Working Out, Working Within: The Tao of Inner Fitness Through Sports and Exercise
Author: Jerry Lynch, Chungliang Al Huang, Al Chung-Liang Huang
List Price: $23.95
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ISBN: 0874779138
Publisher: J. P. Tarcher (February, 1998)
Sales Rank: 88,146
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
What Excercise and Sports are All About
This books is truly outstanding. What it does is to tie sports and excercise into what matters in life: transcending limits, continually growing, becoming everything that you can be, and enjoying the process. The authors argue that you can use your workouts as a means to personal growth and transcendence and that that newfound spiritual power will transfer over into other areas of your life as well. I heartily agree! The book is about the mind in sports and is applicable to everything in life. It talks about dealing with fear, being compassionate in your "self talk", and the power of beliefs and self concept. The most pervasive concept, however, is the instruction to focus on the process rather than the outcome. The authors continually harp on being in the moment, giving one's best, dealing with inner demons, and just letting the results take care of themselves. What makes you a winner is not the outcome but the effort, perseverance and fortitude that you bring.
This is a book that brings together fitness and excercise with philosophy and personal growth. A great achievement!
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Rating: 5 out of 5
great book for mind and body...
A previous reviewer commented that the book was not necessarily Taoist but common sense; I would suggest that much of Taoism is common sense. I am a triathlete and a student of eastern philosophy and I found that this book was great at making me think about applying Taoist and Zen philosophies to improving my athletic performance. I also think that this book is not just applicable to sports but to living in general. The book also supplies various exercises at the end of each chapter to help apply the principles, which I found useful. Some sections are more applicable than others, but that would just depend on the reader more than anything. I also found the discussion of Taoist philosophy at the begining a little bit slow, but that's just me, and it's over quick enough before getting into the good stuff. For the price, this book offers a great deal to athltes of any ability.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Intense focus on attitude and energy.
Great book. I highly recomend it Similar Products
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind : Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life
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