Slowing Down to the Speed of Life

April 28, 1997
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," wrote Shakespeare. Drawing on a set of principles known as Psychology of Mind, Bailey (The Serenity Principle) and Carlson (You Can Feel Good Again; co-editor, Handbook for the Soul) conform to the Bard's dictum in teaching readers to reduce stress and tap into the wellsprings of mental health by learning to recognize when they are imprisoned by their own thoughts. The two psychotherapists distinguish between ordinary analytical "process" thinking and more reflective, receptive "flow" thinking, encouraging readers to trust that going with the flow will allow them to solve problems with greater ease. Many of the suggestions here read like a contemporary formulation of ancient yogic and Buddhist teachings--readers are encouraged to risk "not knowing" as a means of opening to the flow. Suffering, the authors say, comes not quite from desire but from trying to control, clinging to rigid ideas about what will make us happy or help us to avoid suffering. Stress with lovers, children and at work is caused by being caught up in analytical thinking. The authors' messages are simple, but they serve as a clear and useful introduction to what is at heart an ancient way of awakening to life.