Henry Grayson, a psychologist, relationship counselor, psychoanalyst, and former minister who has been working with couples and individuals to improve their relationships for more than thirty years, has found that most people are actually more unhappy after marriage counseling or couples therapy. In Mindful Loving he sets aside the traditional methods of therapy to show you how to look at your relationships from a completely different perspective. By getting to the root of our relationship problems, Grayson creates a whole new framework in which in which to view intimacy--one where psychology, spirituality, and science meet. He shows how to:
- Break the vicious cycles of interaction that trap you in patterns of resentment and isolation
- Identify the six forms of counterfeit "love" and nine barriers to love
- Practice ten characteristics of Empowering Love
- Create a spiritual marriage rather than an ego based one
Filled with techniques, exercises, meditations, and inspiring case studies, here is an indispensable guide to creating healthy and fulfilling relationships that is destined to become a classic in the field.
Chapter List
1. Rethinking the Purpose of Marriage: The Spiritual Relationship Versus the Ego-Based Relationship
2. The New Physics of Love: A Spiritual Approach to Relationships
3. The Power of Thought to Heal Relationships
4. Breaking into teh Vicious Cycle: The Though Monitoring Exercises
5. Choosing Love, Not Fear: Making the Perceptual Shift and Seeing Others as Mirrors
6. Going Further Upstream: Erasing Traumas and Changing Negative Core Beliefs
7. Identifying Your Barriers to Love: The Litmus Tests to Distinguish Between Counterfeit and Empowering Love
8. Unblocking teh Flow of Love: Unblocking the Flow of Love and Extending it to Others
9. Learning to Trust in the True Self: The Power of Surrender
10. A Deeper Knowledge of the Spirit Through Quieting the Mind: Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises and Meditation Exercises
11. The Spiritual Divorce Versus the Ego-Based Divorce
Testimonials and Reviews of Mindful Loving
Finally a book about how to be love rather than how to get love! Oh the difference. Instead of looking to significant others to make us feel complete, whole, and happy, we learn how to do this by ourselves for ourselves. 10 powerful ideas for becoming a more loving being are offered. Even more importantly, Mindful Loving teaches how to respond to life's challenges by thinking in a different way. This sounds like a small shift, but it's a major change in life perception.
Because spirituality and psychotherapy are perfectly blended, Mindful Loving should be required reading for every psychotherapist, every psychologist, every minister, or for anyone involved in talk therapy of any kind. Other books tend to use spirituality to support psychology, where spiritual principles are adapted, modified, or eliminated to make the point. This book is the other way around where psychology supports spirituality. The uncompromising nature of Mindful Loving makes it refreshing to read.
The only caution is that this is a very intellectual and heavy book which may not appeal to all. Also, Grayson could not resist including the predictable list of how love "should be." All in all, however, Mindful Loving is an excellent explanation of love with something of use for everyone. This book is rated 8 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) by the spiritual reviewer. This unusually high rating designates Mindful Loving as "a classic."
By A Customer
I am a divorcee who is presently working on a new relationship. I recently picked up this book and finally began understanding why I had such difficulties in my former marriage and how I can change myself to develop a deeper meaningful relationship with my partner. Until reading this book, I only saw what was on the surface and was blind to all of the hidden feelings, insecurities and intentions that we both had. After reading this book as well as another really fantastic book called "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato, I finally am beginning to see these things. They are both terrific books! I am extremely thankful to these authors who have helped me see myself and the world so much clearer than before. I will try to use this new knowledge to grow together with my new partner in a positive way. Thank you!
This book is the bible for the mind. I read it, began using the practices. Now my relationships are more focused and happy.
Don't let this book fool you ... it's not just for romantic couples but everyone in a relationship to their family, friends, and colleagues. Grayson has lots of action-oriented excercises to help readers get the personal experience of the techniques he advocates. Spiritually-based psychotherapy with some practical examples. Mindful Loving is for those who believe that love must come from within before it can be extended without.
I want to personally thank the author for writing this book. It discusses a spiritual path that is the most rewarding but difficult and wrought with perils: having conscious human relationships. This book shows the best examples of how our relationships are mirrors of our own processes that I have read.
I absolutely loved this book. I was going through a tough divorce and this book completely allowed me to do a 360 and get away from and ego based separation to a spiritual one. After reading this book -- I was able to come to peace with my divorce and its practices so helped me in my approach to my next relationship. This book is a must read and is a catalyst for change when approaching love!
Henry Grayson's ideas were new to me when I read his book. I learned to hold new expectations of my relationships and marriage, learned a deeper understanding of where love comes from, and learned to seek personal responsibility for my own emotions. Reading this book improved every relationship in my life. Highly, highly recommended for those considering marriage or already in one - blissful or rocky.
This book ties together the world of physics and the mind. I have always felt that our thoughts act on the world and here is a book that goes a long way to explaining it.
It is a must have for anyone who believes it is the thought that counts; although especially important for those that don't.