There is no better time than the present. Eckhart Tolles The Power of Now shows you how to move past pain, stress and anxiety with the help of ancient teachings and modern thought designed to balance your life by living it moment to moment.

The Power of Now is author Eckhart Tolles first book, but it made quite a splash when it appeared in the late 90s. It quickly built momentum and has since been translated into 33 languages and sold three million copies in North America alone. Now Tolle is one of the most popular spiritual authors out there, and he is constantly referenced in other books with interviews or excerpts. Inside the book youll find lessons and teachings from spiritual leaders, exercises for maintaining presence in the moment, and approaches to meditation that dont get hung up on mere positive thinking.

This book is for people who feel stuck in their past, people who cant get out of their own head, and people who feel like theyre waiting around for happiness to come to them. Its also for those that catch themselves complaining too often, and those that feel constant anxiety or worry on the daily. If you have interest in meditation as a practice, or have never tried it but want some of the benefits, this book might be right up your alley. This book is probably not ideal for people who have no interest in zen teachings, think meditation is silly (its really not), or find little value in philosophical lessons.

The book focuses on one major subject: how to be consciously present in the moment and what that can do for you in your everyday life. Youll find some exercises and examples as you go that can help you understand the concepts more and put them into practice. The book isnt terribly short, so here is some of what youll learn:

Its also important to mention how this book is structured. There are chapters, just like any other book, but the chapters are broken up into different questions being asked by an assumed proxy of the reader (as if youre at a presentation and Tolle is taking questions). Sometimes its a question youre already thinking as you read, and other times its not something youd think of asking at all. Its probably to your benefit to read every section, but if you feel you have a good understanding of what is being communicated, its not the worst thing to skip a section because you already get it.

There is also a symbol that shows up throughout the book. When you see it, youre meant to take a break from reading and stop to let what youve just read sink in, or practice an exercise. I took the breaks for every exercise and for every section that contained something I had never thought of before. It was helpful in understanding each lesson, personally. Whether you choose to take those breaks, is entirely up to you, but I will say that this isnt the kind of book you want to rush through anyway.

Its easy to get stuck dwelling on the past. Maybe you had a bad breakup, lost a job, or simply wish something had gone another way. Even worse, you might sit around waiting for the future to come along and save you. You hope that someone will find you, a great job will come knocking on your door, or things will just get better somehow. Combine both of those thought processes and suddenly the present moment in front of you has lost all of its value. To truly move on from your past and take control of your future, you have to take them out of your mind and focus on what you can do right now. Tolle suggests to only approach your past and future on the level of the present moment:

Whatever you need to know about the unconscious past in you, the challenges of the present will bring it out. If you delve into the past, it will become a bottomless pit: There is always more.

You dont want to deny your past or blow off your future, you just want to reach for them as tools when you need them instead:

Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.

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The Power Of Now: A Meditative Approach To Living In The Moment