Relaxation Is Just a Breath Away

BREATHING

The Master Key to Self-Healing

by Andrew Weil

Sounds True Audio, original material, two cassettes (two hours), $18.95, read by the author, available in bookstores.

For those who do not know Andrew Weil, he is a Harvard-educated medical doctor who long ago chose an alternative approach to health care. His combination of Eastern and Western medicine has landed him several bestselling books, including “Natural Health” and “Eight Weeks to Optimum Health.” His latest, available only as an audio, is an in-depth explanation of one of his main themes: proper breathing.

In the first cassette, Weil details the many ways in which correct breathing and meditation can help one live a stress-free and healthy lifestyle. The second cassette offers a breathing workshop. He takes us through several techniques, all clearly explained. Simply sit and follow the directions to find yourself extremely relaxed or surprisingly energized, depending on the exercise.

With his deep, rich voice and conversational manner, Weil is very easy to listen to, even an hour at a time. He is frank as he speaks about his background and the reasons he believes the exercises work. That, combined with the polish of a professional speaker, makes him an audio favorite.

The audio includes a 10-page study guide. The booklet covers the same ground as the audio, but provides a quick cheat-sheet for those who need to check on an exercise but don’t want to skip around the tape to find the information.

THE TAE-BO WAY

by Billy Blanks

Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio, abridged nonfiction, two cassettes (three hours), $18, read by the author, available in bookstores.

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At first glance, one might think an audio book about Tae-Bo, that oh-so-trendy combination of aerobics and kick-boxing, would be confusing and misguided. Surprisingly, Billy Blanks’ audio is inspirational, autobiographical and instructional.

What is most intriguing is that the audio is interesting even to those of us who have never tried Tae-Bo, a term Blanks coined to describe his high-energy workout.

Blanks is a man who understands adversity, having grown up poor, one of 15 children. He was a failure at sports and was further challenged by dyslexia. When he talks about his approach to fitness, he is also speaking of his approach to life.

Much of the material is an adjunct to his videos and classes, but he also gives sound nutritional and exercise advice. (If you are a practitioner, this should help you fine-tune your workout.) Although the printed version offers such helpful guides as photographs, Blanks’ explanations are so clear that the listener should have no trouble following them.

As a narrator, Blanks is direct and warm. He sounds friendly and is much at ease with a microphone. However, his enunciation is not always clear and his pronunciation is sometimes poor. Although listeners want to hear the author’s words directly from the source, they also want to hear all of those words and hear them clearly.