Has anyone read this book, by Eckhardt Tolle? I just started listening to the audio CD.... and I am impressed with it.. Usually I'm pretty skeptical and cynical when it comes to self-help types of things, especially the more new-agey stuff.... But, this guy really seems to have some substance. He talks a lot about the emptiness and the fear of having no identity-- two things I struggle with a lot when I get depressed.... and he talks about a whole lot of other things too... I'm only on Disc 2, out of 7..... looking forward to hearing the rest!!

ANyways, just curious of anyone else has read this book and what they think? A new book he wrote is called "A New Earth." I will probably read it after I finish this one!

since i love books, i'm going to look into it...

thanks wondering.

hope you're going to have a very good day!!!!!!! :angel:

I have not but I love the title! I finally overcame my depression and anxiety problems when I finished my cbt group which taught me exercises that forced me to live in the present rather than dwell on the past or dread the future. You may want to read Been there, Done that? DO THIS! by sam obitz. We used this book in my group and it is a very straight forward and simple no nonsense book on cbt. Thanks again for the rec of The Power of now, I'm gonna check it out.

I just picked up a copy last night and started reading a little of it and like it so far. I'll report back when I finish it. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'll be interested to hear what you think. I generally liked it over all, though I think some of it is a bit "out there." And I think the writer seems a bit narcissistic... but a lot of those self-help gurus seem to be that way..

I think that living in the present and being aware of everything that is going on in the moment between yourself and others is one of the most important pieces of advice for happiness that anyone could ever get. This technique is also important when you are trying to get emotionally healthy because this is where all of the info is that you need to figure things out with yourself. Wandering, this technique will help you figure things out between yourself and your mother, being aware of everything that is going on with every interaction with your mother. It's also how you build relationships. If you or the person that you are with isn't present, they or you are in the past or future, you cannot build a relationship now. Sometimes I think it is painful for people to be in the present because of how they feel about themselves. One example is if they dislike themselves so much that if they were in the present with others they would risk being "exposed" to others.

I agree about the perceived ********** but if you cut through all that I like the concepts espoused here and it backs up a lot of what I learned in my cbt group but if I didn't already have the thought countering exercises I learned in my cbt group I would be wanting more help as far as steps go for living in the moment.
I still have another 75 pages to go and it is a little out there at times but I think he means well.

I just started reading another book on the cognitive side called Learned Optimism and it is good so far and reinforces a lot of the cbt stuff from the book by Sam Obitz that I recommended to you.