Book review - Energy Medicine for Women

Journalist and writer Rachel Newcombe reviews a long anticipated book, Energy Medicine for Women.

This hefty tome by Donna Eden, with Dr David Feinstein, is a much awaited follow-up to her bestselling book, Energy Medicine.

However, if you're not familiar with her original book, there are certainly no disadvantages to be had by starting off by reading this one.

At the heart of Donna Eden's theory is the idea that everyone can work with their own body's energy systems to boost their natural healing ability.

Where her original book looked at energy medicine in general, Energy Medicine for Women focuses specifically on how the techniques can be used to help a range of women's health problems.

Book layout

The book contains seven chapters, first looking at what energy medicine is and the basic techniques involved, and then going on to explore how it can be used to help boost women's health.

In particular, it looks at health and vitality, hormones, easing menstrual symptoms, sexuality, fertility, pregnancy and birth, the menopause and weight management.

Throughout the book there are a lot of do-it-yourself exercises to try out - great for putting ideas into practice and seeing how they actually work - and plenty of photographs to show exactly how to do things.

The photos are a big help, as they're often marked to illustrate the position of acupressure points, which helps remove the worry that you've not got your hands in the right place!

As well as utilising acupressure points and tapping, many of the techniques include simple movements too, such as the Cross Crawl, which 'facilitates the crossover of energy between the brain's right and left hemispheres,' and Connecting Heaven and Earth, designed to help keep your energy flowing well.

In addition to the main text, the appendix explores what energy testing is and how to learn how to do it, plus there's useful notes, including detailed references, and resources.

Anecdotal evidence

Donna includes lots of anecdotal material, which brings her work to life, and provides excellent examples of how beneficial energy medicine can be.

Her tale about how she went into the operating theatre with her daughter when she was having a fibroid removed, so that she could administer energy medicine was particularly striking.

Energy medicine and similar techniques are often regarded as ‘alternative' and separate to conventional medicine, so it's good to hear how they can be successfully used in tandem with each other - and with such positive results.

Overall, if you've intrigued by energy medicine, this is very interesting read. The design and layout of the book, with its easy to read sections, makes it ideal for dipping into, and there are numerous techniques and ideas to take away and try.

Energy Medicine for Women: Aligning Your Body's Energies to Boost Your Health and Vitality, by Donna Eden with Dr David Feinstein, is published by Piatkus and priced at £20.

Rachel Newcombe is a freelance writer, editor and researcher specialising in health, parenting and lifestyle issues. She's written for a range of print and online publications, including the Telegraph, Slimming World, Channel 4 and National Geographic Traveler. Her books include Running, released in the US in 2008. She can be found on the web at www.newcombe.co.uk/media.