This post will be a review of the book Body Mind Mastery
by Dan Millman. Within the pages of this
book Millman discusses the importance of a strong mind to a sound body, the
benefit of maintaining a balance between your sport and life, and what he
believes are the secrets to achieving success in your life through your sport
or career. Most of the book draws connections to sports such as golf, tennis or
gymnastics (The author was internationally recognized gymnast in his twenties)
however his ideas are easily applicable to other areas of the reader’s life.
Body Mind Mastery is split into three parts. In the first part Millman discusses what he
believes are the natural laws that the reader needs to follow to stay
balanced. Although his writing is
sometimes abstract there are a lot of good takeaways from this section. It seems the underlying theme of part one is
slow and steady progress, or, progressive overload. He discusses how events in your life are
influenced through mental, physical and emotional pathways and each of these
three must be understood and mastered to achieve long term success. In the second part, Millman’s writing is less
abstract and probably most useful as is the first chapter of the third part
where he goes into depth on methods of practice to help develop the mental,
physical, and emotional skills discussed earlier in the book.
At times Millman’s writing can come off as extreme, for
instance in the third section he discusses the future of sport, citing that
competition is bad and future games will be void of this characteristic. Although it is understandable in context why
he would say this, competition can be a terrific part of sport and life and
often brings out the best in people. It
is important when reading this book that you keep an open mind, don’t get
bogged down in some of the specifics of his writing but instead to take his
concepts and practices for how they can impact your own life.
From his website, peacefulwarrior.com:
"Dan Millman, a
former world champion athlete, coach, martial arts instructor, and college
professor, is author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior (adapted to film in 2006),
and numerous other books read by millions of people in 29 languages. Dan
teaches worldwide and has influenced people from all walks of life, including
leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics,
sports, entertainment and the arts. Dan and his wife, Joy, live in Northern
California. His most recent book is The Four Purposes of Life.”
