One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth

Amazon.com

Ordained minister and "spiritual life counselor" Iyanla Vanzant doesn't know the exact moment when her soul opened up "and the spirit of the divine entered [her] body." But she will always remember the key insight that opened the door to her soul and simultaneously locked the door to her insanity: "If you know who walks beside you, you can never be afraid." This is the premise from which Vanzant has launched her enormously successful 40-day, spiritual self-help program. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up is designed as day-by-day journal/workbook to help readers believe in a divine presence while pondering daily spiritual lessons such as simplicity, peace, compassion, and nonjudgement.

The charismatic Vanzant (whom Oprah Winfrey considers to be one of the world's most admirable spiritual leaders) has a gift for humble, tell-it-like-it-is talk. She is also a wise and warm soul, eager to help others trust in love and find a relationship with God in order to get on with their lives. Readers especially like her daily list of inspirations titled "Let Me Remember." For example, under day 23, "When You Feel Angry," she uses the list to remind readers: "All things work to bring me healing"; "Forgiveness will provide relief and release"; and "Love will heal anything that is not an expression of love." --Gail Hudson

Book Description

One Day My Soul Just Opened Up is a program of inspiration and motivation that will help you work through problems and improve your emotional and spiritual health. Through exercises and readings, Iyanla provides you with the tools to tap into your strengths and make your dreams come true. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up will open your mind, heart, and soul to the truth of your identity as a creative and powerful being.

Download Description

Both an inspiring guide and a hands-on measurement tool that enables readers to chart their spiritual growth as it unfolds, "One Day My Soul Just Opened Up" encourages readers to use journal writing as a self-awareness process. Vanzant introduces 40 principles to follow and embrace in daily living as guideposts on the path toward spiritual strength and understanding.

Customer Reviews:

Perception Shift.......2007-09-24

My first thoughts were that this would be an inspiration book that would give me tidbit information that I could incorporate in my life here and there. Was I pleasantly surprised how Iyanla framed this helpful information. She allows you to look at her life and how she came to certain realizations. I prefer this method. It is always helpful to know that others are practicing what they preach. So I recommend you order this book with an open mind, really apply the principles to your daily life and your perception will change...because the energy you give off will be different. I will continue to re-read this book. I have bought this book for many friends because it is just that helpful! I see my actions and my perception of life differently and in a more spiritual sense.I say, all you need to come in with, is a desire to analyze yourself...forget about Iyanla as a great author,or tv personality. This book is about being a better you and purchasing this book is a great start!

Spiritual strength.......2007-07-12

For someone like me that has just searched a lifetime for some kind of meaning to our existance, this book is astounding. It is enlightening to discover that there are others that also become lost in the search in so that they stop searching---or so they think they do! Well worth the read.

Life changing.......2007-04-24

I read this book six years ago. It was my last year living in a hopeless marriage of my youth. Married at 19 to someone I barely knew, I was desperate, lost, and terribly afraid of what would happen if my family knew how miserable I was.

I read the book, and found the courage to leave, to live honestly, and to take on the threats of my soon to be ex-husband. My brother called me a disgrace, my ex-husband called me an unfit mother, and still I stood my ground. I made it through, and won in the courtroom battle. No longer would he dominate and terrorize me. Years later my brother apologized. Truth wins in the end. You just have to stand with your feet firmly planted in it.

One day I read this book.. and I know when my soul opened up. It was probably already there.. in me.. that fire, that courage. But when I read this book something changed, and it became action. My pride and fear no longer controlled me. Honestly about my feelings, honestly about my mistakes, and honestly about my dreams and future won over despair and weakness.

Maybe that sounds all flowery and poetic to you. Unbelievable because it's too easy to type... and hard to live. That's okay, I would have been skeptical too.

Buy the book, read it, and then see if you don't do something poetic because of it.

40 days of introspection.......2007-04-06

Good book to read and review your life with. All the lessons are indepth and stir-up feelings and introspection. I would have liked more biblical principles added. All her books are great, but they miss something with me.

I love Iyanla!.......2007-04-03

I haven't been disappointed yet. Her books always speak to my spirit and I enjoy reading them, they help you along your path of spiritual growth as well as personal growth. I usually read my books and pass them on..but not these!

Average customer rating:

Denise Linn, FENG SHUI for the soul
Fulfilling reading
Worth Reading, but Not Feng Shui
A comforting approach to Feng Shui
Encouraging and entertaining

Feng Shui for the Soul (Feng Shui)
Denise Linn
Manufacturer: Hay House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1561707317

Book Description

In this book you will find three approaches for transforming your dwelling into an environment for spiritual renewal and inner peace.

Customer Reviews:

Denise Linn, FENG SHUI for the soul.......2007-03-15

This book opens the world of Medicine Wheel Feng Shui. It emphasizes bringing to one the ancestral wisdom of peoples living close to earth. One can achieve peace and tranquility by undertaking the many meditative exercises the book offers. Not everybody may find it comfortable to dowse in order to activate the intuition regarding the home, or engage in ancient rituals like relating the meat one eats to ingesting a bit of the animal's spirit, yet many are receptive to the simple techniques presented in the book that enable a person to envision a home for the soul, de-clutter the environment and bring harmony and togetherness to members of the family in the house. This Feng Shui is mostly based on Native American traditions embodying the four directions of energy rather than the five elements of the traditional Feng Shui, and appears quite intuitive and minimally regimented in comparison. The book reads easy. It is gratifying to learn that a simple thing like repainting walls an earthy tone and placing a basket of stones on the floor in a dining room can bring a family together and help it complete projects. When the author enters the field of science, however, such as discussing evidence for the Golden Mean, the results leave something to be desired.

Fulfilling reading.......2004-01-11

I was so pleased after reading each section of this book. Though it is not a typical feng shui book, it creates a sense of empowerment within the pages that I have not found elsewhere. The author gives several exercises that are both feng shui and manifestation/meditation related. Exercises such as meditating on the spirit of your home and manifesting a "Soul Home." The Soul Home exercise is profound and very spiritually revealing. I would recommend this book for those who are looking for an alternative to the traditional and formula-based feng shui.

Worth Reading, but Not Feng Shui.......2003-09-01

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because it has Feng Shui in huge letters on the front, yet is not really about Feng Shui (either traditional compass and/or form feng shui, or modern Western "Feng Shui" at all). If you buy this book looking for a description of Feng Shui principles or practices, you might be disappointed, since the book's true subject is in the subtitle: How to Create a Harmonious Environment That Will Nurture and Sustain You.

Ms. Linn briefly describes a few Feng Shui practices in this book , but almost all of the book is based on intuiting the kind of environment and house you personally feel comfortable with and would want to live in, and in describing what she calls "Medicine Wheel Feng Shui", which is based on the four directions and the four elements. Although I think that the name "Medicine Wheel Feng Shui" is misleading, the actual ideas are worth reading about and perhaps implementing in your own home.

I like Ms. Linn's Four Element approach (earth, air, fire, water), because that is the way I am used to thinking of the world, and I have thus had had difficulty understanding and relating to the five element Chinese system (earth, water, fire, wood, metal). Thankfully, Ms. Linn does not try to synthesize these two systems, but instead presents her four element approach with support from the beliefs and traditions of Native American and other cultures.

There is a variety of information and different methods and approaches in this book - some of what is said made sense to me and some did not. Almost all of it was interesting, though, and Ms. Linn presents her ideas in such a way that one doesn't feel pressured to believe in or do everything she says or does.

If you liked Ms. Linn's previous book "Sacred Space", you'll probably like this one too. She expands on some of the ideas presented in that book, and presents new ones as well.

A comforting approach to Feng Shui.......2002-05-10

This is the second book by Denise Linn that I have read. I chose this book over other Feng Shui books because of the comforting and practical way inwhich it was written. All i want to do is create a comfortable, harmonius, and beautiful haome for myself and my family. Lets face it; if I wanted to do something complicated, I'd pick up an algebra book.
Linn's overlying theme seems to be one of creating a home for your soul with your intuition. Feng Shui happens to be one way to accomplish this; but not the only way.
Occasionally the book gets a little heady; it will take me years to meditate as much as she recommends. However this shouldn't be a deterrent, because it is not forced upon the reader. I do recommend reading "Sacred Space" before, or along with this book. There are some references about it in "Feng Shui", plus it's a good warm-up to her methods, and philosophies.
I do recommend this book, and "Sacred Spaces" to any one who is looking for a less contrived, and certainly a less pretetious approach to decorating their home. I look forward to reading some of her other books.

Encouraging and entertaining.......2001-01-10

This is one of the most encouraging and entertaining books about Feng Shui I have ever read. It is very well written and has a good approach to our western way of life. This book will motivate interior decoration amateurs and Feng Shui enthusiasts. I strongly recommend it.

Putting the Heart in Your Home: Decorating That Nurtures Your Soul

Average customer rating:

Worthwhile
Great ideas, suggestions and pictures
Disappointing
"Just What I Expected!"
Charming, beautiful, very helpful

Putting the Heart in Your Home: Decorating That Nurtures Your Soul
Jean LemMon
Manufacturer: Meredith Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0696217252

Book Description

Chapters open with conversational essays on the meaning of home by Jean LemMon.

Decorating principles to nurture a variety of emotions—from serene or secure surroundings to romantic flair.

Fabulous photos show LemMon's decorating prowess in her own home and how she brings out a special ambiance in each room.

Solid decorating advice to effectively use color, pattern, furniture arrangements, and accessories.

Customer Reviews:

Worthwhile.......2006-07-28

What a lovely book! It is inspiring! It offers insights and guidance for creating a home and rooms we love to be in. Highly recommended!

Great ideas, suggestions and pictures.......2006-05-19

Great book - full of ideas, suggestions, pictures and advice. Gives inspiration as well as information.

Disappointing.......2005-10-15

A very disappointing book filled with many outdated pictures from magazines years ago. Lacking anything new and inspirational.

"Just What I Expected!".......2005-01-05

This is a beautiful and helpful book, full of great ideas and wonderful photos, treat yourself and buy a copy of this book. Anyone who has followed Jean is not surprised, as she has "been there and done that" and always with class. This is a wonderful book - Thanks Jean!

Charming, beautiful, very helpful.......2004-06-23

The homes and rooms in this book are charming and beautiful but the book is very helpful also. This is how most people wish their homes looked. The book pictures one room after another, many with timeless cottage character, and all conveying heartfelt charm. This definitely isn't a schmaltzy book but just a book filled with great style and practical, charming decorating ideas and tips.

A Home for the Soul: A Guide for Dwelling wtih Spirit and Imagination

Average customer rating:

A quick, helpful read, easily absorbed and it STAYS WITH YOU
This is not an interior design book. This is strictly for the Soul
For those without taste!
Planning for a home, not a showcase
Thus the difference between a house and a home.

A Home for the Soul: A Guide for Dwelling wtih Spirit and Imagination
Anthony Lawlor
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517704005
Release Date: 1997-11-11

Amazon.com

Mindfulness has become a common religious buzzword. In A Home for the Soul award-winning architect Anthony Lawlor shows us how to decorate a home that encourages mindfulness from every bathroom and bibelot. Despite a (perhaps unavoidable) tendency toward camp and solipsism, the stunning photographs and insights into the potentially sacred details of domestic living prompt you to pay closer attention to your immediate environment. For example, "Books are like small altars, each page serving as a threshold for crossing into realms of broadened vision." Investing the items around us with soulful symbolism is like living in a temple of one's own design.

Book Description

Anthony Lawlor is known as the architect who brings soul to design. His acclaimed book The Temple in the House showed how to and the sacred in architecture. Now, in A Home for the Soul, he reveals how our houses and apartments can become havens of inspiration and renewal.

"From the moment we're born, we seek to find home." Lawlor says, "Yet, despite this primal longing, our dwelling places often disappoint us." In A Home for the Soul, we discover that the depth and meaning we seek is right in front of us if we but have the eyes to see. Lawlor teaches us how to develop a consciousness about the spiritual possibilities inherent in our interior surroundings; he shows how to recognize the sacred in material form. "Each time we bathe," says Lawlor, "we not only cleanse the body, we refresh the spirit. Each time we open our front door, we enter a universe of connection and signifcance."

Lawlor leads us on a journey through each room of the house, opening our vision to hidden possibilities. We discover, for example, how a stove expresses the transforming power of nature, how clothes closets reveal our inner personalities, and how home of ces display our talents. Lawlor shows us the mythological and archetypal meanings within the common objects of daily life--such as a bed, a bathtub, a pair of shoes, or a loaf or bread.

The author also offers practical suggestions for arranging or building soulful homes. He explains how to use wood, tile, brick, and stone to express qualities of the spirit and how to use furniture and personal objects as allies in creating meaning.

Finally, Lawlor shows us how to construct a Mandala of the Soul--a wood cabinet with compartments for housing the symbols of home that have particular personal meanings for each reader.

In these pages, we come to understand how all the rooms we live in can form a sacred place of wholeness, a home that cares for and uplifts the totality of mind, body, and soul.

Customer Reviews:

A quick, helpful read, easily absorbed and it STAYS WITH YOU.......2006-12-13

Beautifully and intelligently written, this book is not another "how to hang a picture" or "the feng shui of sofa." Rather, it advises simple, practical ways of enjoying our surroundings and transforming home processes into meditations. It's not menial and tedious to do your dishes or dust once you've been enlightened. Chores become soul-satisfying ritual and enjoyable exercises in mindfulness. Lawlor helps you transcend mundane materialism and to thoroughly appreciate every minute you spend in your home. Aside from the beautifully written text and wonderful photography, YOU SHOULD BY THIS BOOK IF... you're deadly tired of housework drudgery and wish you could just be delighted by sunlight on your newly swept wood floors-- you no longer appreciate the fragrance and texture of freshly laundered terry towels-- your house is just a Mortgage Albatross around your neck-- you feel engulfed in belongings and are contemplating Great Grandpa's arrowhead collection for Goodwill-- you don't have time or energy for church or yoga--- REJOICE! This is YOUR book.

This is not an interior design book. This is strictly for the Soul.......2006-10-24

This book is not for anyone who is looking for an interior design book. This book is strictly for the soul. We live in a world where we are in a rush to do everything. We rush to clean our homes, eat, bathe, etc. This book explains in detail what each room represents and how it aids in healing us within. Being in the moment of cleaning, cooking, cleansing, enjoying that cup of coffee in the morning, that sunset we take for granted. The joy of putting different elements in our homes and how it makes us feel within. Our home is a place for healing us within, rejuvenating us, that place to go for tranquility and get away from the madness. We have to stop regretting the past or worrying about the future and be in the moment. Doesn't matter how much money you have you can still create a place that you can truly enjoy and call a home. Get it "a home for the soul", not the body.

This book is a must have. As a result, I actually enjoy cleaning my home and no longer refer to it as a chore.

For those without taste!.......2003-01-06

This book seems to be written for people that have no taste in interior design/arrangement. For them it gives lots of ideas but not enough photo's for my taste. Reading through the book I figured it had been written 20 years ago because of the way it looks, but it is actually a 1997 book. I think the author needs to read a book on how to make a book feel like it has some soul to it!

Planning for a home, not a showcase.......2000-11-08

If you are looking for lots of ideas for floor plans, design or decorating ideas, this is not the book you want. If you are looking for a book that will help you create a space that feels like "home," this book will help you think about what that means in terms of your space.

Lawlor takes an unusual approach to his subject by first examining each living area with respect to the Greek gods typically responsible for that space. Before one dismisses this as a New Age thing, study the ideas behind the activities represented by that god. It's simply his "hook" to get the reader to continue on, to think about what this space is intended to do in the routine of life. As a storyteller, I was thrilled to read of his ideas for planning one's living area, which should be a space for stories, music and social interaction. He does not ignore the ever-present television, but he does suggest planning for lively, involved social interaction, which we all crave but often lack in our busy lives.

He does give general suggestions for room layouts if you are in the planning stages of construction, and closes each chapter with his vision of the ideal layout for that living area. He suggests materials, colors, furnishings and accents for each specific area, so that if you are looking to change existing space, you'll find that, too. Anyone who places a priority on books as a major furnishing component will win me over every time, but his vision of planning for a home, not a house, has appeal as well.

Thus the difference between a house and a home........2000-04-13

Light a few candles. Put on the tea kettle. Find the most comfortable spot in your home and settle in. This book will transport you to the essence of your soul room-by-room. There are many ideas on how to turn your space into a nurturing nest, and not all fluff--many practical ideas that make a huge impact. I highly recommend this book.

Bathing Spaces: Designs for Pampering Body and Soul

Average customer rating:

Contemporary looks, but not much else really useful here
Useless
New ideas for the private bathing space.
worth every penny
Bathrooms at their best

Bathing Spaces: Designs for Pampering Body and Soul
Ali Hanan
Manufacturer: Quarry Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1564968871

Amazon.com

For centuries, baths have been regarded as havens for rest and relaxation. From huge Roman ruins looming over hot springs to small wooden saunas dotting Finland's landscape to Japan's outdoor wooden soaking pools, baths, saunas, and spas have proven medicinal and spiritual value. Bathing Spaces celebrates the lasting traditions of the bath and beckons modern bathing areas to come out of their hidden spaces, since cutting-edge design is creating a "bathroom too chic to languish behind locked doors."

Encouraging you to draw the bath and let it spill into larger areas, Bathing Spaces displays bathrooms as "second living rooms" where you no longer hop in the shower but rather lounge, meditate, and even exercise. Offering new ideas for creating the perfect spacious retreat away from the bustling world, lighting, faucets, tubs, tiles, and layouts are all explored. Bathing Spaces does not confine all of its designs to four walls but dares to venture outside. Outdoor baths, rooftop showers, and large windows in front of the bath incorporate nature into the bathing experience. Straying from the elements of design, the ancient tradition of the scented bath is also explored as well as the daunting task of cleaning the bathroom. With lush full-color photos and running narrative from Ali Hanan, Bathing Spaces will inspire you to transform your bathing area into a room that will pamper you body as well as your soul. --Jenny Burritt

Book Description

Bathing Spaces shows you how to transform your bathroom into a luxurious bathing space.

Traditional and modern-and in all shapes and sizes-you'll find inspiring spaces you can create in your own home that are not only functional, but are also rooms you will enjoy spending time in.

Chapters include: (1) Traditional Havens-Bathing traditions adapted in designs of unusual loveliness, (2) Design Secrets-Design schemes using texture, color, and lighting to create atmosphere, (3) relax and Rejuvenate-Decor and design techniques for creating peaceful havens, (4) In Harmony with Nature-Designs that incorporate natural materials and settings, (5) Exotic Soaks-Unusual designs for health and relaxation.

Customer Reviews:

Contemporary looks, but not much else really useful here.......2006-03-18

I had already reviewed a dozen or more books from the local library on bathroom designs, so I went into this one hopeful that it would have something fresh to offer.

The good news is, it doesn't have the dated looks of many of the older books that I reviewed from the library (primary-colored wallpaper, anyone?) and it does adhere to a mostly consistent minimalist, spa-like aesthetic.

The bad news is, though, there's nothing really adaptable about most of it -- minimalism by its nature means there isn't a whole lot there beyond the walls and the foundational pieces, and if the looks of this book's examples are to be believed, it appears to be necessary to buy very expensive high-end pieces (sinks, countertops, tubs, etc) to create the most tranquil spaces for bathing.

While sky's-the-limit spending would clearly make the job easier, I'm holding out for a book that shows me how to achieve that transcendent feeling on a more down-to-earth budget.

Useless.......2004-07-15

I wish I could join in with the others in their accolades of this book, but to me it was completely useless. Perhaps it's just that the style of the bathrooms (mostly modern and minimalist) doesn't appeal to me. I didn't find one that looked like any bathroom I'd ever seen. In fact, most had a distinctive European look.

Pretty pictures, few words, and overall not one new idea did I cull from this book. Most definitely not worth my money.

New ideas for the private bathing space........2004-02-03

BATHING SPACES is a book to get new ideas for the private bathing place and space.
It shows different ways of bathing from traditional bathing rooms to bathes in big old houses and bahtign spaces in the naturre, with the inivitation to make available not the smallest but a larger room in the house. Their are bathes of silence, in bedrooms, designed with different materials - with wood and natural stone but also with frosted glass and stainless steel. Looking through all these inspring examples you can relax, look into the garden and get ideas for new sensual materials. There are not the typical furnitured bathrooms but real inspirations for a new feeling of bathing - quite inspiring.

worth every penny.......2003-03-23

After doing extensive bathroom research for the past 9 months, I bought this book to see if any new ideas or images could inspire me to create a bathroom design for the University of Texas at Austin.
I was astounded at the sensitivity of the writing and the images chosen. I would definately recommend this book to every designer who works with residential and commercial spaces. The ideas presented should be omnipresent in every bathroom, no matter if it is an office bathroom or a private residential suite.

Bathrooms at their best.......2003-02-11

This book is really wonderful. Some of the designs are not practical, but even so the book still serves as an inspiration. What I like best about it is the way Hanan encourages the reader to redefine their idea of a bathroom so it is not just a space for everyday tasks. I also like the way she incorporates ideas from many cultures. The photography is excellent. Even if you are not planning on designing a bathroom, this book is still fun to look at.

Vastu Living: Creating a Home for the Soul

Average customer rating:

Finally someone understands the essence of Vastu
A sophisticated meaningful update of vastu
decent read, but poorly researched
Worth its weight in Gold
Marvelous

Vastu Living: Creating a Home for the Soul
Kathleen Cox
Manufacturer: Marlowe & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1569246440

Amazon.com

Much like the Chinese feng shui, Indian vastu is an ancient practice of spiritual philosophy and science. By analyzing the orientation of your home and placing your furnishings in an arrangement that best fits your constitution, you can introduce more harmony and tranquility to your life. Vastu Living is designed to help you discover which primary element you most identify with (fire, air, earth, or water) and to create a living or working space that will both inspire and calm you. Author Kathleen Cox, a longtime proponent of vastu and an expert on Indian culture, says "an orderly and harmonious space leads to an orderly and harmonious inner life, which is so necessary for the good health of the body, mind, and soul--and by extension, of everything that exists around us."

In the first half of the book, Cox explains the key concepts of vastu, including descriptions of Indian deities, the elements from which the universe was created, and the positive and negative forces that are in everyone's lives. "Unless our home is conducive to inward thinking," Cox says, "we can never really find an everlasting inner peace." The second half of the book tackles the practicalities of applying vastu to your home and office. Diagrams are included to help you map your space and to consider how to rearrange your furniture (or even swap entire rooms) for an optimal flow of energy and a content soul. Cox quietly and convincingly champions this blend of spirituality and efficiency. Well written and thoughtful, Vastu Living is an excellent introduction to millenniums-old Indian wisdom. --Dana Van Nest

Book Description

Feng shui, the ancient Chinese art and science of finding harmony with nature, has become widely adopted in the West. Like Buddhism, which migrated from India eastward, feng shui is recognized by Eastern scholars as having originated not in China but in India, where it is referred to as Vastu Shastra, or the science of architecture. In Vastu Living, Kathleen Cox introduces readers to the art, science, and practice of vastu. Cox explains vastu's origins in the Vedas, its relationship to the Hindu gods, its principles and guidelines, and its traditional uses. Vastu Living shows readers how to practice vastu at home and in the workplace--from understanding its teachings on room layout and furniture placement to bringing the divine into every dimension of one's environment.

Customer Reviews:

Finally someone understands the essence of Vastu.......2002-11-16

I've taught Vedic texts in the West for many years. The author presents a cogent, wise, and clearly stated introduction not only to vastu but to the Vedic holistic philosophy. I actually include the title in my students reading list. The author's update of vastu, connecting it to ayurveda, is a wise decision and makes good sense. Vastu is connected to all the other Vedic disciplines and practicing yoga, ayurveda and now vastu can enhance the quality of one's life. I've read many of the new books on vastu, but the author's understanding of this subject is refreshing and true to its Vedic source. I look forward to reading the author's new release.

A sophisticated meaningful update of vastu.......2002-11-16

I've taught the Vedic texts in the West for nearly 15 years. The author's understanding of the Vedic philosophy is wise, clearly stated, and valuable. I actually have my students read the book to get a good grounding in this Eastern system of belief. The author has also presented a worthy update of vastu that appropriately connects the discipline to yoga and ayurveda. The update also shows the true value of vastu and is the only book on the subject that I have read that treats vastu seriously--as a means to increasing your spiritual, physical, and mental health. This is the essence of vastu. I am looking forward to reading the author's latest book on the subject.

decent read, but poorly researched.......2002-07-12

While I enjoyed reading this book, I feel it suffered from several deep flaws. The author apparently loves India and is fascinated by it, but seems to have conducted research by following her nose rather than vigorous investigation. Her introduction implies that the bulk of the book is based on conversations with one or two people whom her friends told her were knowledgable. Unfortunately, the statements she makes about Vastu guidelines and even Ayurvedic medicine guidelines (which she spends a chapter on) are inconsistent with other books on the subject, and I can only conclude that this is due to her ad-hoc investigative work. A comment she made about Western science might work for illustrative purposes here: at one point she states that "all scientists accept that the world is made of five basic substances--earth, air, fire, water, and spirit." Clearly her 'insight' into Western science is flawed, as scientists disavowed that notion long ago, and my impression from comparing this book to more authoritative sources on Vastu, Ayurveda, and Yoga, is that her research into those subjects is just as "off." (Vastu and Ayurveda propose that earth, air, fire, water and spirit are key substances, but that's certainly not the position of Western studies.)

Despite those flaws, it was an enjoyable read and I found myself looking forward to the final chapter titled "Appeasing the Gods - Appeasing Your Soul" which she said would give us tips for restoring balance, even when you've committed a cardinal Vastu sin, such as having a kitchen in the southwest corner of your house. Unfortunately, this chapter consisted of two parts. The first, which said to simply "choose an appropriate color" to remedy the problem, listed the colors of the rainbow without indicating which to use when other than a "choose what feels good to you" approach, in which case the book is completely irrelevant--if that's what you're going to do anyway, there's no point in reading the book. The rest of the chapter was acceptable from certain points of view--she talks about the Indian gods and how to make an offering to them in order to balance the energies--and while that is appropriate for certain people, I personally do not want to make offerings to a god who committed incest with his dauther. While I understand some people's inclination to do so, he is not part of my personal spirituality, and I feel that her book presented no other options than to make offerings to placate these gods who are not mine, or simply "pick a nice color that makes you feel good."

If you're planning to build a new house, this book is probably as helpful for you as most others (unless you're bothered by the fact that most experts in other books disagree with her), and if you're into the Hindu religion, I think it could be quite helpful for you. But if you're looking for a way to bring peace into your not-ready-for-a-complete-remodel house without worshipping Hindu gods, I'd recommend you look elsewhere.

Worth its weight in Gold.......2002-02-03

Ms Kathleen Cox has done a commendable task of stringing the pearls of wisdom related to Vastu, Vedas, Yoga, Ayurveda into a beautifully strung necklace. The book will enhance your understanding of Vastu and if applied, make life peaceful and profitable.

This is one book that I have read on Vastu that presents Vastu as an Indian art of space management rather compare it to any other similar art. A very well researched effort and written in a lucid manner. It lays the foundation and then build upon it. Also, it provides solutions when you cannot adhere to the recommendations as does happen in real life.

Kathleen - Thanks for putting the book together.

Marvelous.......2001-06-07

...I could almost say "poetic " and usefull. Better than the rest!Well written and simply explained

Sacred Home: Creating Shelter for Your Soul

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Enduring traditions spark fresh approaches to decor & design

Sacred Home: Creating Shelter for Your Soul
Laurine Morrison Meyer
Manufacturer: Llewellyn Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0738705853

Book Description

Home decorating is more than window treatments and color schemes. Bringing soul into a personal space is important, too. Blending time-honored design principles with Western mythology and folklore, interior designer Laurine Morrison Meyer shows readers how to transform their home into a sanctuary for body, mind, and spirit.

Sacred Home presents an overview of Western religious and folk traditions regarding home protection, purification, and sanctity. Learn about protective household deities, sacred symbols, and the origination of common household myths. Discover the special significance of the horseshoe and other common household talismans. This guidebook also explains the four archetypal design styles and how to combine them with the reader's unique style to create a space that nourishes the soul.

Customer Reviews:

Enduring traditions spark fresh approaches to decor & design.......2005-05-07

Sacred Home digs deep into the universal roots of Western design elements. This book is a useful reference book that reads like a heartfelt letter from a friend... A friend who has gone through a deep spiritual awakening.

Some will find it too dry or too speculative. Others will see it as a great starting point for further thought and research.

This book can be fascinating reading if you enjoy innovative surveys of folklore and spirituality that is practically applied in the Llewellyn tradition. It is especially thought-provoking if you are also involved in interior design and decor.

Author Laurine Morrison Meyer began her research by asking, "Is there a Western equivalent to the Eastern practice of Feng Shui?" This began six years of research for this book.

Ms. Meyer starts by discussing design principles that have always represented the home as well as the womb. She uncovers intriguing symbols of female reproductive anatomy in triangles and Vs, wavy lines, circles, ovals, and even the Greek Omega symbol.

Next, Sacred Home explores early altars and home deities including Isis, Taweret, Hathor, Bess, Hestia, Bess, and many more. Meyer's discussion of ancestor worship and veneration in the home can be startling.

This book is almost a whirlwind of diverse ideas, each more curious than the last. However, her concepts also offer comfort and an innate ring of common sense.

After discussing symbols of protection and decorating elements, Ms. Meyer provides an intriguing look at archetypal design styles. Sacred Home follows this with chapters on housewarming traditions, propitious principles, auspicious symbols, and the enchanted dwelling.

This book is important for interior designers and decorators, as well as Feng Shui consultants. Sometimes, we too easily accept traditional Asian design elements. As designers, we should consider symbols from Western culture which could be more significant--and perhaps luckier--for Western homes.

For example, in Feng Shui we often decorate the Fame area with red. Traditionally, this is the luckiest color when applying Feng Shui to areas relating to reputation as well as income. However, as Meyer notes, "Whereas red is considered a sign of good luck in China, in Western cultures red is often associated with prostitution, passion, and fast food eateries." If those are your references as well, it would be a mistake to use red in your Fame area.

When planning our homes and offices, it's important to include design elements that affect us deeply, profoundly, and sometimes subconsciously. However, unless we have Asian roots, a black Career area may seem depressing due to cultural connections between the color black and mourning. Green (for money) or gold might be better colors in the Career area of a Western home.

Meyer's book is an excellent survey of alternatives to traditional Feng Shui elements. Sacred Home is a useful, thought-provoking tour of historical Western design concepts.

This book introduces a wide range of beliefs and traditions throughout history. It's an ideal starting point for research into mythology's relationship to enduring decorating principles.

Sacred Home is not heavily illustrated with design suggestions, but skips rapidly from one intriguing concept to the next. Every one of Meyer's comments about home decor could provide enough ideas to fill a book.

I recommend Sacred Home for design professionals, and anyone who is interested in the impact of Western folklore and spiritual traditions on design. --reviewed by Aisling D'Art, former editor, BellaOnline: Feng Shui

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"Less than One"
Interesting, but flawed

Rewriting the Soul
Ian Hacking
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 069105908X

Book Description

What is it like to suffer from multiple personality? Most diagnosed patients are women: why does gender matter? How does defining an illness affect the behavior of those who suffer from it? And, more generally, how do systems of knowledge about kinds of people interact with the people who are known about? Answering these and similar questions, Hacking explores the development of the modern multiple personality movement. He then turns to a fascinating series of historical vignettes about an earlier wave of multiples, people who were diagnosed as new ways of thinking about memory emerged, particularly in France, toward the end of the nineteenth century. Fervently occupied with the study of hypnotism, hysteria, sleepwalking, and fugue, scientists of this period aimed to take the soul away from the religious sphere. What better way to do this than to make memory a surrogate for the soul and then subject it to empirical investigation?

Made possible by these nineteenth-century developments, the current outbreak of dissociative disorders is embedded in new political settings. Rewriting the Soul concludes with a powerful analysis linking historical and contemporary material in a fresh contribution to the archaeology of knowledge. As Foucault once identified a politics that centers on the body and another that classifies and organizes the human population, Hacking has now provided a masterful description of the politics of memory : the scientizing of the soul and the wounds it can receive.

Download Description

Twenty-five years ago one could list by name the tiny number of multiple personalities recorded in the history of Western medicine, but today hundreds of people receive treatment for dissociative disorders in every sizable town in North America. Clinicians, backed by a grassroots movement of patients and therapists, find child sexual abuse to be the primary cause of the illness, while critics accuse the "MPD" community of fostering false memories of childhood trauma. Here the distinguished philosopher Ian Hacking uses the MPD epidemic and its links with the contemporary concept of child abuse to scrutinize today's moral and political climate, especially our power struggles about memory and our efforts to cope with psychological injuries. What is it like to suffer from multiple personality? Most diagnosed patients are women: why does gender matter? How does defining an illness affect the behavior of those who suffer from it? And, more generally, how do systems of knowledge about kinds of people interact with the people who are known about? Answering these and similar questions, Hacking explores the development of the modern multiple personality movement. He then turns to a fascinating series of historical vignettes about an earlier wave of multiples, people who were diagnosed as new ways of thinking about memory emerged, particularly in France, toward the end of the nineteenth century. Fervently occupied with the study of hypnotism, hysteria, sleepwalking, and fugue, scientists of this period aimed to take the soul away from the religious sphere. What better way to do this than to make memory a surrogate for the soul and then subject it to empirical investigation?

Customer Reviews:

"Less than One".......2003-11-29

Hacking asks, "Is it real?" He referred to the epidemic nature of multiplicity. He wrote that at one time multiplicity was considered rare. Hacking asks, "What happened? What is it? And, what is the answer?" He considered that multiplicity could be a fabrication between doctor and patient or as a social circumstance. He suggests that an intervention should be made and concluded that the situation demand professional caution. He sites the organizational work done by, "the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, but he claimed to be neutral.

Hacking seems to be part of a movement that believes that "... emphasis on personalities is wrongheaded." He writes that multiplicity is a failure to integrate. He quotes Spiegel (1993) as saying, "The problem is not having more than one personality; it is having less than one personality." Hacking further writes a comparison of multiplicity to Alice (in Wonderland). "For this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. `But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, `to pretend to be two people! Why, there is hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!"

Yesterday, I pulled from my shelves the first book I found on multiplicity. I wanted to write the first item in THE CATALOG. I skimmed through the first chapter. And, I felt anger and betrayal. This author's thinking horrified me. I don't have the ability to remember what I have or have not read or who is who, but I'd fallen under the wrong assumption that I have bought only "good books." So-be-it. This remains the first entry. We hope to offer "some" objectivity.

We will be checking out the other books on our shelves before going much further. We find it hard to remember, but we do know what allows feeling good or bad. We're not less than one!

Kate (Aynetal System)
KathrynCoreyCenter.com

Interesting, but flawed.......2002-03-21

This book raises a lot of questions. The issue Hacking takes on is fascinating: multiple personality disoder and its philosophical implications. Hacking is a lot more down-to-earth and clear as a writer than most other philosophers, making this book much easier to read than anything I remember reading in philosophy class in college.

Hacking analyzes both MPD and the MPD movement. This is really interesting and makes me, the reader, think that there is a fascinating story to be told here: the story of how the movement came into being and has changed over time. Hacking gets into that, but then he backs off from it, and says he has scrupulously limited himself to matters of public record. No fair! this frustrated reader wants to say. It's like someone saying...I know things you don't....and not sharing.

There are a few flaws with this book that mean Hacking's conclusions should not be accepted uncritically:

1. Errors of fact. Hacking is sloppy here, or he has one of the worst editors of all time. I'll cite one of the simplest. In the hardback version I read, Jennifer Freyd's name is misspelled throughout. She is referred to as "Jenifer". Maybe this has been corrected since then. But Hacking has the temerity to evaluate the quality of "Jenifer's" writing - when he can't spell her name right. Excuse me??

2. Difficult to follow in some chapters. I found the chapters on the history of memory to be poorly organized, so that I lost the thread of what Hacking was saying. This is my failure as a reader, perhaps. But if anyone else tries to plow through that part of the book and can't make it, you are not alone.

3. Questionable claim of impartiality: Hacking presents himself as impartial, favoring neither the FMSF nor the trauma therapists. In actual fact, he is either sloppy, or very close to an FMSF apologist. This can be seen in his unwise choice of source materials. He consistently ignores the more responsible therapists and books.

I believe one (or more) of the following possibilities is true:

- Hacking is an FMSF advocate pretending to be impartial
- Hacking really tries to be impartial here, but did a poor job researching his subject and presents his conclusions too confidently.
- This book suffers from the ill effects of poor editing

But Hacking does a couple of great things:

- He thinks for himself. For example, he asks why so many alters are men, or little children, or homosexual. Then he talks about the implications of this. Fascinating questions!

- He discredits the concept of a core self, pristine, pure, untouched by culture. Thank you, Dr. Hacking. It's about time someone did.

- He eschews jargon and buzzwords, in favor of his own thoughts and phrasing. This is not common in an author writing about psychology, and is welcome.

I also think that, unfortunately, there were two or more books here that got fused. One of these books would have been MPD, the modern movement, and what it says about human consciousness. That would have been fascinating.

The other book would have been about the science and politics of memory, including Hacking's term, memoro-politics. That could be interesting too, but only if Hacking included the work of more responsible therapists. To me, these two separate discussions didn't fit together well.

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Discovering Wholeness - The Spirit, Soul & Body Connection

Manufacturer: LFH Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0964456699

Average customer rating:

an expression of pure bitterness

Well-intentioned; Similar in ways to www.LiveReal.com

Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue...Who are Sapping...

Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue, Entirely Justified, Deli

Too Many Books, So Many Problems, Only One Person

Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue, Entirely Justified, Delightfully Hostile Guide to the Snake-Oil Peddlers Who Are Sapping Our Nation's Soul
Tom Tiede
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless

ASIN: 0871137771

Book Description

Every year, Americans waste millions of dollars on books that promise to fix all their problems. We buy each new one, believing its promises despite the failures of all the previous tomes, continuing to hope for that nonexistent magic bullet. Tom Tiede, a former syndicated columnist and the recipient of numerous journalism awards, just might be able to cure us of this addiction. In Self-Help Nation, Tiede skewers the authors of self-help books, whom he compares to modern-day snake-oil peddlers exploiting our weaknesses. As he slashes his way merrily through his least favorite books, Tiede posits a larger cultural argument about why we as a nation have fallen prey to the self-help juggernaut. Waging an eloquent attack on the salaciousness and irresponsibility of the media, the self-absorption of the Baby Boom generation, our fascination with celebrity, and other cultural afflictions, Tiede offers insightful commentary on what we've lost in our hyperaccelerated culture and calls for a return to the timeless American value of self-reliance. In urging us to trust ourselves, Tiede is perhaps writing just another self-help book, a sure sign of the mess we've gotten ourselves into. Regardless, Self-Help Nation is a delight to read-wickedly funny, refreshingly candid, and ultimately profound.

Customer Reviews:

an expression of pure bitterness.......2004-05-21

Despite the Tom Tiede's smiling face on the dust jacket of the copy of this book I got from the library, his book is an unkind, trivializing, and ultimately bitter dismissal of a genre of work that he only partly understands.

Yes, there are many more self-help books than we really need. Yes, authors make more money on them than is reasonable. Yes, looking carefully at the self-help industry is a good idea.

But do we need this book? Should he be making money on it? Has he taken a careful look?

No, no, and no.

The author does show some insight into particular self-help writers, and like I said the industry needs examination, but he has a hard time expressing his insight without insults and smug scorn.

I think Tiede gives his reason for writing this book in the last chapter: bitterness at feeling no longer at home in his chosen profession, journalism, and at the rejection of the work he tried to do with the newspaper he ran. It's a pity that he chose to express his bitterness this way.

Well-intentioned; Similar in ways to www.LiveReal.com.......2004-04-17

Self-help, when it's taken seriously, can often become a seductive, perplexing, mind-spinning jungle. I've been there and learned the hard way. I agree with most of the other reviewers of this book - this book is well-intentioned, it's raw, it's a sorely needed message, and it doesn't quite finish the job.

There are some parallels to a promising web site I've found, www.LiveReal.com. It's one thing to criticize self-help authors (which is pretty easy to do); it's another thing to offer valid and even better alternatives.

The key ingredient, which LiveReal nails, is that the issues addressed by self-help are intimately linked to keeper issues, and the ways that various issues are interconnected. For example, self-esteem is connected to relationships is connected to spirituality is connected to . . . and so on.

While LiveReal is also pretty rough and raw around the edges, in my mind, it's still the best I've found yet to do the whole job in one place.

Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue...Who are Sapping..........2003-06-08

This is a ranting, raving critique of the torrent of popular self-help advice books and of the growing swarm of advisors getting rich off the incomplete, oversimplified solutions they dispense. Tom Tiede, veteran journalist, spares no author, dead or alive, in his crusade to wean the world away from bogus helpers and healers. For this we are grateful.

It's about time someone stemmed the tide of publisher's hype, misleading titles, quasi-authorities, talk-show spiel and pure nonsense peddled as fact and honored as life-changing truth. I commend Tiede for taking on the thankless, largely hopeless task of getting through to the spiritually blind and deaf who compose the bulk of humanity. His topics hit home, covering relationships, marriage, addictions, loneliness, obesity, self esteem, alcoholism, sex and more.

Mixing reason with humor, satire, shock and insult Tiede tears down best selling authors, such as Deepak Chopra, Denis Waitley, John Bradshaw, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Dr. Susan Forward, Terry Cole-Whittaker, Leo Buscaglia and more. Any self-help writer of the last 30 or 40 years is a target for his piercing pen. Then he crosses the line of political correctness into religion, sacred books and saviors.

Sprinkled among the tirades are touches of time-tested wisdom where Tiede urges us to think for ourselves and tackle reality with all its ups and downs, its eternal challenges that will not go away with secret techniques and magic answers. We get the impression that Tiede himself has come through the fog and found fresh air on the other side.

Unfortunataly, his use of four-letter words and vulgarities and his attack on souls considered as holy prophets and great message-bearers will no doubt turn away the very folks who need a wake-up call. Or maybe the language is part of the wake-up. At any rate, I'm thinking this book would work better as stand-up comedy in an off-beat night club, than an invitation to sane thinking for the book-buying masses.

Another problem is that he attempts to explain through logic topics steeped in emotion. Tradition does not yield to common sense and neither does superstition. Sacred cows cannot be argued away. Nor does Tiede recognize the slow, incremental, untraceable, personal changes for the better that may qualify as major victories. Somewhere someone reading the books he decries may have been lifted for a moment or strengthened to step around another scary corner. What more can we ask?

It may take thousands and thousands of books from bad to mediocre to excellent before we respond. It may take years of wresting with a single sentence to get a glimmer of understanding. Patience! Patience!

Finally, it would have been helpful if Tiede had listed all the books with publishing details in a bibliography at the end. Readers could find them easily, test his theories and decide for themselves the merits or flaws of the self-help market.

Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue, Entirely Justified, Deli.......2003-06-08

Too Many Books, So Many Problems, Only One Person.......2003-02-03

Lately, I have been weary. After reading "Self-Help Nation", I came to the conclusion that I was tired of being bombared with books that tell me what's wrong with my life and then purport to tell me what I need to do to fix it. For the past 15 years I seem to have been in one big "change your life" blur. Nothing was ever good enough, or even just good. It couldn't be good, it had to be better.
Buddhism, Taoism, A Course In Miracles, Metaphysics, Hypnosis, Tony Robbins, Fit for Life, Self-Talk, Celestine Propehecy, Yoga, Meditation, Creative Visualization; you name it I've purchased and read a book on it.
No wonder I'm tired.
In "Self Help Nation", the author takes a scathingly funny look at the Wayne Dyers, The Deepak Chopras, the Louise Hays, of our world. Sometimes, he states, you just gotta take responsibility for your own life and make it on your own, without any outside help from these self-proclaimed 'experts'.
I would change that to pick a system of belief and stick to it, rather than going on the cafeteria plan and buying any and every book that comes out, hoping to glean yet another morsel from it.
The best part about this book is that it really opens your eyes and gives you a starting point in weaning yourself (and myself) away from the self-help and psychology section of your local bookstore.
The worst part is that the author takes way too many potshots at so many different authors. It's like watching your drunk uncle gripe about everyone in town, rather than giving you the good gossip on the mayor and the city council.
The last two words of this book are Self-reliance.
That's what it's all about. Relying on yourself. Remembering that everything you need to know is inside of you. Anything you want to change you already have the innate knowledge to know how to do it. Want to lose weight? Eat less and exercise more. There, I just saved you $20, so put down that copy of "The Zone".
Dig up a copy of Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and read it. It's free online in a thousand different places.
Then stack up all your self-help books, load them in the trunk of your car and give them to charity.
Or better yet, sell them here on amazon.com to other folks who haven't figured out what self-reliance is yet.

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