Customer Reviews

The Power of Flow: Practical Ways to Transform Your Life with Meaningful Coincidence

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have read many books which are directly about or recount examples of synchronicity and this is the one that absolutely resonated with my life experiences. If you cannot figure out why sometimes everything just clicks into place and why sometimes roadblocks show up at every turn AND you are willing to accept responsibility for the way your fears, prejudices, hopes, beliefs, experiences and dreams control the flow of your life, then this is the book for you. This book shows you how to assimilate key principles of self-awareness, self-love, trust, acceptance, gratitude, and responsiblity in very practical ways. If the exercises are done correctly they begin a very intense, honest, and ongoing self-examination of everything you hold dear or fear in this life. If you are ready to take the risk of coming face to face with who you truly are as a person, then buy this book. The benefit is that you become much surer of who you are, clearer on what you want from life and more directed on how you need to accomplish it. This book rates as one of the most valuable books I've ever purchased.

March 1, 2011: I am re-reading this book as I have done periodically over the years. I just noticed something today on page 24 that I just wanted to note. There is a partial quote at the bottom of page 24 (softcover) that reads "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' This quote in the book is incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela but is in fact a quote from US author Marianne Williamson. The full quote can be found in Marianne Williamson's book "A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles (1992)". This small error aside (which can be verified on WikiQuotes) I still rate this book as one of the most valuable I have ever purchased.

It is about time someone wrote about synchronicity and flow in clear, lucid language, that can be used by anyone. The authors use great, funny (and sometimes) exhilirating examples of individuals who experience flow and synchronicity in day-to-day life. What is neat is that these examples come from their own research and interviews with "FlowMasters." In comparison to other books I have read on the topic (Jung, Csikszentmihalyi, Jaworksi), this is the most accessible. The exercises are an added bonus. You could create your own spiritual retreat using this book.

What I loved most about this book was its hands-on approach to unleashing the flow in your own life. After clearly explaining the intellectual underpinnings of their concept, the authors gently guide the reader with exercises and techniques that begin simply and grow in involvement as you move along. It's a great way to bring spiritual order and connectedness to your life, even if you don't think you can. I recommend it highly for anyone looking to transform their inner and outer worlds.

THE BOOK HELD MY INTEREST FROM START TO FINISH. IT OPENED MY EYES TO THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE MY FUTURE AND HELPED ME TO RECOGNIZE THE INCREDIBLE "COINCIDENTS" THAT HAVE SHAPED MY LIFE. NOW I AM SENSITIVE TO EVENTS IN A NEW WAY. MY LIFE IS RICHER FOR IT. I LOVED THE BOOK AND ENJOY RE-READING IT BY OPENING THE BOOK AND READING A PAGE AT RANDOM. I KEEP FINDING NEW THINGS IN IT.

This is the only really practical book on synchronicity published so far.

There are other fine - even brilliant - books on the subject, but if you're looking for a veritable "manual" on synchronicity, this is the one you want.

I have read many books on the topic of synchronicity, from Jung to the latest business guru who claims to have hit the jackpot of "flow," but this book gives practical, real-life exercises to bring the true "power" of flow into your life. And the book offers real stories from people who have harnessed the power! The authors really must have done a lot of research in gathering all these personal accounts!

From the moment I picked this book up, I was enthralled with it. The inlimited potential that awaits us is the destination and purpose of "flow". I've been working with my own resistance to life and creativity and was thrilled to discover that flow is what we join when we stop resisting and judging our experiences.

I highly recommend this book to anyone....It is universal!

I don't think this books was poorly written, as the 1-star reviewer did. But the whole flow/synchronicity angle is questionable, at best, and as the authors present it, it has about as much credibility as "crystal power," or pick-your-new-age-pabulum. Perhaps my problem is that I was expecting something less fluffy and new-agey.

The book relies heavily on anecdotes to show the power of flow, but they seem--to me--little more than the sort of fortuitous coincidences that we all occasionally experience. Many of the anecdotes illustrate coincidences that are similar, but beyond that similarity apparently meaningless. The authors' suggestion that we can make meaning out of anything we want to is, of course, silly.

I tried some of the exercises, and did not find them particularly effective. Nor did I notice fewer or more synchronicities in my life...coincidences happen, whether I will them to or not.

Some of the sections of this book are so empty of substance that I wonder how they got past an editor. The chapter on divination, for instance--there is nothing there but the broadest imagineable survey of different divination systems like astrology, tarot, I Ching...nothing about how to use them, of course.

Your mileage may vary. If you dig the whole new age angle in your self-improvement books, you might love this.

The Power of Flow is an inspiring and wonderful guide for everyday life. Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom clearly and concisely show how synchronicity--the interconnectedness of events in our lives-- helps define the flow--how everything fits together in our lives. They provide the keys to how all us can tap into ourselves and our intuition and find meaning and learning from all the events and people in our lives, helping us all to become flowmasters--the people for whom everything just 'magically' falls into place. This is not a book to read once. It's a book to refer back to every day of our lives.

Despite the attendant new agey inclinations, I would like to say that most of the stuff in this book are really worth exploring. There are fourteen practical techniques based on indepth interviews with fifty people who had lived at high levels of flow.

Personally, and through adaptation and experimentation, I have played with varied forms of most of the techniques.

To read this book, and apply the stuff, one must approach it with an open and curious mind. A sense of discovery and anticipation certainly helps. As an engineer trained with a logical and analytical mindset, I can well understand the fears and apprehension of many readers, as well as the cynicism of some early reviewers.

Synchronicity is hard to explain. It's also hard to prove its existence but it exists, whether you like it or not. To me, sometimes it's better not to intellectualise it. Just go with the flow.

Over the many years running my own business, and doing what I love and loving what I do, I have personally "engineered" the many flow moments described in this book. The fruits have been very rewarding and fulfilling.

I believe in the motto: No venture, No Gain. Life is a daring adventure, or nothing (according to Helen Keller).