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ell_jay_em7's review
2.0
DNF. Just couldn't get into this book. The author makes some pretty problematic offhand statements (like comparing herself to Christopher Columbus and questioning someone's self-identification of their sexuality). Her search for something to believe in seems genuine, which is why I stuck with it so long, but in the end I just wasn't that into the book. Maybe I'll try again some other time.
hikingineer's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
It is surprising the author expected to find God in single instance of trying a new practice. It is like expecting to lose weight after one gym session. It felt that the primary reason for this journey was to write a book. There was some good content in the book and good humor too. Overall, i enjoyed it. Hence, bumping 2.75ish to 3.5.
poorlenore's review
5.0
Wow, this book was way better than I originally expected. I picked it up at the library because I myself am also on a spiritual quest of sorts and thought perhaps she had learned the answers to life, the universe and everything. While she didn't have the concrete answer to God she did project the overarching theme of goodness, compassion and curiosity. This book left me with a feeling of hope and also some interesting ideas to look into further.
heykellyjensen's review
This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it absolutely delighted me. The book begins when Anjali decides she wants to find "something to believe in" following the birth of her daughter. After not growing up with a religious faith, she decided to pursue a wild array of different spiritual beliefs over the course of a year -- which becomes much more than a year -- in order to see what it is people find in these things that gives them a connection to the spiritual. These are not quests of different religious faiths; they're unorthodox approaches to spirituality and this distinction is important (and ultimately why I liked this so much).
Kumar is quite skeptical in her quests, but never once does she knock the beliefs. She's skeptical without being cruel and when she leans in, she leans in. Her takeaways are not about laughing yoga or Burning Man or seeing a shaman or meeting with the woman whose hugs are purported to cure all ills. Rather, her takeaways are about the importance of coming into your own, believing in yourself, and believing in whatever it is that gives you a sense of grounding, of connection to others, and to feeling like there's a bigger world out there, however that looks and feels.
The final part of the book digs into the idea of Nones: how many of us in the US don't subscribe to a specific religion but are instead either deeply spiritual, somewhat spiritual, or not at all spiritual. That this number is so large is part of why many of these "unorthodox" means of seeking enlightenment are so fascinating and appealing.
I'm not religious but am deeply spiritual. I find my footing in nature and in the sutras of yoga (which, of course, are not my own nor are they a religious belief system -- they're a set of guidelines for things to do for the world and things to restrict from yourself). So spiritual journeys like Kumar's really mirror much of my own in terms of wanting something and coming to the ultimate realization that the ideal thing for me is just letting myself find what I need, where I need it, and when I need it.
This was especially good in light of Anjali not being a white lady on a quest; we've been there and done that.
Kumar is quite skeptical in her quests, but never once does she knock the beliefs. She's skeptical without being cruel and when she leans in, she leans in. Her takeaways are not about laughing yoga or Burning Man or seeing a shaman or meeting with the woman whose hugs are purported to cure all ills. Rather, her takeaways are about the importance of coming into your own, believing in yourself, and believing in whatever it is that gives you a sense of grounding, of connection to others, and to feeling like there's a bigger world out there, however that looks and feels.
The final part of the book digs into the idea of Nones: how many of us in the US don't subscribe to a specific religion but are instead either deeply spiritual, somewhat spiritual, or not at all spiritual. That this number is so large is part of why many of these "unorthodox" means of seeking enlightenment are so fascinating and appealing.
I'm not religious but am deeply spiritual. I find my footing in nature and in the sutras of yoga (which, of course, are not my own nor are they a religious belief system -- they're a set of guidelines for things to do for the world and things to restrict from yourself). So spiritual journeys like Kumar's really mirror much of my own in terms of wanting something and coming to the ultimate realization that the ideal thing for me is just letting myself find what I need, where I need it, and when I need it.
This was especially good in light of Anjali not being a white lady on a quest; we've been there and done that.
nicolet2018's review against another edition
3.0
I resonated with what the author was trying to answer. I heard her first on the Women of Impact podcast and was drawn to the book title. I felt that while her voice was candid, awkward, skeptical and relatable, I was bored at times. I find that non fiction books tend to lose my interest quickly and I can't immerse myself into them like fiction. I did like how she approaches the journey in a routine and structured way and realises that it won't work this way.
I, like her would be very skeptical if I came across the people she met. How can you believe in something you can't see? I was intimidated when I saw people being so devoted.
I liked how she tries to "science" it out by thinking about how these experiences might be explained through research and fact instead of occurring because some divine being, force or other world. I do applaud her for her commitment and her daughters observations were very cute. She did try a range of experiences which surprised me.
I didn't think SoulCycle could ever be seen as religious and Wiccans always make me think of witches. As media has shown to us. Initially, I thought that she travelled around the world to all the places she mentioned in the chapters but modern technology allows us to connect through Skype, messaging services or the Internet. I found it rather unauthentic how even spiritual and faith healers have websites and they accept credit cards.
I like how she ends the book by telling us that we are all the same: we wish for health, happiness and love and we should be more tolerant of one another.
Some of the quotes I found interesting were:
"Simply attending religious services more than once a week lowers the death rate for women from any cause-including heart disease and cancer-by a whopping 33 percent. And the more you go to religious services, the better your chances of sticking around. The researchers didn't measure the level of commitment to god or religion or whether attendees actually believed in anything-they just looked at the health benefits of those who showed up."
Page 35-36, Chapter 2: Paramji (Tantric Sound Healing), Ojai, California
"I started wondering about how real the hope offered by religion actually is. That of course led me to dissect the mechanisms driving hope in general, which led me to read far more than I had ever wanted to about brain chemistry. The fact is, hopefulness and heightened expectations raise the dopamine levels in our brain, and elevated dopamine-whatever its source-alters our brain in a way that makes us feel good."
Page 48-49, Chapter 3: SoulCycle, Tribeca, NYC
"And of course, religious and spiritual experiences can incite a dopamine spike as well. The fact that hope is a big part of what religion sells and that spiritual experiences raise dopamine levels introduces the unsettling possibility that the feelings of spirituality, immortality, deep conviction and faith-and even a belief in miracles-that arise from religious experiences and interactions with faith healers actually indicate a chemically altered brain rather than anything 'godly'."
Page 50, Chapter 3: SoulCycle, Tribeca, NYC
"Part of me still wants to have blind faith. Not to believe in me and the powers that I conjure but rather to relinquish myself, to have faith in a supreme being or supreme force outside of my control. There is just something appealing about feeling small in a big universe and having that be okay."
Page 73, Chapter 4: Wicca, West Village, NYC
"It seems that it's always the same: the staunch believers are pitted against the staunch non believers, with no way for the rest of us to discern the truth."
Page 115, Chapter 5: Patrick the Healer and a Reibaishi, Goa, India and Kyoto, Japan
"I will never know for sure if Fay or anyone else can actually talk to the dead, but I do know that believing they can has a powerful effect.
It is called the placebo shaman effect and it serves as a source of superhuman strength for all of us.
The only prerequisite is that we believe.
It is not what I hoped to discover when I started looking for answers, but it appears to be true."
Page 98, Chapter 6: The "Dirty" Medium (Convening with the Dead, Toronto, Canada, and Tribeca, NYC
"The idea is that dwelling on and assigning negative value to past performance can hinder our performance going forward. This means that while we can't change the fact-he hit the ball into the rough-we can change how we experience it, which in turn changes future behavior, responses and outcomes."
Page 164, Chapter 11: Vipassana Meditation, Barre, Massachusetts
I, like her would be very skeptical if I came across the people she met. How can you believe in something you can't see? I was intimidated when I saw people being so devoted.
I liked how she tries to "science" it out by thinking about how these experiences might be explained through research and fact instead of occurring because some divine being, force or other world. I do applaud her for her commitment and her daughters observations were very cute. She did try a range of experiences which surprised me.
I didn't think SoulCycle could ever be seen as religious and Wiccans always make me think of witches. As media has shown to us. Initially, I thought that she travelled around the world to all the places she mentioned in the chapters but modern technology allows us to connect through Skype, messaging services or the Internet. I found it rather unauthentic how even spiritual and faith healers have websites and they accept credit cards.
I like how she ends the book by telling us that we are all the same: we wish for health, happiness and love and we should be more tolerant of one another.
Some of the quotes I found interesting were:
"Simply attending religious services more than once a week lowers the death rate for women from any cause-including heart disease and cancer-by a whopping 33 percent. And the more you go to religious services, the better your chances of sticking around. The researchers didn't measure the level of commitment to god or religion or whether attendees actually believed in anything-they just looked at the health benefits of those who showed up."
Page 35-36, Chapter 2: Paramji (Tantric Sound Healing), Ojai, California
"I started wondering about how real the hope offered by religion actually is. That of course led me to dissect the mechanisms driving hope in general, which led me to read far more than I had ever wanted to about brain chemistry. The fact is, hopefulness and heightened expectations raise the dopamine levels in our brain, and elevated dopamine-whatever its source-alters our brain in a way that makes us feel good."
Page 48-49, Chapter 3: SoulCycle, Tribeca, NYC
"And of course, religious and spiritual experiences can incite a dopamine spike as well. The fact that hope is a big part of what religion sells and that spiritual experiences raise dopamine levels introduces the unsettling possibility that the feelings of spirituality, immortality, deep conviction and faith-and even a belief in miracles-that arise from religious experiences and interactions with faith healers actually indicate a chemically altered brain rather than anything 'godly'."
Page 50, Chapter 3: SoulCycle, Tribeca, NYC
"Part of me still wants to have blind faith. Not to believe in me and the powers that I conjure but rather to relinquish myself, to have faith in a supreme being or supreme force outside of my control. There is just something appealing about feeling small in a big universe and having that be okay."
Page 73, Chapter 4: Wicca, West Village, NYC
"It seems that it's always the same: the staunch believers are pitted against the staunch non believers, with no way for the rest of us to discern the truth."
Page 115, Chapter 5: Patrick the Healer and a Reibaishi, Goa, India and Kyoto, Japan
"I will never know for sure if Fay or anyone else can actually talk to the dead, but I do know that believing they can has a powerful effect.
It is called the placebo shaman effect and it serves as a source of superhuman strength for all of us.
The only prerequisite is that we believe.
It is not what I hoped to discover when I started looking for answers, but it appears to be true."
Page 98, Chapter 6: The "Dirty" Medium (Convening with the Dead, Toronto, Canada, and Tribeca, NYC
"The idea is that dwelling on and assigning negative value to past performance can hinder our performance going forward. This means that while we can't change the fact-he hit the ball into the rough-we can change how we experience it, which in turn changes future behavior, responses and outcomes."
Page 164, Chapter 11: Vipassana Meditation, Barre, Massachusetts
ootoom's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Really fun read, and had a lot to say about the nature of spirituality.