Winds of Spirit: Ancient Wisdom Tools for Navigating Relationships, Health, and the Divine by Renee Baribeau is a powerful book about the journey within, a book about the spirituality and the mystery of the wind, but it is much more about harnessing one of the primordial energies that have guided the course of the world and of life. The author opens the book with an allusion to James Kale McNeley's Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy, one that reminds me of the thought in the Christian myth of creation that the Word was at the beginning of the universe. She writes: “Wind existed first, took care of Earth when it appeared, and then informed humans how to see and navigate it.” In this book, the author helps readers to rediscover the wind not merely as an element of nature, but as a spiritual source of energy, one that contains seeds of healing, of growth, and an intelligence that can assist human beings to move towards their purpose.

The most exciting thing about the message in this book is that it shows readers how to use the wind to unlock secret doors in their lives and to navigate life with more certainty and confidence, taking control of their life and guiding it towards its purpose. This is a book like nothing I have read in my entire life. I have always felt that there is something mysterious and powerful about the wind — perhaps because I hail from the mountains — but I have never seen someone capture the essence and spiritual language of the wind the way this author does. Besides exploring ancient teachings and intriguing thoughts about the wind, Renee Baribeau shares her story and shows readers how she used the thoughts in this book to heal herself. Readers will learn the step-by-step guide to “capturing” the wind and will get acquainted with exercises such as wind breath, wind bath, wind knots, and many others.

I have often heard the saying that “You can’t tame the wind,” but Winds of Spirit: Ancient Wisdom Tools for Navigating Relationships, Health, and the Divine demonstrates that we can capture the wind and use it to nurture our life and sail where we have always wanted to go. The message of this book is delivered in a prose that is graceful, gentle, yet powerful like the wind, and there is no doubt that the author writes from a place of clarity of a beautiful encounter with the subject of her book — the wind.

Winds of Spirit by Renee Baribeau is a guide on how to use the winds to help guide you to live a good, healthy life. The book is separated into four parts. The Winds of Change is about becoming self-aware and how different types of winds can affect you and your surroundings. From What Direction is the Wind Blowing? talks about the four types of winds that affect us, and how they influence our everyday living. When the Wind Blows - Navigating Life describes a variety of techniques of how to influence the wind around you. The Inner Winds - Forces of Nature describes the deities associated with the wind, and the religious practices that are associated with them. Baribeau intertwines these parts with her own struggles, and shows how her experiences can help the reader as well.

I enjoyed the soothing tone I kept hearing when I read this book. The author is nonjudgmental in her beliefs, and has incorporated a variety of religions to support her perspectives on the winds. She explained just how the winds were connected to one another, and introduced a number of quotes I found rather enlightening. What’s more, when she started describing the cultural practices involved with the wind, I was ecstatic. I enjoyed the societal significance behind each of them. The book offers a new perspective on emotional and physical healing. Baribeau incorporates a different alternative health belief that could introduce a good way of healing and finding guidance in everyday living. As such, I would recommend it to those who enjoy learning about alternative healing and spiritual guidance.