Healthy Living Handbook

When one arrives at the realization that our human lives are comprised of three distinct major components, body, soul/mind, and spirit, we are faced with undeniable truth that each of these are separate yet inextricably connected. It's not a stretch at all to ponder that our existence somewhat mirrors the Christian triune godhead composed of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible urges us to be led by the Spirit. We can interpret that to mean the Holy Spirit, and I think we should. However in order to be led by the Comforter, we need to employ our own spirit to overcome the objections and limitations of the body and the mind. I pray every day that my spirit will have dominion over the other two components of my life. I can't escape the fact that those other two parts of me will prevent this from happening without the proper nurturing of my spirit man. Few people can overcome the issues of a body suffering from illness, chronic pain or addiction to be all that God wants them to be. Thus we need to minimize or eliminate those liabilities. This book deftly explains how we can accomplish that by feeding our spirits, minds, and bodies the essential elements and nutrients needed for the abundant life that Jesus promised. God's people perish for lack of knowledge. That void of understanding will be eliminated by those who take this book to heart and apply the principles found therein. Finding a book that addresses this trichotomy (triune nature of human life) and presents solutions to strengthening each of these components for maximum health in all areas and an overall victorious life was a delightful surprise. Laura's insightful observations allow the readers to escape from the ruts of mediocrity where they have been spinning their wheels. The goal of every Christian should be to pour out their lives as a living sacrifice in service to their Lord. It's extremely hard to do that when your life is messed up by lack of optimal health or mental clutter caused by lack of focus and self discipline. Laura lays it all out in the first section as she describes the type of life a Christian should lead in the spiritual realm. I realize that this section will turn off some readers. Laura is a charismatic Christian and makes no effort to hide that. She thinks that our lives should reflect the lifestyle of Christ, including the miracles. From my reading of the Bible, I concur.Some readers might be turned off by the first section on the spiritual tangent, but I consider it the strongest in the book. I challenge you to read it with an open mind. Laura even has the intestinal fortitude to pontificate on one of my key areas of doctrinal concern, the idea of eternal security (once saved always saved). The second segment dealing with the mind is perhaps the weakest, with many ideas that fall into the common sense and pop psychology realm. There is an explanation of the blood brain barrier and the use of psychiatric drugs that I found fascinating and disturbing. Those into holistic life styles will probably consider the third section on the body to be elementary. Laura does provide resource recommendations for more intense study of the subject matter. Those references will be beneficial for those who learn much from this book and want to go further in their pursuit of excellence. Honestly, there are better books that cover each of these topics individually, but, I've never read one that addresses all of them so capably and underscores their interdependence.We are what we eat, physically. We are what we read and watch, mentally, and to a degree, spiritually. This book explains how you can feed yourself with the things you need for essential health in all areas of your life. Laura Harris Smith writes very smoothly and even includes some original poetry to help illustrate various points. She also is very bold yet displays sensitivity in addressing controversial issues. Her prose is not intended to satisfy itching ears. She brings the truth with love to show us a better way. Every chapter ends with a prayer to help you apply the lesson to your life with help from the One who created you.I had already arrived at many of the same conclusions as the author and even have written and produced a movie stressing that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and needs to be treated accordingly. This book is special to me because it validates that I was not off on a rabbit trail when I should have been pursuing more spiritual targets. Even though much of the material was familiar, I did learn a few new concepts and had some other opinions reinforced. I feel this book is a gem and something that people should read and apply to improve their lives and achieve integral health. It's not a book you should read once and toss in the charity bin or put on the unreachable shelf of your bookcase. You'll want to take it out perhaps yearly and refresh yourself and measure how you're doing and adjust to behavior to improve any areas that need tweaking. The one criticism I would offer is that one of the ten items in the section on the mind should have waxed eloquent on our need to watch and read materials that have nutritional value for our brain and our spirit. This book qualifies in that regard.

The Healthy Living Handbook is the product of extensive research combined with the genius of common sense - full of facts and figures, yet fun and friendly. It's possible that it wasn't reviewed more favorably because Laura Harris Smith encourages her readers to take a hard look at our own lifestyles. For example, in Section 1, The Top Healthy Living Habit for Your Spirit, in "Accept No Substitutes", she narrowed down five things that could be potentially dangerous spiritual substitutions: (1) Food (2) Alcohol (and other substances) (3) Yoga or new age meditation (4) Relationships and (5) Busyness/Work/Ministry. Yoga? Good grief! On those few times I attempted it, its unnatural breathing techniques triggered a near anxiety attack. For peace of mind and heart, I would recommend lectio divina (divine reading) which Laura beautifully describes in "Get the Word Out."I have read and benefited greatly from Laura Harris Smith's previous books and was her first Custom Smoothie (TM) recipe customer. I am looking forward to receiving her new product Quiet Brain (TM) mentioned in the chapter on essential oils.The only criticism I have is in the "Get Up and Scale Down" section, where the author generalized that we all get heavier with age and are "consumed by our phones."This book was worth every penny of its modest cost and priceless to anyone who finds success with even a few of the 30 Healthy Living Habits. As my grandmother used to say, "If you have your health, you have everything."

I appreciate the author's focus on ways to maintain an all around healthy way of living, not just focusing on one aspect of our lives, but three different areas that are as all equally important, our minds, our physical well being, and our spirituality. She breaks down the book into three different sections that include:• The Top 10 Healthy Living Habits for Your Spirit• The Top 10 Healthy Living Habits for Your Mind• The Top 10 Healthy Living Habits for Your BodA lot of her insights were practical for everyday living, and many of which I already practice in my day to day life. I especially enjoyed section three of the book, which dives into healthy living habits for our bodies. Sure there were things we've all heard before like getting enough sleep helps maintain a healthy immune system and the need to slow down every so often, but sometimes I think we all need a little reminder of this, so it was still helpful to read the author's insights. Plus, I enjoyed hearing them from a nutritionist's perspective.My favorite inclusion in this book was her breakdown towards the end where she provides readers with thirty directives (commandments) for healthy living, ten for each section, that sum up what was just read. Since I'm so big on the use of essential oils, I also enjoyed reading her insight on the subject where she also included a list of the top fifty common ailments that can be treated by using them.While I can't say that I didn't already know a lot of the information provided in this book, I did walk away with a few new tid-bits of extra knowledge about living a natural and healthy lifestyle. I especially appreciate that this advice was offered from a Christian standpoint, since it's not always commonplace that I find a book that offers health and spiritual advice all in one read. I received a complimentary advance copy of this book, however all views and opinions written here are purely those of my own.

This is a good book and has some amazing tips, I just was not aware of how heavily Christian based it is as there is no mention (other than in the description of the author that she is a Christian) that it would be so. Spirituality can mean different things to different people, so if you do not want to read a healthy living handbook that has scripture in it quite often, this book is not for you.