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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An effective and inspiring guide to freeing skiers from fear, November 25, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Inner Skiing: Revised Edition (Paperback)
I have been reading this book for about twenty years(first publication was November 1977); it was the first of two Inner Game books which, although differing in details, both transformed my attitude to and my performance in the sports I love. I was fortunate to have been given it by a patient who was an Inner Game instructor (or rather, facilitator). If Inner Skiing has only now (1997) become widely available, thanks to the Internet, a generation of British skiers has lost out; for years it has been available only in the USA and to members of Inner Game workshops. With examples from life and from Inner Skiing workshops which are encouraging, inspiring, and often emotionally touching, the book helps skiers of all standards to confront their fears and to tap into the mind's and the body's unconscious store of knowledge and skills; the fears of "flying", falling, speed, injury, failure, and the fear of looking stupid; the knowledge locked into Gallwey's Self 2, a Self which, he teaches us, is ours too. Where his Self 1 is trying, tense, unsure, scared and controlling, Self 2 is free, relaxed, effortless, powerful, and instinctive. Gallwey and his co-author Bob Kriegel, a more experienced skier than he and a psychologist, equip their readers with simple but highly effective keys to Self 2, enabling us increasingly to find in skiing the exhilaration of the breakthrough run, and unlocking the confidence without which the sport can be an exercise in anxiety. Most of us in the UK only get to ski once a year. I reread Inner Skiing annually as an essential pre-ski exercise, and if I don't read every word I never fail to take a dose of inspiration from the paragraph in the last chapter which begins "Inside us all is a mountain with no top and no bottom. The skiing there is perfect. The snow is made of pure peace and there is not a trace of Self 1 interference.................Skiing this inner mountain has the power to satisfy the human longing to know oneself and the reason for which one was born." You may guess from this that Timothy Gallwey's is the inner game of life, with applications far beyond the realms of sport, as his other writing attests. Dr. Basil Lee, London, England.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
26 years of skiing, 6 teaching, and this book is #1, February 10, 2002
This review is from: Inner Skiing: Revised Edition (Paperback)
I rad Inner Skiing about 6-7 years ago, and it changed my skiing life. Most everything written about skiing (and other sports, as far as I can tell) is about technique, tricks, how-to's and so on. Inner Skiing is about being a skier - about the fundamental relationship we have to the snow, the mountain, the skis and ourselves. Discovering who I am as a skier (and what my fears, my doubts, my anxieties look like) have exploded this sport for me. This book works on the emotional, intellectual and physical levels - I use the discovery tools on myself, and with my students, and get incredible results. Even if you don't ski, this book is great - I've used some of his approaches in many areas of my life. They're fun, they're doable, and they help me focus on what's really there, not what I imagine. And beyond that, they open up incredible opportunities to play, explore and have a great time on the slopes or off. The earlier edition of the book poo-pood technique - I don't agree with that, and my sense is the book took a bit of a hit for that. There's things to learn about skiing, and taking lessons from a great instructor will make a huge difference whether it's your first day or you've been at it for decades. Nonetheless, I recommend this as book #1 for anyone who wants to ski, or who wants something more from their skiing. ANd for the instructors out there - read it!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Six stars for this classic, March 20, 2008
This review is from: Inner Skiing: Revised Edition (Paperback)
I received the first edition as a present at Christmas 1977 from my mother, a pioneering 1940's skier who hung up her skis long ago. I had just come from living 2 years in Grenoble and I was a pretty good "technique" skier. I looked at the title and cover, thought to myself "Oh great, more Zen mumbo jumbo from the 'hot tub - peacock feathers - I'm so into myself' set", thanked her politely, and shoved the book into my ski dufflebag and promptly forgot about it. A few weeks later, I was eating breakfast in my little Tahoe cabin, and I cracked the book open and read the first twenty pages. Those pages resonated with me all day on the slopes -- when I got home, I spent the entire evening and half the night with the book. As other reviewers have said, it forever changed my skiing life and even spilled over into my "real" world life as well. Since this book really is "Zen and the Art of Skiing", I'll stop here because the first rule of Zen is it cannot be explained in words, only in the doing. In the past 30 years, I have given this book as a gift several times, with always the same rather earth-shaking positive reaction. I'm here at Amazon to pick up a copy for my teenage son (can't find my old dog-eared copy, but it's around somewhere). I recommend this book for any age and any level of skiing, from beginner to "everyone watches when s/he comes down the hill". If you're a beginner, you'll avoid a lot of "noise" in getting to the pleasure of skiing. If you're an expert, you'll marvel at how much additional pleasure you can get from skiing just by eliminating some baggage. And, like me, you'll become an Inner Skiing evangelist, spreading this book around like Johnny Skiing-seed. Buy the book -- you're in for a real treat!
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