The Shaman's Body: A New Shamanism for Transforming Health, Relationships, and the Community [Paperback]

Arnold Mindell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1993

From the author of Dreambody - a pioneering method of using crisis as a dynamic opportunity for accessing our inner world, confronting our fears, and catalyzing self-discovery.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Mindell, the author of Dreambody (1982) and an experienced shaman who has encountered African, Native American, Australian aboriginal, and Indian Hindu healers firsthand, outlines the process of accessing one's "dreambody" and developing a shamanic approach to everyday life. Each chapter wanders freely from modern psychotherapeutic understandings, enriched by Mindell's experiences, to what he learned from traditional cultures; most conclude with exercises to help the reader personally appropriate the teachings. Mindell is especially adept at putting learning from exotic cultures into accessible terms. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Uh-oh!--you're saying--another voguish book on shamanism, one that applies the religion of ecstasy to everything but the breakup of the Soviet Union? What next? The Shaman's Quick Weight-Loss Diet? The Shaman Investor? Total-Quality Shaman? But no, Mindell's is one of the most sober-minded and informed recent books on the subject. He warns us, for instance, that shamanism is not an individualistic search for peak experience but a form of psychic community service. His is an unsentimental, unsensational view of shamanism that emphasizes its challenges rather than its ego-gratifying power. Using the vocabulary of Carlos Castenada's Don Juan books, Mindell discusses shamanism in many aspects of Western life--for instance, in therapy, medicine, and partnering. His strong, mature voice merits wide hearing. Pat Monaghan

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (November 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062506552
• ISBN-13: 978-0062506559
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

See www.aamindell.net to for more about Dr. Arnold Mindell's work in psychology, social and world issues.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful book, even for non-shamanic readers, March 6, 2002

By 

Erin K. Darling "naive cynic" (olympia, wa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shaman's Body: A New Shamanism for Transforming Health, Relationships, and the Community (Paperback)

The sub-title, which contains the phrase "new shamanism" may throw off many readers, but Mindell is definitely not another "shake'n'bake shaman teacher;" _The Shaman's Body_ is an insightful, no-nonsense book which can teach nearly everyone something new about themselves. At the risk of sounding cliche, I'll also say that Mindell brings the mystical into everyday life. His training has been through personal experience with African, Native American, Australian aboriginal, and Hindu teachers, which rounds out his perspective nicely.

Unlike many other authors writing on the subject of shamanism, Mindell doesn't feel like he's commercializing this spirituality - rather, he's simply demystifying it, and bringing it down to a more practical level with the really great exercises he includes. The exercises are, perhaps, the most valuable part of the book, because they allow the reader to take the book's lessons and immediately apply them to his or her own life. The exercises are at once simple and profound, and easily done simply by closing one's eyes and following the easy directions. I found that they lead to powerful insights about myself, body and spirit, and many of them remain in my conscious mind, even though it has been quite awhile since I've performed them.

Mindell also talks about perhaps the most important aspect of shamanism, and that is helping others; after helping you teach yourself *about* yourself, he then beings teaching you how to assist others; "After you have learned to hunt and think about yourself, you study your behavior and dreams and begin to comprehend others. The next step is to leave the banks of the river fromwhich you have been observing and get into the stream."

Always, Mindell insists upon compassion, both for reader, and for others. He does not try to force anything upon the reader, and is only making offerings, suggestions. If an exercise does not feel "right" for some reason, he reminds the reader that it is of course ok not to perform it.

Unlike some other published authors who write about shamanism, I feel Mindell really has his heart in the right place, and has a lot to offer anyone seeking insight into themselves or the world in general.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Follow your heart....., November 9, 2002

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Shaman's Body: A New Shamanism for Transforming Health, Relationships, and the Community (Paperback)

In THE SHAMAN'S BODY, Arnold Mindell suggests how one might find her path of heart, the path of the dreaming body or shaman. Mindell appears to have spent a good deal of his life to working with patients in comas, and/or near death, and others, and in this book he shares some of the experiences that shaped his "reality" or consciousness. Whether you believe one can be a shaman or not, his story is amazing and a great read.

Mindell suggests most people never leave the world of consensus reality--the `ordinary' world. In an age when a plethora of amusements and diversions entertain and/or numb reflective consciousness, the path of heart appears (if it appears at all) as a weird activity at best and downright dangerous at worst. Most folks are terribly unhappy if their world view or version of reality is threatened by conflicting information and so they avoid it where possible. And yet, as one moves through life beliefs continue to be challenged. As one approaches death, a new reality begins to form. The way of the shaman involves suffering. Most of us try to avoid suffering, but no one succeeds. To be alive is to experience pain. My philosophy is this--if you are going to feel the pain anyway, why not let it work for you?

Mindell is a Jungian psychologist, physicist, and process-oriented therapist and teacher working in Portland Oregon. He and his wife Amy have traveled all over the world to met and interact with traditional healers in Africa and Latin America, gurus in India, Zen monks in the far East, and other folks who walk the path of heart. Mindell relates how he found his heart path in Zurich Switzerland where he went to do physics but ended up studying psychology. One afternoon in a café, he casually engaged in a conversation with a fellow customer. After several months of encountering the same fellow at the same café and spending a pleasant afternoon chatting with him, Mindell discovered the man was Jung's grandson and the current head of the Jung Institute. From there Mindell was led to the teachings of Jung, Castenada's Don Juan, and to find his own heart path.

Everyone of us has a spirit guide or Ally. Sometimes the guide communicates via an inner voice, as was the case for Joan of Arc. Sometimes another individual enters your life and becomes the voice of the Ally. Sometimes, the Ally visits you in a dream. If you choose to do so, you can find your own heart path. This is a great book and I highly recommend it, especially if you work a 12-step program.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shamanism in the Western World, December 22, 1999

By 

"nonickname3" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shaman's Body: A New Shamanism for Transforming Health, Relationships, and the Community (Paperback)

A very good book. In the past I have had to switch between books on shamanism/indigenous wisdom and the best of Western Psychology(mostly Jungian). Arnold Mindell embraces both traditions as successfully as anyone I've read. He has lived both worlds and it comes across in the book. He speaks eloquently of his experiences with indigenous peoples without falling too far into the "grass is greener on the other side" approach. More anecdotal than "Dreambody." This is refreshing, but I was glad to have read "Dreambody," which goes into his theories in more depth. In The Shaman's Body there are experiences described which I personally related to. He gets it! He writes from the frontlines of change and his urgency is encouraging, though sometimes I feel he slips just a bit into pessimism. However, I will definitely buy more of his books.