Customer Reviews

Working on Yourself Alone: Inner Dreambody Work (Arkana)

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In Working On Yourself Alone, Arnold Mindell applies the insights from Process-Oriented Psychology to meditation and personal awareness. You will find him drawing heavily on Eastern traditions and wisdom, as he makes the case that through following our own inner process we can discover our natural meditation practice that will at times include proprioceptive (body) work, auditory focus, artwork, breathing, etc. I found the book very practically useful both as a student of meditation and as a student of process work. I liked it because it gave me insight into HOW TO burn my wood and trusting my own process (even becoming conscious of what wood there is for me to burn). In contrast to Leader as Martial Artist or Sitting in the Fire, Working on Yourself Alone focuses much more narrowly on personal applications of PW.

This is one book that will stay in my collection.. Although not a comprehensive guide to the soul or meditation, it does bring to light some very interesting / useful concepts and techniques. IIRC, Mindell attempts to combine the best of both eastern and western psychology. His chapter on "Edges" was particularly interesting and helped me to become more aware of who I am. It is definitely worth a read-through. But, IMHO, classic 'psychology' does not work at all. For most people, the root causes of most problems within are: rebelling against what you "know" is right & good, selfishness, and resentment. Namasté..