In ancient Greece, when a slave suffered from a disease, the doctor would apply a remedy that would relieve the irritation it caused, so that he was able to return immediately to his work. By contrast, when it was a free man seeking his services, the doctor was accustomed to “retire him from the world”; he would send him to a silent and peaceful place so he was able to listen to his body, observe his internal processes and understand what this symptom or malaise was trying to communicate.

Since then, medicine has seen enormous technological progress take place, but isn’t health the same for us as it was for the men of ancient Greece? And isn’t it that when we talk about health in the 21st century, we’re not just talking about the absence of illness, nor about a state of zero-symptoms reached through medication, we’re talking about a desire, about the achievement of an internal state of well-being that all of us should be able to assume, and can reach, from self-knowledge of ourselves and the memory of our holistic nature as human beings.

To accompany us in taking on this challenge, Health, Your Best Talent suggests the best route for reaching a superior state of well-being: knowing and respecting the biological rhythms of the body, exploiting the healing potential of mindful eating and of nights with high- quality sleep, learning to relax and obtaining the maximum benefit from physical exercise. In this way, the author proposes to reconnect us with our true nature to convert us into managers and promoters of our own health.