Resources - Books

In Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, journalist James Nestor explores how humans have drifted away from optimal breathing patterns and what can be done to restore them. Traveling from ancient burial sites to modern laboratories, he investigates traditional practices like Pranayama, Tummo, and Sudarshan Kriya alongside cutting-edge respiratory science. The book reveals how small changes in breathing can significantly impact health, performance, and overall well-being.

Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford is a widely used nutrition and health reference book that integrates Western nutritional science with Traditional Chinese Medicine principles. It explores how food affects the body through both biochemical and energetic perspectives, offering a personalized approach to diet based on individual constitution rather than one-size-fits-all recommendations.

The book provides practical guidance on common health concerns such as digestion, fatigue, blood sugar imbalance, and inflammation, while emphasizing whole foods and traditional dietary wisdom. With over 700 pages of in-depth content, it serves as both a learning resource and long-term reference for individuals and practitioners seeking to improve health through informed food choices and sustainable nutrition practices.

Why can salamanders regrow limbs while adult humans cannot regenerate in the same way? What is the nature of the electricity that runs through the human body, and how does it relate to the traditional concept of Qi in Chinese medicine?

In this thought-provoking and accessible book, Dan Keown explores the connections between Western biomedical science and Chinese medical theory. He examines embryology, regenerative biology, and bioelectric signaling to shed light on how the body develops, heals, and organizes itself.

Blending scientific insight with engaging storytelling, the book challenges conventional boundaries between Eastern and Western medicine. It presents a unified perspective in which both systems may be describing the same underlying biological reality in different ways, offering readers a fresh and integrative understanding of human health and function.

In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer explores the powerful two-way communication between the brain and the digestive system, including the role of the microbiome in overall health. Blending neuroscience and modern gut research, the book explains how diet, stress, and lifestyle influence inflammation, mood, and disease risk, and offers practical ways to support a healthier mind–gut balance.

The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted Kaptchuk is a classic introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine that synthesizes ancient Eastern philosophy with modern Western scientific research. The book explores the holistic worldview of Chinese healing, where health is understood through patterns of balance and imbalance rather than isolated disease.

Kaptchuk explains key concepts such as Qi, Yin and Yang, Blood, Essence, Organs, and meridians, along with traditional diagnostic methods like the Four Examinations. Drawing from his training in China, he presents Chinese medicine in a way that is accessible to Western readers while preserving its philosophical depth. The book also highlights how acupuncture and herbal medicine are understood within both traditional practice and modern clinical research, making it a foundational resource for students and practitioners of integrative medicine.

In Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, primatologist Robert M. Sapolsky explains how chronic stress contributes to a wide range of modern diseases. Unlike animals that resolve stress quickly, humans often sustain long-term physiological stress responses, which can damage health over time. Blending neuroscience, humor, and practical insight, the book explores how stress impacts sleep, mood, immunity, and disease, and offers strategies for better stress management.