BOOK REVIEW:

by 
Louise Hay

Publisher: Hay House Inc.

Reviewed by Remy Benoit 

Louise Hay reminds us that there is no "one teacher", no "one path" on the journey to our True Selves; that like life, we are always growing and becoming more of ourselves. She asks us to take ourselves beyond the programmed guidelines that were, and often are, still given to us as women and find our own inner self-worth and self-esteem.

Like so many others, Louise Hay acknowledges that it will take powerful women, women balanced with the power of journeying males, both open to the acceptance of the unlimited knowledge of the Universe, to find a new path of real equality, and to honor each other, and the planet. This book, which is one of her many, helps empower women.

She quotes a 1950 Home Economics book to point out the conditioning of women to a place of subservience in which feminine energy is extended to masculine comfort; this is another part of a culture, as she puts it, that conditions women that to be "good" they must be of service to others, always pushing their own needs into the background.

I know that Home Economics book well; it was the one used in my school.

Ms. Hay gives us instruction in how to use that so difficult word "no" when more is asked than we can healthily give.

Yet, she does not engage in, nor advocate, current "male bashing", indeed, speaks out directly against it, while saying that the conditioning and role playing that men have been asked to live out must be re-evaluated.

Louise asks us to get beyond the feelings of "not good enough" that so many of us have been conditioned to live out, and to recognize our own self-worth; to see ourselves as worthy, more than good enough, despite all the forces in our culture, including advertising, that make us hypercritical of ourselves.

She recognizes the great power of our words, our thoughts in the tradition of Buddha, James Allen, Napoleon Hill, Drs. Wayne Dyer, and Deepak Chopra; that our thoughts, our words, become our lives, and our bodies.

Ms. Hay speaks of Candice Pert’s work with neuropeptides, chemical messages transmitted through the body with a word, a thought; the body/mind connection.

Forgiveness, love, healing, giving thanks to the Universe are all discussed as necessary components of self-esteem. Topics from sexuality, aging, through health and finance are engaged, from the perspective of "why do I believe that I believe about these things?" Exercises, meditations, affirmations,and a healthy diet of positive thoughts are presented to help with the process.

The most important guideline provided by Ms. Hay is the recognition that:

• With the smallest positive change in your thinking you can begin to unravel the biggest problem.

• When you ask the right questions of Life, Life will answer.

• Real change does not occur overnight: it is a step by step process if it is to be at a heart and soul level.

Empowering Women in paperback form is a small book filled with powerful ideas that will change your life.

Happy reading!