Customer Reviews

The Art of Effortless Living

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Dear Reader to be: As I was reading The Art of Effortless Living, I was hoping it was true. That my life could be effortless. I have grown up struggling and striving to do right, be happy and just get through the daily requirements of life. Every page offered me new perspective as well as encouragement and suggested actions to move away from striving and toward what I like to call"gliding." Now that I've read this book: same life, same stuff, with more confidence, looseness, liveliness. Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts from this wonderful book: "It's the gap between who you are and who you want to be that gives you leverage. The essence of right living lies in believing that your life is so important and has so much promise that you ask more of yourself than anyone else would ask of you. Not because you want to prove yourself but because you want to be everything that you really can be." To be oneself "...as fully, openly, grandly and freely as possible." I do hope you order this book, enjoy absorbing it and then maybe you'll report in here about your new "effortless" life. (P.S. If I did have a big sister, I would hope she'd be just like this book.)

I'll admit I'm a tough audience when it comes to popular self-help books. The themes are predictable, repetitious, derivative. So the value of the text largely comes down to a question of the author's rhetoric.

Though a practitioner of the Alexander technique, Bacci is open to numerous complementary systems, most particularly those Eastern views of self that emphasize "being" over "doing," that locate success and failure in personal consciousness, not in individual performance or in the products of the Western Puritanical work ethic. Through numerous engaging examples, illustrations, explanations she manages to be an effective and inspirational "coach-teacher." While making it clear that living effortlessly requires the effort of concentration and practice, she makes the goal seem both worth while and accessible.

Besides stressing and suggesting ways of heightening personal consciousness, Professor Bacci incorporates many elements from what used to be called "transactional analysis." Once we stop trying to prove our worth through our accomplishments, we can began to approach human relationships from a more mature, less exasperating perspective. More often than not, her points strike home. And when she comes up with an occasional lame illustration, she almost invariably follows it up with a real "zinger." I can attest that I felt energized and empowered after reading some of the chapters.

While Professor Bacci's approach strikes me as a valuable counterbalance to the present-day obsession with measuring success and failure in the materialist terms of society at large, the reader may at the same time feel compelled to qualify some of her own positions as extreme. For example, focusing on what we feel in the moment can certainly lead to heightened consciousness and increased self-awareness. At the same time, happiness is as likely to be a by-product of the pursuit of a goal external to the self as the object of pursuit itself. Also, while it is true that confronting, or "being with," the experience of pain can paradoxically release constricted nerve centers in the body (here Bacci sounds a bit like an Eastern-trained massage therapist discussing "chi"), there are other situations where being pain's silent witness does not necessarily assure its removal (think of an exploding bladder or acute gastric distress).

Finally, the reader should not lose sight of the "effort" preceding Bacci's own discovery of effortless living. Sensing that being an academic and a wife forced her to live "roles" at odds with her authentic self, as manifested in crippling physical illnesses, the author simply abandoned both roles in favor of the genuine, healthy person she now is. Others may not find a change this radical either so practical or so effective as the author apparently did.

My life had the usual struggles at work and with relationships from family to the clerk at the Motor Vehicle Department. Those struggles began to change as I read Effortless Living. I began to look at my relationship to the issues that I struggled with. I found that what I was doing that wasn't working was being generated by who I was being. If I was being fearful then I my words or behavior were skewed by the fear that was partnering my experience. Ingrid's book isn't a "how to change" book - rather it's an invitation to become present to what is happening. The awareness that has grown in me during my reading of Effortless Living has transformed my ability to wake up to my repetitive behaviors, see who I'm being and allow transformation to enter my life. The most positive outcome has been letting go of a successful career in New York and moving to Maui to begin a new life that is in line with who I (and my family have grown to be). Like all great teachers, Dr. Bacci doesn't tell us how to be - she leads us to the threshold of our own mind.

There are only a handful of books in my whole life that have made a significant difference-- causing a major shift - a growth spurt. A kind of book that as I read it and even after Im finished I must keep it with me at all times. THE ART OF EFFORTLESS LIVING is that kind of book.

It addressses Fear and identifies how we allow it to paralyze us in so many aspects of our life - work, relationships, health, etc. Dr. Bacci explains the significance of making friends with our Fear rather than having it be our enemy. Thus using Fear to our benefit - to live our lives effortlessly and to its fullest.

Dr. Bacci provides various exericises and techniques that actually result in the releasing of one's fears, thus living a life filled with energy and passion -- not anxiety.

Dr. Bacci's personal experience is incredibly inspiring in itself. As I reader - I feel fortunate she choose to share it. This book has made a major contribution to my life and to those who I have shared it with.

Blending scientific research and case histories from hundreds of clients she has helped, Dr. Bacci shows that the best way to handle stress, frustration and creative blocks is by focusing on relaxing mind and body. The prescription is so simple that you may be tempted to dismiss it--until you try it for yourself and discover that it works. Dr. Bacci makes a very convincing case that by doing less--by focusing on becoming peaceful and calm--you can actually achieve more, whether at work, in sports or in your personal relationships. You can become more effective and more productive while putting out less effort. It seems magical, however there are some very sound scientific principles at work. This is the first book I've come across that explains the science in clear, accessible language. The Art of Effortless Living is an important, inspiring and practical book, with easy-to-follow techniques listed at the end of every chapter. I read it at a time when I was working hard and feeling anxious and frustrated; overnight, with the help of Dr. Bacci's techniques, I learned a new, healthier and far more effective and pleasant way to handle life's challenges.

This is a book that everyone should read. It teaches you to realize how we spend a great deal of effort on many areas in our lives. It makes you understand how to simplify your life by easy steps to take daily. Through this book, I learned how to breath properly and how not to let little things in life stress me out. That is all wasteful and useless. Think "effortlessly" and your life will flow gracefully as you start to realize the wonderful things in your life that you were too filled with effort to notice before. This is one of the best books I've read this year and recommend it to everyone. It's easy to read and understand and it will teach you to live effortlessly and allow you more time to enjoy yourself. Buy it!!!

Among the many emotional, spiritual and healing self-help books available today "The Art of Effortless Living" stands out from others I've read because Ingrid Bacci combines all three with a fresh, experienced and knowledable approach. Since this book is eminently readable I would strongly recommend it not only to those interested in a practical program for healing and personal growth but also as an interesting, thought provoking addition to anyone's reading experience.

America is a land of overworked,overstressed people who believe that the more they do,the more successful they will become.But the truth is just the opposite,according to the author of The Art of Effortless Living.Ingrid Bacci shows readers how to stop being compulsive performers and start leading lives of creativity,fulfillment and health.This book, written by someone who overcame crippling illness,attained radiant health,and is sharing her hard-won knowledge with others,is full of simple, do-able and pleasurable techniques for finding an easier,more meaningful and more successful lifestyle. The writing style is among the clearest that I have ever read,and the anecdotes are wonderfully descriptive.

In "The Art of Effortless Living" Dr. Bacci extends to each of her readers a helping hand with so many of the issues that cause our lives to be an effort. She offers practical suggestions drawn extensively from her own life experiences and shares them with us as she would with a friend. The deep wisdom of her insights reveal a woman of great brilliance and real humanity who has the courage to open herself to the true meaning of healing. We come away enriched and empowered to explore that same healing for ourselves.

Ingrid's book is about learning to live your life from an inner place. A place that allows you to access your inner wisdom and get in touch with feelings and feeling your body. She talks about how we have gotten to a place of stress in our lives and informs us on how to let go of that. She mentions the fact that not only are our minds, thought and actions so stiff and so frozen, but it also effects our health.

I highly recommend this book it is a jewel and will guide you on a new path of effortless living that brings joy and well being into each moment. I hope that she writes another book, her input and the way she writes is like listening to a dear friend who has your best interest in mind. Awesome book, I have highlighted it and will treasure it and go back to it for inspiration many times.