Posted: June 1st, 2010 | Filed under:Book Reviews | |
The Universe’s timing is always impeccable. I received this book for review and thought, “Oh, what a good idea, uncovering one’s shadow to discover the light.†What I received as a result of reading this book is a mental re-centering, and a return to a feeling of calm strength that left me after a tumultuous few weeks.
I cracked the book open to indulge what I thought would be a few casual musings from spiritual greats Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson, and what I discovered was a treasure trove of strategies and stories that changed my day, my weekend, and if I continue the practice, my life.
To begin, I highly recommend taking “The Shadow Effect Test†first, before you dive into the rest of the book. I discovered this by accident (though in the case of this book I hardly believe it was an “accidentâ€), skimming this book cover to cover to get an overview of the styles and theories of each of the three authors. Then I came to the last section, “The Shadow Effect Testâ€. By taking this test before reading the book, I was able to immediately take the idea of “embracing the shadow†from theory to practical identification and application into my own life.
In taking the quiz, I’d realized that the recent misfortunes in my life – two car accidents, my bedroom flooding, driver’s license suspended by a fluke incident, to name a few – were not necessarily just happenstance “bad luckâ€, but an expression of a shadow side appearing in light of this year’s fast-track business, mental, spiritual, and emotional growth.
Seeing the immediate practical application, I was hooked.
The rest of the book continued to deliver much in the way of practical application.
Deepak Chopra opens the book with theory and history of The Shadow Effect, with a physician’s instinct. He clearly defines examples of when shadow increases (p. 35), then offers a 4 step process through which to release the shadow’s power and reclaim it to use for good.
These 4 steps include:
1. Stop projecting
2. Detach and let go
3. Give up self-judgement
4. Rebuild your emotional body
One of the most impactful points of the book for me is found in Step #1: Stop Projecting.
Deepak gives specific examples and categories of projection, and the weakness or fear they are hiding underneath. Having gone through a recent breakup, I saw how both myself and my ex were projecting onto each other. Distinguishing these projections and seeing them for what they truly are – illusions – gave me the immediate freedom from the anxiety and frustration I was feeling.
This exercise alone makes The Shadow Effect a 5-star book in my opinion.
In Part II by Debbie Ford, she drives home the idea of projection, and how both negative and positive projections are merely tools to help us grow. Her style is much warmer and embracing than Deepak’s style (who is admittedly speaking in a physician’s tone). Debbie’s fantastic tales from her own personal life as well as the people she has worked with have a much more gentle but no less powerful transformational effect. Her storytelling is like a warm ocean washing clean the mind’s slate, removing barriers of separation and allowing for the ease of wholeness.
One beautiful point Debbie brings up is the idea of light shadow projection – the good we admire and are in awe of in others is the good we have the potential to cultivate.
Amen! From admiration to owning.
Part III by Marianne WIlliamson focuses on love. True, empowering love, not the illusion of love or shadow, but the radical honesty that can seem painful at the time, but is actually love.
The quote I especially enjoyed: “God’s love is not a gooey love. It’s not even always ‘nice’, in a kind of pink, fuzzy way. It involves radical truth telling, the kind of truth that the heart knows even when the mind resists it. It has less to do with style and more to do with substance.â€
In sum, “The Shadow Effect†is a phenomenal book for anyone seeking to harness more of their untapped power, to release the shadow that hides in the corners of our mind and embrace it as gift. A fairly quick read with a practical, effective punch.
“The Harvard Psychedelic Club†is billed as the story of how three brilliant scholars and one ambitious freshman – Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil ushered in a New Age for America.
Author and journalist Don Lattin weaves together fascinating stories and dialogues of these four revolutionaries and the people they encountered.
As someone born in the 1970s, I’d heard about the free love of the ‘60s.
Sounded like a great idea. A crazy one at that. Those crazy hippies!
What is good about this book is how the stories of these four innovators is presented – well researched, and thorough with detail. Without this book packaging together their stories all in one place, I might not have stumbled upon the rich lessons to be learned from such an influential era, including:
- How movements are created
- The power of the press in creating a movement
- The power of attaining a high research position, and platform from which to broadcast new ways of thinking, new ways of expanding the world
- That there is more to life than simply a linear, “driven†motion towards success
- Research methods that brought psychedelics to prisons, and to seminary students
- How it can take years for the masses to catch up to “outrageous†ideas
While this book is jam-packed with facts, this is also the book’s downfall – that it’s jam-packed with facts, stitched together in careful chronological order. “Stitchedâ€, because it is pulled together from a myriad of books, interviews, reports, and other resources. “Carefulâ€, because it feels as if the author, in an attempt to make the book as historically accurate and respectful as possible, is too afraid to say anything that might be “wrongâ€.
There were many times that, just as I felt I was about to learn something rich and illuminating, the author switched topics. For instance, I wanted more research data and results of the prison psychedelics study, the impact on the prisoners in the long run, how it affected future studies and treatments for hardened criminals. But after a lengthy introduction of the players involved in this series experiments, the section simply ended. What happened afterwards? What came the experiments??
If you’re looking for a lyrical account of what happened during the revolutionary ‘60s, this is not your book. If you’re looking for a well-researched and detailed account with more detail than a Wikipedia entry, this could be a fascinating read.
In the book, “Conversations With Richard Bandlerâ€, Owen Fitzpatrick outlines a plan for successful living by weaving together tales gathered, organized, and co-written with Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) co-creator Richard Bandler.
True to the story-infused NLP teaching style, Fitzpatrick’s “Conversations With Richard Bandler†walks the reader from explorations of what hinders freedom, to an understanding of how we have all the power and resources required to effect the change we seek, all the way to the other side where we are met with freedom, joy, and connection.
After a basic definition of Neuro Linguistic Programming and a history of FItzpatrick’s relationship with Bandler, Fitzpatrick examines “The Art of Personal Freedomâ€. In this section we look at what holds us stuck in our lives, in our relationships, and what holds us back from the happiness we are meant to have and the achievements we set out to achieve.
The next section, “The Keys To Changing Your Life†provides tips and tools to shift our perspective to one that serves us in a positive way. After all, the “realities†we create are merely maps and representations of the world, not the actual world itself. If this is the case, why not create our worlds to serve us?
Finally, Fitzpatrick carries the conversation to “Breaking The Chains of the Selfâ€, “The Art of Loving Freedomâ€, and “The Art of Spiritual Freedom†– examining personal freedom from the perspective of the self, to the interpersonal, to the community at large and spiritual realms of connection, respectively.
By the end, we are left with an increased disctinction of freedom and ease, as well as with practical and reuseable tools and exercises for successful living.
OVERALL…..
PROS
- Good for someone looking to improve their overall happiness and sense of freedom in an easy, fun-to-read manner. By the end of this book, expect to enjoy a few good stories, knowing that the lessons of the stories are working on your subconscious effortlessly.
- Fantastic introduction to the world of Richard Bandler and NLP. This book makes it easy for anyone to enjoy NLP’s benefits without having to learn all of NLP’s mechanics
- For those who are already fans of Richard Bandler, expect Bandler’s famously (infamously?) fun, no-nonsense, dry-witted sense of humor
- Inter-woven conversations + practical teaching make this an easy read
- Relevant, practical exercises to apply immediately to help guide decision making and craft a life that is free, creative, and alive
CONS
- This is not an in-depth study of NLP. If you were hoping for rigors and structures behind NLP and how it works, you will not find it here.
- The title does not do the book justice. Yes, Richard Bandler has created a name for himself. But to simply play off his “famousness†by naming the book “Conversations With Richard Bandler†without describing what the reader can enjoy as a result of consuming this book does this book a disservice.
It seems that this book targets someone who is less familiar with NLP concepts and ideas, one who may not necessarily know Richard Bandler.
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