The Heart of the Soul : Emotional Awareness

Rating:
Summary: Expanding emotional awareness. Excellent material!
Review: Gary presents in his usual clear and penetrating style, the importance of increasing emotional awareness as a necessary part of our spiritual growth and evolution. There is a good degree of depth to this material. A good follow-on to "Seat of the Soul." Gary discusses how our attempts to suppress our underlying pain are at the root of many difficulties we experience and create for ourselves. The audio book gives you a chance to hear Gary's inflections as well as input from Linda. This is worth listening to (and reading). Highly recommended. -- Mark Greenia, author of "Energy Dynamics."

Rating:
Summary: Journey from Your Head to Your Heart
Review: Gary Zukav and Linda Francis did a wonderful job in bringing those who have a hard time feeling and dealing with their emotions a powerful book that will help you journey "from your head to your heart."

This is a great book for people who feel a lot of anger, who try to stay in control, and have difficulty relating to others from the heart center with genuine authenticity. If you tend to run away from your feelings, only to find yourself feeling unloved, or thinking you are unlovable, than this book will help you with the many diagrams and self-help techniques. From sex addiction to drinking too much, to using outward activities to not deal with your emotions, The Heart of the Soul will help you uncover and notice what is blocking you so that you can embrace your truth, and learn how to express it genuinely from the inside out.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Analogies But Somewhat Repetitive
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. I had not read any of the author's works before, but was aware of his notoriety. There are not many ex-Green Beret officers who delve into New Age topics such as the soul, energy chakras, and emotional awareness...;-)

This work is very interesting, and for the most part, entertaining. The theme is that we, not other people, are the cause for our positive and negative emotions. How we deal with those emotions contributes to our state of being. The authors then describe how to become more emotionally aware by isolating our feelings into different "schools." The analogy is that life is the ultimate teacher, and that we have to master one school (emotion) before graduating to the next.

The authors appear to have a sincere desire to help others become more emotionally aware; however, the subject matter becomes somewhat repetitive. They discuss a variety of emotions and life events, but how many times does the reader need to be reminded that your emotions are your own responsibility? Or that you need to be aware of them 24 hours a day? Most readers will not need the gentle yet continual cues. That tone took upon an adult-child quality; however, perhaps that is the author's teaching style.

One of his quotes was especially enlightening. And I paraphrase, "Pain is the flower, but the illness is in the plant." Mr. Zukav and Ms. Francis have provided the reader with a thought-provoking work. How one interprets the contents is another matter.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.