If media coverage of sleep disorders is any indication of the overall health of Americans, many people experience insomnia on a regular basis. In Sleep Through Insomnia, Edstrom uses celestial music—punctuated by affirmations reminding the insomniac to relax and let go—to help listeners achieve a better night of rest. In pointing out different ways to see (she uses birds soaring, putting on socks, and greeting neighbors as examples), Edstrom hopes to help the insomniac to embrace both the world and a healthier attitude toward problems. By blending Eastern meditation practices with practical suggestions, she hopes to help the listener break the wakeful habits of a lifetime.

Defeat Pain also uses celestial music, guided visualizations, and suggested affirmations to help the listener deal with physical pain or discomfort, whether it’s from a simple headache or a chronic disease. She also offers assistance in the relief of emotional pain, using the mind-body connection to nudge the listener toward a more healthy, comfortable lifestyle. In offering a balance of both sensible and intuitive exercises, the author hopes to help the listener develop a resistance to stressful habits that can worsen and even cause pain.

Both CDs offer repeated guided meditations with generous doses of affirmations and musical interludes.

Edstrom, who holds a master’s degree, has practiced meditation for the last thirty years. During that time, she’s been a lecturer, author, workshop leader, and syndicated columnist. She has led workshops for both corporations and individuals seeking better health and conscious living. Her work has been published in Entrepreneur, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Post, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. Major airlines have featured her recordings as in-flight relaxation programs, and her Student Stress Management program has been implemented in the Los Angeles school system.

These two audiobooks are part of the Inner Master Series, the purpose of which is to provide listeners with increasingly deeper skills with which to face all of life’s challenges. Anyone looking for relief from insomnia or pain—or just wanting better general mental and physical health—will benefit from these recorded books.

Review by: Pam Kingsbury