You Can Heal Your Life Paperback - Illustrated,1 Jan 1984

by Louise L. Hay

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

About the author

Louise Hay was born to a poor mother who married Hay's violent stepfather. When she was about five, she was raped by a neighbor. At fifteen she dropped out of high school without a diploma, became pregnant, and on her sixteenth birthday gave up her newborn baby girl for adoption.

She moved to Chicago, where she worked in menial jobs, before moving in 1950 to New York. At this point she changed her name and began a career as a fashion model. She was successful at this, working for Bill Blass, Oleg Cassini, and Pauline Trigere.

In 1954, she married Andrew Hay, but after fourteen years of marriage Louise was devastated when Andrew left her for another woman.

Hay said that she found the First Church of Religious Science on 48th Street, which taught the transformative power of thought. Hay revealed that here she studied the metaphysical works of authors like Florence Scovel Shinn and the Religious Science founder Ernest Holmes.

In the early 1970's Hay became a Religious Science practitioner. In this role she led people in spoken affirmations meant to cure their illnesses. She also became popular as a workshop leader.

She studied transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at his university in Fairfield, Iowa.

In 1977 or 1978 she found she had cervical cancer, and she concluded that its cause was her unwillingness to let go of resentment over her childhood abuse and rape. She refused medical treatment, and began a regimen of forgiveness, therapy, reflexology, nutrition, and occasional enemas, and claims she rid herself of the cancer. She declared that there is no doctor left who can confirm this story, but swore that it is true.

In 1976 Hay wrote a small pamphlet, which came to be called "Heal Your Body." This pamphlet was enlarged and extended into her book You Can Heal Your Life, which was published in 1984. As of February 2008, it is still on the New York Times best sellers list.

Around the same time she began leading support groups for people living with H.I.V. or AIDS that she called Hay Rides. These grew from a few people in her living room to hundreds in a large hall in West Hollywood. Her work with AIDS patients drew fame and she was invited to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Donahue" in the same week in March, 1988.

You Can Heal Your Life immediately landed on the New York Times Best Sellers List. More than 35 million copies are now in print around the world in more than 30 languages and has been made into a movie.

Louise Hay established Hay House Publishing. It is the primary publisher of books and audio books by Deepak Chopra and Doreen Virtue, as well as many books by Wayne Dyer.

In addition to running her publishing company, Hay runs a charitable organization called Hay Foundation that was established in 1985.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

MY NOTES

1. The Thought-Body Connection. Every thought we think is creating our future. The body is a mirror of our inner beliefs; chronic physical ailments often have roots in emotional patterns like resentment, criticism, guilt, and fear. To heal the body, you must first address the mental dis-ease.

2. The Power of Affirmations. An affirmation is anything you say or think. Most of our habitual self-talk is negative, which programs us for failure. By consciously choosing positive, present-tense statements (e.g., "I am safe," "I am loved"), you begin to retrain your subconscious mind to expect and create wellness.

3. Forgiveness is the Dissolver. Holding onto past hurts is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. Forgiveness does not mean condoning bad behavior; it means releasing yourself from the prison of resentment. When we are stuck, it is usually a sign that there is someone we still need to forgive.

4. Mirror Work. The most powerful habit for building self-worth is looking into your own eyes in a mirror and saying, "I love you. I really, really love you." This practice exposes your internal resistance and helps you reconnect with your Inner Child who needs your acceptance.

*Avoid "Should-ing" yourself. The word "should" is a form of self-attack. It implies you are wrong or not enough as you are. Replace "I should" with "I could" or "It would be in my best interest," which restores your power of choice.

*Stop the Self-Criticism. You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens. Perfection is not the goal; self-acceptance in the present moment is the catalyst for change.

[Samanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I wasn’t entirely sure where the book was heading. It reminded me of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and the “fake it till you make it” mindset—basically, telling yourself better stories about life in the hope that everything will magically improve.


However, I really appreciated the latter part of the book, especially the table linking specific diseases or health problems with the types of thoughts that may contribute to them, along with suggested affirmations. While it’s controversial—obviously, affirmations alone aren’t a cure for serious illnesses like cancer—I found it surprisingly relevant to my own experiences. Many of the health issues I’ve had in the past seemed to align with the kinds of thoughts described in the book.

I think exploring natural approaches, including mindset changes or affirmations, alongside traditional medicine, can be worthwhile. There’s no harm in experimenting with ways to support your well-being mentally and emotionally.

Overall, the book has potential and offers interesting insights, but it’s best taken with a pinch of salt. For me, the connection between mind and body was the most meaningful takeaway.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a study in “take what you need and leave the rest.” It could also be boiled down to a pamphlet if the redundancy was curtailed.

Some ideas in this book are lovely, including the meditations at the end of each chapter. Large parts of this book are also dangerous, though. You cannot love yourself or someone else enough to stop the growth of cancer cells. The last third of the book is a collection of “remedies” for various physical ailments that will only give cruel false hope to anyone desperate for medical change. Worse, the ideas presented could be interpreted as introducing meritocracy to healthcare. If you can love yourself enough to stop the growth of cancer (an idea for which only one example is cited, and no details - such as staging or treatment from a doctor - mentioned), does that imply the inverse is also true?

There are plenty of other books that can walk you through mindfulness and eliminating shame without delving into the realm of medical mysticism

[Bri Chidsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book last year and had it sitting on my shelf for MONTHS! I took it upon myself to read it as a part of a challenge I started two weeks ago. I don’t usually read non-fiction, which is why it took me as long as it did, but that’s okay.

This book taught me a lot about myself and my family. We have all gone through different things and have different “dis-ease” within our bodies that need to be worked on. I didn’t think I would learn as much as I did from this book, but I EXTREMELY recommend this to anyone wanting to change their lives as well as any children they may have in the future. This will not only allow themselves to heal, but ensure their children do not have these burdens placed upon them. Thank you, Loise Hay:)

[Sylara Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is uplifting and full of hope. Louise Hay’s message is that our thoughts and beliefs shape our lives, and by changing them we can create healing and transformation. The affirmations and exercises are simple but powerful, and I found myself pausing often to reflect on how much my inner dialogue affects the way I feel.

Some of the ideas may feel a little repetitive or too simplistic at times, but the overall message is inspiring: self-love, forgiveness, and positive thinking can change everything. It’s a book I’ll return to again whenever I need encouragement or a reminder to be kinder to myself.

[Brianna Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to change your mindset and a great book when you need self love and / or to heal. Some aspects of it were a bit… uh oversold, and there were too many counter examples/thoughts where at a certain point you’re like, ok I get it (if your listening to the story listening to these examples was annoying).
I would give this 3.5 stars but because it was such a healing book I’m rounding up to 4

[House Soul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book - have read this twice and will definitely be going back to it again - it’s full of wisdom and ‘aha’ moments an absolutely great read. I keep a copy of the list of spiritual meanings for each health condition on my phone it always seems to be always accurate and a great starting point for healing - if only it was more widely acknowledged and accepted… one day it will be

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I expected to be a regular self-improvement book turned into a new-agey spiritual book. There was some decent advice in here, but too often, the thought "What on earth am I reading??" struck. 🥴😵‍💫

[Valentina Gaylord · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed the trajectory of my life at the young age of 22. Everyone, at any age, can read this book and forever be changed in the most beautiful and profound ways.

[Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trust the process of life. Found out the root cause of my problems, working on it every day. Thank you Louise for all the affirmations and showing me the path

[Jenn Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

An oldie but goodie. Such a wonderful book that can be listened to over and over again.

[Erika Mae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great in the beginning then felt that it became very repetitive and I began to lose interest

[Breeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid 5 star, always coming back to this book

[Delilah Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing read. It’s written in such a digestible way and all of the concepts are so simple yet profound. 10/10.

[Leah Sokol · Rating 5 out of 5]

and like yeah she didn't lie