You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. HayMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I would really rate this a 3½. To me this is a 'marketing' book: a coalition of many books and writings by Louise Hay, and refers often to a course she runs called 'A Course in Miracles.'
I knew a great deal of this content already as I read a lot of self-help and personal development books. I have also worked through Mirror Work by Louise Hay, which provides more in depth help with 'loving yourself' and would be much more helpful than this book for achieving that.
For someone not having read or worked with any of Louise Hay's other books and courses, this book might be a little overwhelming, and also a little patronising as it assumes a lot about the reader. It tells the reader where they are 'wrong' and how they need to change what they believe and how they think, without in depth detail about how they should go about making that change, only generalising and touching on things, mentioning what would happen in one of the 'A Course in Miracles' sessions. It also puts it all across as though it is a really simple thing to do, when it is not, and it takes a lot of work and self-reflection to do.
It also promotes Louise Hay's own beliefs, about the world and universe, which to me should also be a choice and can be very individual. I do not believe in a single all-powerful being, and I don't believe for a second that we 'choose our parents'. I do however believe that we are born into a family/life that will teach us the lessons we need to learn in this life and they will keep repeating until we understand and learn them. But what I believe about religion or spirituality may not work for another person. I felt it wasn't a necessary addition to this book and had no bearing on what Louise was trying to impart. However, I do believe that we have the power of choice and can change our lives and our thinking by what we choose to focus on and what we believe about ourselves and our life situations. But I think a lot of people would struggle with this book if they didn't subscribe to Louise's personal beliefs which she repeats often.
That being said there is a lot in this book for people that have already done a great deal of reading on these topics and a lot of work and just want to know more about how they can treat their physical problems through emotional and mental practice, as it explains how some emotional struggles can manifest in physical form in the body.
I would recommend other books by Louise Hay's, such as Mirror Work, and by other authors like Wayne Dyer and Katherine Woodward Thomas before looking at this book. To me it was a sort of 'gathering' of all her beliefs and ideas in a simplified form.
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