daily rituals derived from them that touch on every aspect of life, including cleansing, nutrition, meditation, aromatherapy, relaxation, body movement, massage, goal setting, and stress management. Readers are invited to incorporate each of their elements into their own individual daily regimen, one that will leave them feeling their best and most beautiful inside and out!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"We promote wellness, longevity, radiance, and bliss when we follow simple, nurturing practices," says Horst Rechelbacher, the founder of Aveda, the natural, aromatherapy-based, hair-, skin-, and body-care products line. In addition to heading Aveda, he is also an environmental activist and a seeker who has studied the world's spiritual and self-healing traditions. He says the key to wellness, inner harmony, and beauty is a process that is eased by returning to nature and to the wisdom of the oldest cultures and rituals.

Rechelbacher offers a selection of rituals based on India's Ayurvedic healing system--"simple, gentle practices"--many of them using essential oils. He presents the philosophies behind the value of nurturing rituals, an explanation of how you can individualize your choices according to your own constitution (based on Ayurvedic principles), then a selection of soothing rituals that you can incorporate into your own life. These include breath, touch, movement, food, herbs, meditation, relaxation, and a variety of cleansing, healing, and body-care practices (including cosmetics) using essential oils and natural products (from Aveda, of course). He encourages you to invent your own daily regimen that nurtures and pleases you. A helpful glossary of essential oils includes a wealth of information about each one. Aveda Rituals is the next best thing to a day at one of the company's gloriously rejuvenating spas. --Joan Price

From Library Journal

Rechelbacher, founder of AvedaTM Cosmetics, shows how his routine of meditation, massage, aromatherapy, natural foods, and ecologically friendly habits (including business habits) contribute to his holistic well-being. The book describes rituals that calm and re-energize the body, including self- and partner massage and, briefly, the Ayurvedic medicine (the three doshas and their respective needs). The section on herbs is extremely basic and without much instructionAand the beauty chapters are a thinly veiled commercial for Aveda products. A pleasant introduction to Ayurvedic principles but of limited value overall.ASusan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805058001
• ISBN-13: 978-0805058000
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healthy living made simple, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Aveda Rituals : A Daily Guide to Natural Health and Beauty (Paperback)

I have been so inspired by the simple but life-changing practices put forth in Aveda Rituals. For a long time, I had been putting off losing weight and getting healthy in every aspect of my life, and this book gave me the encouragement and practical guidance I was missing. I have changed my daily approach to living as a result, and am noticing positive differences in my health, my well-being, my work and my relationships. Plus I've lost 21 pounds. I now realize how holistic health really is - you can't be healthy in body if you're not healthy in mind and spirt, and vice-versa. I've now discovered this first-hand. This book is a valuable reference tool which I can use every day, for years to come, whether I read through it again and again, or just refer to what I've already learned.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful if you want a lifestyle change!, May 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Aveda Rituals : A Daily Guide to Natural Health and Beauty (Paperback)

This is a truly excellent book. It shows you how to feel healthy, beautiful, and on top of your life through many rejuvenation techniques. They range from the basics, such as hair care, makeup application, and healthy eating, to full-blown cleansings which involve fasting and spiritual refuge. You can really use the book in any way you want, whether you simply use a few of the tips, or you make it your Bible. Either way, it's worth the purchase.

Though the layout isn't perfect, the book is visually appealing, and soothing pictures grace many of the pages. They make the healthy lifestyle look truly tempting. One problem is that Horst Rechelbacher seems to be marketing his company, Aveda, somewhat in this book. Though I really don't see a problem with that, as Aveda is a wonderful company for total body care.

I really reccommend this book if you are ready for a beautiful lifestyle metamorphosis!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply exceptional!, October 11, 2002

By 

emilylf (Minnetonka, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aveda Rituals : A Daily Guide to Natural Health and Beauty (Paperback)

Mr. Rechelbacher's book features ideas to help beautify your life from the inside, out. Both his writing style and the book layout is easy to read. He is very good about "suggesting" changes in your lifestyle, and with each change he suggests, he talks in detail about how such a change could benefit your life, health, and/or appearance. He uses his own rituals as a starting point, but encourages the reader to develop their own personal rituals. He does not shamelessly plug his own products (as some authors are wont to do). He even admits to not following his own advice occasionally! I especially liked his chapters on self-massage (something I'd never even considered), nutrition, and refreshing yourself mid-day.

Most importantly, I believe, is the fact that his suggestions can be incorporated into a busy lifestyle. If your schedule allows you to devote *any* time to yourself, I highly suggest reading this book and following his advice. (Don't worry, he'll tell you where you can skimp when you just don't have the time.)

If you're interested in beginning a healthier life, this book is a great place to start. I enjoyed it immensely more than I expected, and I had pretty high expectations for the founder of Aveda!