Mindful Loving: 10 Practices for Creating Deeper Connections » (Reprint)

Dr. Henry Grayson is a preeminent psychologist who has spent more than two decades exploring the connections between psychology, physics, and the world's spiritual traditions. The coauthor of three professional works and the bestselling Sounds True audio teaching series on which Mindful Loving is based, he founded and directed the National Institute for Psychotherapies in New York City, and its Center for Spirituality and Psychotherapy. Frequently invited to speak at churches, hospitals, libraries, and professional conferences, he conducts workshops both in America and abroad.

In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Henry Grayson shares his breakthrough techniques for creating deeper and more lasting connections with our loved ones.

Henry Grayson, a psychologist, relationship counselor, psychoanalyst, and former minister who has been working with couples and individuals to improve their relationships for over thirty years, has found that most people are actually more unhappy after marriage counseling or couples therapy. In Mindful Loving he sets aside the traditional methods of therapy to show you how to look at your relationships from a completely different perspective. By getting to the root of our relationship problems, which stem from our thoughts and beliefs and mistaken ideas about our own identities, Grayson creates a whole new framework—one where psychology, spirituality, and science meet—in which to view intimacy. He guides you through ten simple but specific and effective practices and share crucial insight about:

• Breaking the vicious cycle of interaction that traps us in patterns of resentment and isolation

• The six forms of counterfeit “love” and nine barriers to love

• Unblocking the flow of love and choosing love over fear

• Creating a spiritual marriage rather than an ego-based marriage

• The ten empowering characteristics of Empowering Love

Filled with techniques, exercises, meditations, and inspiring case studies, here is an indispensable guide to creating healthy and fulfilling relationships that is destined to become a classic in the field.

Publishers Weekly

Psychologist Grayson here explains why happiness in relationships lies in the ability of the participants to engage in a spiritual marriage, a theory he established in The New Physics of Love, the audio series on which this book is based. During a lecture Grayson attended on the parallels between new physics and ancient mystical thought, he became convinced that mind, energy and matter intimately connect all humans and all living beings together-a concept he deemed to have great consequence for improving relationships. Most marriages are ego-based and characterized by partners who want gratification, pleasure and security from each other, he says; if our desires are not met, we attempt to change our partner's behavior, which can create a downward spiral of disappointment and dissatisfaction. Grayson believes that conflict will dissipate and marriages will grow when husbands and wives surrender their egos. He describes, for example, how a wife's hostile fantasies towards her husband were a factor in his verbal abuse of her. When the woman began to think of her husband as the man she loved, he stopped attacking her with words. Put into practice, a spiritual marriage requires that unconditional love be given without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Included are ten ways to overcome obstacles to achieving a spiritual marriage, including how to change negative core beliefs, unblock the flow of love and meditate to quiet the mind. Although Grayson is obviously sincere, his focus on unconditional love even in the face of abuse may strike some as unrealistic. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.