About the Author

 

Jerry Ainsworth was raised in Louisiana where he received a B.S. degree in health sciences from Northwestern Louisiana State University. He subsequently obtained an M.A. in public health from Yale University and an Ed.D. from the University of Arkansas. During his collegiate years, he competed as a gymnast, trampolinist, and diver and served as an official at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. He pursued postdoctoral studies with the department of Social Medicine at the Universidad Nacional Autonama in Mexico City.

During more than thirty years of teaching and administering college courses on health at Southern Connecticut State University, Jerry Ainsworth developed and ran parallel health programs in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras, frequently taking American student groups there. He also worked with the Schweitzer Institute to address health problems among the Hiuchol Indians. During his long academic career, he created the renowned International Love and Health Congress, which he conducted in Connecticut for ten years.

Among other nonprofit ventures, Dr. Ainsworth currently serves on the Board of Directors of Orphan Islands Inc, a nonprofit children's charity helping the poor in Guatemala, (http://www.orphanislands.org/)

Jerry Ainsworth served two years as a missionary in Ontario and Quebec and five years as chaplain and coordinator of spiritual enrichment at Griffin Hospital, Connecticut. His great personal love has been the study of Mayan culture. An accomplished pilot, boatman, and scuba diver, he has used these skills to investigate many ancient ruins in Mesoamerica. He is beloved by his students and has consistently been rated an outstanding teacher in lectures and seminars. He is currently in high demand as a speaker, counselor and consultant.

In order to effectively teach love and health at his university, and in order to infuse that concept into the mainstream of medical practice at Griffin Hospital, Jerry Ainsworth developed a model of twelve primary ingredients necessary to maintain a healthy body, mind, and spirit. This book, recommended as a "good read," tells the fascinating story of his unique career in pioneering the idea of a definitive relationship between love and health and describes in simple terms the practical principles on which personal health flourishes