The traditional medicines of Middle Asia are rich and varied - from the Ayurveda and Siddha medicines of India, to the Unani and Sufi healing practices of the Middle East. Dr. Marc S. Micozzi unfolds the compelling idea that vital energy, expressed as "prana" in the Indian practice of Ayurveda, is the unifying concept that underpins and connects all of these traditions. Describing the origins, health strategies, diagnostic approaches, and modern-day uses of each tradition, he also draws parallels to, and finds correlations with, mainstream Western concepts - and demonstrates how all these therapies fit within the context of their own cultures and ours. Contents Preface. 1. Vital Healing: Body and Spirit (Contribution by Hari Sharma, MD). 2. Vital Energy: Spirit and Flow in Asian Medicines. 3. Continuous Healing: Traditional Ayur Vedic Medicine of India. 4. Alchemical Healing: Traditional Siddha Medicine of South India. 5. Yoga: Journey From Body to Spirit. 6. Quantum Healing: Maharishi Ayur Veda (MAV) (Contribution by Hari Sharma, MD). 7. To the High Himalaya: Tibetan Medicine. 8. The Light of Healing: Unani Medicine. 9. Rapid Healing: Sufism of the Middle East. 10. The Sum of Healing (Contribution by Hari Sharma, MD). Index. Reviews 'This book offers a great outline/overview of multiple healing traditions - including also the larger context of how Western medicine went astray from this understanding and the results of that distorted allopathic focus (wasteful healthcare spending and chronic illness). Readers from many backgrounds can appreciate this scholarly work. This book is suited to both professionals in the healing arts as well as laypersons. If medical students were to read this we might have a much more effective health care workforce, where people would have a better understanding of health and the forces that govern our well-being. This book is well-researched and it even includes an appendix of Asian medicine treatment approaches for common health concerns.' - Jed Shlackman, Licensed Mental Health Counsellor and Certified Hypnotherapist Author information Marc S. Micozzi, MD, PhD is the founder and director of the Policy Institute for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is a former Executive Director of the College of Physicians and Director of the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Hari M. Sharma MD DABP FCAP FRCPC DABHM is Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Natural Products Research, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University; Chairperson of the Integrated Medicine Committee of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin; and has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Ayurveda by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.