'The Untethered Soul' by Michael Singer - Book Impressions ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

My Impressions:

This book is about:

Noticing the voice in your head and sitting in your Seat of Consciousness as the non-judgmental witness/observer. It is about adding the dimension of joy and happiness to what you do - and reminding yourself of the importance of this, as you never know when death will come calling.

I decided to read this book because:

 I heard Michael being interviewed on a Podcast and was intrigued.

What I liked:

• The repetition ensured I gleaned the main points
• Each chapter built on the previous one and developed the themes
• Although I have read many books on mindfulness, it was nice to hear it from Michael’s perspective and in his own words

What I didn’t like:

I would like to have seen more up-to-date, relevant key references

How the book is organised:

• It has 5 parts: Awakening Consciousness ; Experiencing Energy; Freeing Yourself; Going Beyond, and; Living Life.
• There are then 3-5 chapters in each part.
• The writing style is conversational and flowing.

I would recommend this book to:

• Anyone with an interest in quieting the voice in their head
• Anyone who feels they are on a treadmill of drudgery and wants to bring more joy and happiness to what they are doing
• Those who enjoy spiritual books
• Those who want to engage in some self-reflection

This is a book worth returning to again and again. Each time you read it, you will notice something applicable to the life you are leading at this moment. 

One action I took as a result of reading this book:

I made the theme of my New Year's Resolution in 2025 to walk the 'middle road'. The middle road is the path without extremes. It is the path of balance - the "middle way". For example, I love to travel. The middle road means travelling for some of the time, and the remainder of the time being at home, as opposed to constantly on the move.

10 of my favourite takeaways:

1. Be the watcher of the voice inside your head and know that you are not the voice.   Notice how much of what it says isn’t true or even important. Avoid getting caught up in the emotional energy or drama created by your inner voice.

2. Your experience of the world is not the true reality - it is only your reality, your interpretation. Someone else can see the same situation in a totally different way.

3. You have 2 parts to your inner being.  The first is the awareness: this is you as the watcher/observer.  The second is the part that you watch: this is your “roommate", the incessant chatterer, the voice inside your head.

4. If you learn to quieten your roommate, you will experience peace and serenity.

5. You have energy centres inside you which you can consciously open or close.  The heart is one of them. When it is open, you will feel enthused and energised. Your energy centres go by many names: Chakras, Chi, Spirit, and Shakti. 

6. When you close your energy centres, the energy can’t be released.  It gets stored as a Samskara, which captures the energy, feelings, thoughts, and details of an event, both negative and positive, in a bubble.  This bubble can be triggered at any time and will replay the event until you learn to keep your energy centre open to release it.

7. Don’t live your life fearing the potential negative scenarios that you have built up in your mind. 

8. The only choice you have to make in life is: do you want to be happy, or not?  Once you have made your choice, the path you follow becomes much easier. Find some joy in the experiences, good and bad, that you encounter.

9. Don’t make your happiness conditional upon the behaviour of other people.  Find it for yourself. 

10. Live your life the middle way - this is the 'way of the center'.  This way avoids the extremes at either end.  If you live your life in the center, then you will live a harmonious, balanced life.

10 of my favourite quotes:

Note: The square brackets have been added by me to give clarity and context.

“To be aware that you are watching the voice talk [the one inside your head] is to stand on the threshold of a fantastic inner journey.” (p.13)

“To obtain true inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in them.” (p.16)

“Everybody knows you can’t deal well with a situation if you’re getting anxious, scared, or angry about it.  The first problem you have to deal with is your own reaction.” (p.16)

“If you would like to meet your roommate, just try to sit inside yourself for a while in complete solitude and silence….. But instead of finding silence, you’re going to listen to incessant chatter…[your roommate]” (p.17)

“What would it be like if your awareness didn’t exist?  It’s actually pretty simple - you wouldn’t be there……there would be no sense of ‘me’.  …. There would no longer be an awareness of being.  And without awareness of being, or consciousness, there is nothing.” (p.28)

“..the only thing you really want from life is to feel enthusiasm, joy and love.  …if you can always feel excited about the experience of the moment, then it doesn’t make any difference what the experience is.  …learn to stay open no matter what happens. If you do, you get for free what everybody else is struggling for: love, enthusiasm, excitement and energy.  …be open [in your energy centres] no matter what.” (p.46)

“The most important thing in life is your inner energy.  If you’re always tired and never enthused, then life is no fun.  But if you’re always inspired and filled with energy, then every minute of every day is an exciting experience.” (p.47)

“In the yogic tradition, that unfinished energy pattern is called a Samskara.  This is a Sanskrit word meaning “impression…”  A Samskara is a blockage, an impression from the past.  It’s an unfinished energy pattern that ends up running your life.” (p.53) “A Samskara is actually programmed with the specific details of the event that could not pass through.” Including your sensitivity about it.” (p.55)

“If you want to be free [from closing down] then every time you feel any change in the energy flow, relax behind it.  Don’t fight with it, don’t try to change it, and don’t judge it. …. You have to let them all go.” (p.64)

“In order to grow, you must give up the struggle to remain the same, and learn to embrace change at all times……  Real transformation begins when you embrace your problems as agents for growth.” (p.81)

If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy my other book impressions.

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