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The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life
Are you longing for your life to be easier and more fun? Would you like to stop pushing, micromanaging, and forcing things so you can relax? What if you could enjoy what you have instead of always lusting for “more”? What if you could live in “the zone,” propelled by powerful currents toward the right people and opportunities? What if you could stop worrying about money and live with more emotional ease in the moment? If you answer “yes” to all these questions and desire lasting positive change, then prepare to experience the ecstasy of surrender.
The art of letting go, Dr. Judith Orloff explains, is the secret key to manifesting power and success in all areas of life, including work, relationships, sexuality, radiant aging, and health and healing. In our superconnected world where emails and text messages constantly interrupt us, it’s easier to let go than you think. Once embraced, surrendering removes roadblocks and the exhaustion that comes from “trying too hard”—and it helps you achieve goals more effortlessly and brings ongoing happiness.
With her stunning gift for storytelling coupled with her unique, results-oriented approach to physical, emotional, and spiritual health—marrying neuroscience, psychiatry, intuitive medicine, energy techniques, and more—Judith provides a powerful, practical, and accessible map for anyone who is longing to be happier but who feels stuck, burned-out, tense, worried, or afraid to let go.
The art of letting go, Dr. Judith Orloff explains, is the secret key to manifesting power and success in all areas of life, including work, relationships, sexuality, radiant aging, and health and healing. In our superconnected world where emails and text messages constantly interrupt us, it’s easier to let go than you think. Once embraced, surrendering removes roadblocks and the exhaustion that comes from “trying too hard”—and it helps you achieve goals more effortlessly and brings ongoing happiness.
With her stunning gift for storytelling coupled with her unique, results-oriented approach to physical, emotional, and spiritual health—marrying neuroscience, psychiatry, intuitive medicine, energy techniques, and more—Judith provides a powerful, practical, and accessible map for anyone who is longing to be happier but who feels stuck, burned-out, tense, worried, or afraid to let go.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
91 people are currently reading
1196 people want to read
About the author
Judith Orloff
72 books409 followersJudith Orloff, MD is a psychiatrist, an empath, and author of the recent book "The Genius of Empathy" (Foreword by the Dalai Lama) which offers powerful skills to tap into empathy as a daily healing practice. Her upcoming children’s book "The Highly Sensitive Rabbit" is about a caring rabbit who learns to embrace her gifts of sensitivity through the kindness of loving animals. Her other books include "The Empath’s Survival Guide" and "Thriving as an Empath."
Dr. Orloff is a New York Times bestselling author and a UCLA psychiatric clinical faculty member. She synthesizes the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting-edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff specializes in treating highly sensitive people in her private practice. She has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, and in the New York Times and Scientific American. Learn more about the power of empathy at www.drjudithorloff.com
Dr. Orloff is a New York Times bestselling author and a UCLA psychiatric clinical faculty member. She synthesizes the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting-edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff specializes in treating highly sensitive people in her private practice. She has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, and in the New York Times and Scientific American. Learn more about the power of empathy at www.drjudithorloff.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 22, 2014
** Surrendering as a pre-requisite to receiving **
Here’s another one of those counterintuitive truths --> To bring in you have to let go.
In this case, bringing in ecstasy entails surrendering to life’s inherent joys and sufferings. As author and psychiatrist Judith Orloff summarizes:
“The tremendous challenge and promise of this book, from accepting death to succeeding in business to falling in love, is letting yourself be catapulted beyond the ordinary to view all of existence in extraordinary terms…Every experience you go through—good, bad, or indifferent—can offer a teaching that enriches the sacred path of letting go. The artfulness of life, the clumsiness, the grace, the messiness, the faltering, and the clarity are integral to this dance. Breathe deeply with it all. Keeping surrendering through the pleasure and the pain…Let go to the passionate perfection and imperfection of everything.” (pp. 378-379)
The book presents twelve ways to surrender in the domains of power, money, people, communication, relationships, love, sensuality, mortality, and immortality, including:
• Redefining true success, power, and happiness
• Four vital insights into power and letting go
• Manifesting the heart of money: Seeing beyond material seduction and fear
• Learning the art of reading people
• Cultivating impeccable communication
• Honoring soul mates, soul friends, and animal companions
• Exploring the divinity of your body and sexuality
• Igniting your sexual power
• Discovering the essence of the natural world
• Harmonizing with illness and pain
• Experiencing radiant aging: The secret of slowing down time
• Making peace with death and the afterlife
Overall, I found the book to be quite interesting and helpful. At times it does feel like the author has written the book to work through and reflect on her own issues and personal journey—but, that’s also what helps make the material real and accessible. Interestingly, once I surrendered to that realization, I was able to enjoy the book.
Here’s another one of those counterintuitive truths --> To bring in you have to let go.
In this case, bringing in ecstasy entails surrendering to life’s inherent joys and sufferings. As author and psychiatrist Judith Orloff summarizes:
“The tremendous challenge and promise of this book, from accepting death to succeeding in business to falling in love, is letting yourself be catapulted beyond the ordinary to view all of existence in extraordinary terms…Every experience you go through—good, bad, or indifferent—can offer a teaching that enriches the sacred path of letting go. The artfulness of life, the clumsiness, the grace, the messiness, the faltering, and the clarity are integral to this dance. Breathe deeply with it all. Keeping surrendering through the pleasure and the pain…Let go to the passionate perfection and imperfection of everything.” (pp. 378-379)
The book presents twelve ways to surrender in the domains of power, money, people, communication, relationships, love, sensuality, mortality, and immortality, including:
• Redefining true success, power, and happiness
• Four vital insights into power and letting go
• Manifesting the heart of money: Seeing beyond material seduction and fear
• Learning the art of reading people
• Cultivating impeccable communication
• Honoring soul mates, soul friends, and animal companions
• Exploring the divinity of your body and sexuality
• Igniting your sexual power
• Discovering the essence of the natural world
• Harmonizing with illness and pain
• Experiencing radiant aging: The secret of slowing down time
• Making peace with death and the afterlife
Overall, I found the book to be quite interesting and helpful. At times it does feel like the author has written the book to work through and reflect on her own issues and personal journey—but, that’s also what helps make the material real and accessible. Interestingly, once I surrendered to that realization, I was able to enjoy the book.
August 11, 2016
The title embarrasses me...'ecstasy' IS a bit over dramatic..but then so is Judith Orloff but still, she has good things to say and good questions to ponder.
I picked the book while cruising 'new books' at the eLibrary...it DID catch my eye (for I would love to FEEL the way the cover picture LOOKS) and I did understand the 'surrender' was not a bodice-ripper!! I want to age and die as a kind old lady and please please NOT a snarky, caustic person (hmm..get the idea it COULD happen?). And, in fact, Orloff's assessments of why we go 'there' and how to 'let go'.. is very thoughtfully presented. I"m glad I read it; and ebooks allows easy highlights and book-marking so I will go back to it.
But of dear I wish there were another title!!
I picked the book while cruising 'new books' at the eLibrary...it DID catch my eye (for I would love to FEEL the way the cover picture LOOKS) and I did understand the 'surrender' was not a bodice-ripper!! I want to age and die as a kind old lady and please please NOT a snarky, caustic person (hmm..get the idea it COULD happen?). And, in fact, Orloff's assessments of why we go 'there' and how to 'let go'.. is very thoughtfully presented. I"m glad I read it; and ebooks allows easy highlights and book-marking so I will go back to it.
But of dear I wish there were another title!!
June 1, 2014
Surrender. It is the meaning of the word “Islam.” Buddhism champions it, so does Sufism. It could easily be the secret to life, but how to practice letting go of the things that we are most attached to, the things we want most to happen in our lives? In a society that preaches going after what you want no matter the cost, how to let go?
I saw Dr. Judith Orloff speak for the first time at the signing for this book, her latest, The Ecstasy of Surrender. Though soft-spoken and gentle in nature, she had complete command of the audience. Her insights are brimming, even in passing comments. A medical doctor who is an assistant clinical professor of psychology at UCLA as well as an intuitive, she brings a unique blend of science to spirituality. After spending the evening with her, I knew her book would be worth reading. I had read one of her previous books, Positive Energy, and I vividly remember her uplifting voice encasing wisdom channeling through each page. I had devoured the book in one sitting.
The Ecstasy of Surrender is divided into five parts, power and money, reading people and communication, relationships, love and sensuality, mortality and immortality, and embracing ecstasy. All parts are helpful and Orloff writes with an engaging, intimate voice, but this book could have easily been half its size. It’s best to pick the parts that interest you and go from there. You can read it from beginning to end, but you may struggle.
The best parts are those that relate to relationships, how to read and communicate with people, the power of the self, and sexuality. The first surrender is also worth reading, which is redefining true success, power, and happiness. In her pages, there is a belief in destiny, and here is where her spirituality comes in. Orloff writes, “I guarantee that if a job, a relationship, or wealth is meant for you, it will find you in Timbuktu…However if something isn’t your destiny, it just won’t happen no matter how frustrating that feels or how hard you work for it.” She believes that the art of manifesting goals involves both effort and surrender. You have to release what isn’t working. She also believes in the magic of stillness and meditation, “to the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” By the end, I am convinced that surrender is empowering.
Especially for readers entering a trying or challenging period, The Ecstasy of Surrender brings comfort and some therapy. To get a taste of her words, here is a Surrender Affirmation for Trusting Intuition (a surrender affirmation ends each chapter):
I am willing to accept that there is more to me than my linear mind.
I am ready to surrender to my intuition so I can read people in new ways.
I release all thoughts that tell me I can’t do it.
I want to embody Walt Whitman’s words, “I am large—I contain multitudes.”
I saw Dr. Judith Orloff speak for the first time at the signing for this book, her latest, The Ecstasy of Surrender. Though soft-spoken and gentle in nature, she had complete command of the audience. Her insights are brimming, even in passing comments. A medical doctor who is an assistant clinical professor of psychology at UCLA as well as an intuitive, she brings a unique blend of science to spirituality. After spending the evening with her, I knew her book would be worth reading. I had read one of her previous books, Positive Energy, and I vividly remember her uplifting voice encasing wisdom channeling through each page. I had devoured the book in one sitting.
The Ecstasy of Surrender is divided into five parts, power and money, reading people and communication, relationships, love and sensuality, mortality and immortality, and embracing ecstasy. All parts are helpful and Orloff writes with an engaging, intimate voice, but this book could have easily been half its size. It’s best to pick the parts that interest you and go from there. You can read it from beginning to end, but you may struggle.
The best parts are those that relate to relationships, how to read and communicate with people, the power of the self, and sexuality. The first surrender is also worth reading, which is redefining true success, power, and happiness. In her pages, there is a belief in destiny, and here is where her spirituality comes in. Orloff writes, “I guarantee that if a job, a relationship, or wealth is meant for you, it will find you in Timbuktu…However if something isn’t your destiny, it just won’t happen no matter how frustrating that feels or how hard you work for it.” She believes that the art of manifesting goals involves both effort and surrender. You have to release what isn’t working. She also believes in the magic of stillness and meditation, “to the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” By the end, I am convinced that surrender is empowering.
Especially for readers entering a trying or challenging period, The Ecstasy of Surrender brings comfort and some therapy. To get a taste of her words, here is a Surrender Affirmation for Trusting Intuition (a surrender affirmation ends each chapter):
I am willing to accept that there is more to me than my linear mind.
I am ready to surrender to my intuition so I can read people in new ways.
I release all thoughts that tell me I can’t do it.
I want to embody Walt Whitman’s words, “I am large—I contain multitudes.”
May 18, 2015
Overall, I think it's a very good book about letting go because there is so much in life that we don't have control over.
I disagree with certain parts of the author's take on soul mates. (given that I cringe at that word to begin with because soulmates are not the ideal romance fantasies that people think)
Yes there are soulmates who are single and available for a relationship but there are plenty of others who are committed to another but meet a soulmate because they need to leave that relationship.
We've all heard of people who met their current partner when they were with another. Chances are the previous relationship was unhappy and meeting that soulmate was the catalyst for ending that relationship. I'm not referring to affairs (although that does happen) but a wake up call about what's missing in the current situation.
I like her exercises too about setting boundaries and dealing with difficult people. I like how she encourages her readers to follow their intuition and to love themselves first and foremost.
Someone said to me recently, "Take what feels right to you and leave the rest behind".
So while I disagree with parts of this book, I'll take what sounds right to me and leave the rest behind.
I disagree with certain parts of the author's take on soul mates. (given that I cringe at that word to begin with because soulmates are not the ideal romance fantasies that people think)
Yes there are soulmates who are single and available for a relationship but there are plenty of others who are committed to another but meet a soulmate because they need to leave that relationship.
We've all heard of people who met their current partner when they were with another. Chances are the previous relationship was unhappy and meeting that soulmate was the catalyst for ending that relationship. I'm not referring to affairs (although that does happen) but a wake up call about what's missing in the current situation.
I like her exercises too about setting boundaries and dealing with difficult people. I like how she encourages her readers to follow their intuition and to love themselves first and foremost.
Someone said to me recently, "Take what feels right to you and leave the rest behind".
So while I disagree with parts of this book, I'll take what sounds right to me and leave the rest behind.
April 4, 2014
I LOVE this book. Finished it and will start it over again to absorb more at a higher level than when I started. Judith is right on target with every topic in the book. I resonated with everything and had many light bulb moments. It was refreshing to realize that a lot of what I feel and do in life is shared with others ... I am not as "out" there as I thought ... LOL.
If you are ready to move to another level in life this book is the perfect tool. Part of a good spiritual power training program.
If you are ready to move to another level in life this book is the perfect tool. Part of a good spiritual power training program.
August 22, 2014
I received this book for free through Goodreads Firstreads. I was excited about this book. However, when I cracked it open and read the intro about the author, I was immediately turned off by it. I was expecting something different and I feel like the description in this giveaway was misleading.
April 5, 2018
Aren't we all just trying to "be okay"? This is a lovely guide toward that end. The book was my random selection from a library shelf, and I determined to suspend my disbelief in the supernatural as a premise to perusing it at all. Surprisingly, I kept reading til (skimming last chapters--you can pick which of the 12 ways apply to you) the end!
I appreciate that Orloff has medical degrees (she mentions this too often, as a way perhaps to check the readers' judgement of her otherworldly ideas). Using nature and humanity as a basis of letting go, as an alternate for faith in a god, made it additionally accessible to this reader.
I appreciate that Orloff has medical degrees (she mentions this too often, as a way perhaps to check the readers' judgement of her otherworldly ideas). Using nature and humanity as a basis of letting go, as an alternate for faith in a god, made it additionally accessible to this reader.
March 25, 2024
Her values are very much embedded in this book, so if you do not believe in the energetic world or forces greater than yourself, it might be difficult to read. That being said, it interweaves the science with the mystical and everything in between. It brings together a lot of different practices into one book and felt like an excellent reminder of how to relax into life. I will say that she does not take various situations, like low socioeconomic status or minorty stress etc. into serious account with what she shares, so some of it glances off, missing the reality of life sometimes.
September 30, 2021
Imagine if a licensed therapist somehow combined LOA, wicca, and self help and tied it all together with stories about how she's struggled and life is still mysterious... If you're super into all that, it's possibly a helpful book, but most of the valuable content was rehashed and in a way I just didn't really relate to because though I'm woowoo of a sort, I'm a different sort. Eh was my overall impression. Not really much meat.
May 11, 2018
This book encouraged me and taught me many important lessons in a very important time in my life.. The audio version was amazing to listen to with its breathing exercises and meditation moments. Highly recommended to friends and family who need a reminder in letting go and surrendering the negative thoughts and feelings. Will definitely read/listen again.
June 28, 2018
This book deals a lot with relationships and wanting to find a relationship, which wasn't relevant to me. There's also a great deal dedicated to trusting your instincts, which also didn't resonate with me. I found parts interesting and would recommend it.
March 5, 2020
Enjoying this blend of science and energy natural world perspectives to empower people to find inner strength. I am able to benefit from the meditations immediately and have found success in my corporate job using this information.
November 30, 2018
Very interesting, but don´t get the audio book because you will need to write answers to quizzes and make notes.
April 20, 2023
Listened up through Chap 6.
See musings and rants to review notes.
See musings and rants to review notes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2014
Unfortunately, I didn’t find this book particularly readable at first, which is why I didn’t manage to get it finished before I had to return it to the library.
However its theme/message is of utmost importance. We all need to let go, to surrender our personal will to the Divine Will, and to be in the moment.
Life becomes easier when you learn to let go. “Burdens will lift or lessen.” Surrendering “involves reprogramming old habits and being willing to let go of the drama.”
Dr. Orloff has seen the transformative effects of surrender on her patients’ health as well as on her own. She asserts that surrender is a secret to health and beauty.
We need to practice both intellectual, emotional, physical/sensual and spiritual surrender.
The author divides the book into 13 parts, the 13 surrenders.
The 1st surrender deals with redefining true success, power and happiness. Stop comparing yourself to others and build self-esteem.
The chapter on the 2nd surrender comprises four vital insights into power and letting go. 1) We need to break the trance of the reptilian brain and surrender old behaviours and ineffective communication styles. 2) We need to surrender to our spiritual power, using soft power instead of hard power, i.e. activating endorphins, the feel-good hormones, oxytocin, the love or cuddle hormone and serotonin, the happiness hormone, instead of adrenalin, the fight-or-flight hormone, testosterone, the sex and power hormone and dopamine, the pleasure hormone. We must get out of our mind and into our heart. 3) We need to wield light powers, not shadow powers. 4) We must learn when to practice power versus powerlessness.
The 3rd surrender consists of manifesting the heart of money: seeing beyond material seduction and fear. We are given three strategies to transform our relationship with money. With regard to money, we are divided into three types. The Warrior, the Procrastinator and the Spending Addict.
The 4th surrender is learning the art of reading people. Here we surrender to new forms of knowing. The 5th surrender is cultivating impeccable communication. This is a surrender because you learn to know when to be assertive and when to let go. This chapter includes a useful section on how to communicate with anger addicts, passive aggressive people, narcissists, guilt trippers and gossips.
The 6th surrender is about honouring soul mates, soul friends and animal companions. Intimate relationships challenge us to open our heart and become a more confident and more giving person.
The 7th surrender relates to exploring the divinity of your body and sexuality. This chapter includes keys to a positive body image and weight.
Igniting your sexual power is the 8th surrender. It comprises basic strategies of sexual surrender, one section about claiming your sexual power and one about surrendering to the ecstasy of orgasms and exploring “sacred play”.
The 9th surrender deals with discovering the sensual essence of the natural world and includes a section about surrender to the Earth and meeting your power animals and messengers.
The 10th surrender is about harmonizing with illness and pain. Surrender doesn’t mean giving in or giving up. Illness can wake you up physically, emotionally and spiritually. ”Surrender means knowing you are not just your diagnosis, your genes, your pain, your addiction or even your body. You are a radiant soul.” The surrender the author suggests is to harmonize with illness and pain, not to resist them. “Resistance can amplify suffering whereas flowing with symptoms diminishes them.”
The 11th surrender is experiencing radiant aging: the secret of slowing down time, while the 12th surrender is making peace with death and the afterlife.
Much of this is fascinating, invaluable. The author asks the question: “What is your perfect death?” No, 6 is “Having an orgasm”. No. 7 is “Death by chocolate”. Ha, ha!
Each chapter contains useful exercises, various tests and a surrender affirmation.
Finally, she offers us this prayer of love for the planet:
“Bless all of the earth’s creatures, light, dark, or struggling. Bless all the twinkling beings in and around us. Love is large enough to hold us all. Joy is expansive without limit, leaving no one out. May our surrender, or bliss, come from loving ourselves, each other and the earth.”
This is a valuable, well-written book, and I would absolutely recommend that you read it. You may need to read it a couple of times in order to integrate its content. The book will help you lead your life easily and effortlessly.
However its theme/message is of utmost importance. We all need to let go, to surrender our personal will to the Divine Will, and to be in the moment.
Life becomes easier when you learn to let go. “Burdens will lift or lessen.” Surrendering “involves reprogramming old habits and being willing to let go of the drama.”
Dr. Orloff has seen the transformative effects of surrender on her patients’ health as well as on her own. She asserts that surrender is a secret to health and beauty.
We need to practice both intellectual, emotional, physical/sensual and spiritual surrender.
The author divides the book into 13 parts, the 13 surrenders.
The 1st surrender deals with redefining true success, power and happiness. Stop comparing yourself to others and build self-esteem.
The chapter on the 2nd surrender comprises four vital insights into power and letting go. 1) We need to break the trance of the reptilian brain and surrender old behaviours and ineffective communication styles. 2) We need to surrender to our spiritual power, using soft power instead of hard power, i.e. activating endorphins, the feel-good hormones, oxytocin, the love or cuddle hormone and serotonin, the happiness hormone, instead of adrenalin, the fight-or-flight hormone, testosterone, the sex and power hormone and dopamine, the pleasure hormone. We must get out of our mind and into our heart. 3) We need to wield light powers, not shadow powers. 4) We must learn when to practice power versus powerlessness.
The 3rd surrender consists of manifesting the heart of money: seeing beyond material seduction and fear. We are given three strategies to transform our relationship with money. With regard to money, we are divided into three types. The Warrior, the Procrastinator and the Spending Addict.
The 4th surrender is learning the art of reading people. Here we surrender to new forms of knowing. The 5th surrender is cultivating impeccable communication. This is a surrender because you learn to know when to be assertive and when to let go. This chapter includes a useful section on how to communicate with anger addicts, passive aggressive people, narcissists, guilt trippers and gossips.
The 6th surrender is about honouring soul mates, soul friends and animal companions. Intimate relationships challenge us to open our heart and become a more confident and more giving person.
The 7th surrender relates to exploring the divinity of your body and sexuality. This chapter includes keys to a positive body image and weight.
Igniting your sexual power is the 8th surrender. It comprises basic strategies of sexual surrender, one section about claiming your sexual power and one about surrendering to the ecstasy of orgasms and exploring “sacred play”.
The 9th surrender deals with discovering the sensual essence of the natural world and includes a section about surrender to the Earth and meeting your power animals and messengers.
The 10th surrender is about harmonizing with illness and pain. Surrender doesn’t mean giving in or giving up. Illness can wake you up physically, emotionally and spiritually. ”Surrender means knowing you are not just your diagnosis, your genes, your pain, your addiction or even your body. You are a radiant soul.” The surrender the author suggests is to harmonize with illness and pain, not to resist them. “Resistance can amplify suffering whereas flowing with symptoms diminishes them.”
The 11th surrender is experiencing radiant aging: the secret of slowing down time, while the 12th surrender is making peace with death and the afterlife.
Much of this is fascinating, invaluable. The author asks the question: “What is your perfect death?” No, 6 is “Having an orgasm”. No. 7 is “Death by chocolate”. Ha, ha!
Each chapter contains useful exercises, various tests and a surrender affirmation.
Finally, she offers us this prayer of love for the planet:
“Bless all of the earth’s creatures, light, dark, or struggling. Bless all the twinkling beings in and around us. Love is large enough to hold us all. Joy is expansive without limit, leaving no one out. May our surrender, or bliss, come from loving ourselves, each other and the earth.”
This is a valuable, well-written book, and I would absolutely recommend that you read it. You may need to read it a couple of times in order to integrate its content. The book will help you lead your life easily and effortlessly.
March 16, 2017
I really had wanted to read her book Second Sight, but it wasn't available at my library so I picked up this one instead. Like a lot of nonfiction books, it wasn't a page turner and I had to push myself through it. Some parts were a bit wacky, but she made some good points that will stick with me.
March 7, 2017
Dr. Orloff is simply amazing! I read everything she writes!
March 1, 2014
I received a complementary copy of this book for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
If you are a control freak, even just a little bit, M.D. Judith Orloff’s new book is the one for you: The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life.
“I invite you to explore the sublime state of surrender,” writes Orloff in the book’s introduction. “How to increasingly achieve it each day to improve the quality of your life, reduce stress, and have much more fun by lifting the curse of being overly serious.” With over 20 years of experience in her private psychiatric practice and with her academic background as an assistant professor at UCLA, Orloff’s credentials are impressive. Far from a scholarly book, though, Ecstasy of Surrender is an easy read packed full of advice on how we can let go and live in the flow.
I am impressed with how much content is in the book. The 12 chapters are divided into four main sections:
Power and Money
Reading People and Communication
Relationships, Love, and Sensuality
Mortality and Immortality
Each of these topics could be a book in itself. Rather than save some material for future publication, Orloff doesn’t hold back in delivering her “letting go” message in each of these areas. At over 350 pages, Ecstasy of Surrender is longer than most books I have read and reviewed in the self help genre.
I like how Orloff relates her own struggles with control versus living by intuition. “I don’t want to clog the flow of success by micromanaging or inserting my will into places where grace belongs,” she writes. Throughout the book she shares lessons from her Daoist teacher. “Daoists believe in the doctrine of wu-wei, or non-action,” she relates. “This doesn’t mean doing nothing; rather, it means doing nothing unnatural to obstruct nature’s flow.” The Daoist philosophy is new to me and reading Orloff’s words encourages me to want to learn more.
As an engineer for most of my career I could relate to the medical establishment that Orloff says “worships the intellect, equates statistics with reality, and views surrender as counterintuitive since it means giving up the fight of failing.” Her way of surrender is a different approach to life than many of us have been taught.
“I want my life to be on fire,” Orloff writes. “I want to inhabit the moment as much as I can and have a great time just being Judith. I want to trust intuition, instant by instant, so that I can sense perfect timing – when to move ahead and when to wait. This is so appealing because it places me in the center of passion, attuning to what feels most true.”
I want my life to be like that, too. Reading Ecstasy of Surrender has me pondering: “What areas in my life am I trying to hard? Where can I just let go?”
If you are a control freak, even just a little bit, M.D. Judith Orloff’s new book is the one for you: The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life.
“I invite you to explore the sublime state of surrender,” writes Orloff in the book’s introduction. “How to increasingly achieve it each day to improve the quality of your life, reduce stress, and have much more fun by lifting the curse of being overly serious.” With over 20 years of experience in her private psychiatric practice and with her academic background as an assistant professor at UCLA, Orloff’s credentials are impressive. Far from a scholarly book, though, Ecstasy of Surrender is an easy read packed full of advice on how we can let go and live in the flow.
I am impressed with how much content is in the book. The 12 chapters are divided into four main sections:
Power and Money
Reading People and Communication
Relationships, Love, and Sensuality
Mortality and Immortality
Each of these topics could be a book in itself. Rather than save some material for future publication, Orloff doesn’t hold back in delivering her “letting go” message in each of these areas. At over 350 pages, Ecstasy of Surrender is longer than most books I have read and reviewed in the self help genre.
I like how Orloff relates her own struggles with control versus living by intuition. “I don’t want to clog the flow of success by micromanaging or inserting my will into places where grace belongs,” she writes. Throughout the book she shares lessons from her Daoist teacher. “Daoists believe in the doctrine of wu-wei, or non-action,” she relates. “This doesn’t mean doing nothing; rather, it means doing nothing unnatural to obstruct nature’s flow.” The Daoist philosophy is new to me and reading Orloff’s words encourages me to want to learn more.
As an engineer for most of my career I could relate to the medical establishment that Orloff says “worships the intellect, equates statistics with reality, and views surrender as counterintuitive since it means giving up the fight of failing.” Her way of surrender is a different approach to life than many of us have been taught.
“I want my life to be on fire,” Orloff writes. “I want to inhabit the moment as much as I can and have a great time just being Judith. I want to trust intuition, instant by instant, so that I can sense perfect timing – when to move ahead and when to wait. This is so appealing because it places me in the center of passion, attuning to what feels most true.”
I want my life to be like that, too. Reading Ecstasy of Surrender has me pondering: “What areas in my life am I trying to hard? Where can I just let go?”
April 5, 2014
Book Review:
The Ecstasy of Surrender
12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life
By Judith Orloff
Surrender: Not giving up, trusting the power inside yourself!
Judith Orloff heralds an intriguing idea of how to better one’s life by reducing stress and having more fun in life. Not the touted anti-“All Work and No Play” adage, but a way of conquering fears and inner resistances by being less serious. She says people tend to become too uptight, constantly battling to get through blocks without success. They obsess and attach emotions and themselves to other people, ideas, and a certain outcome which leads to unhealthy mental anxiousness.
She dispels the myth that surrendering is only defined by the warrior mentality of giving up, or waving the white flag in defeat. It also means to give completely, as in to yourself, instead of the ego; a way of mastering one’s life without giving up power. There is an assertiveness involved in being able to choose when to say no and when to acquiesce. By learning to communicate more effectively with others as well as oneself, it can free one from the bonds of mental obsession that block goals from being accomplished. Sometimes you have to let go to move ahead. Let serenity in to get past one’s resistances.
This book involves all aspects of life, from relationships (stop worrying), accepting change (honor proper timing), financial hard times (enjoy the good), health/weight issues (self-care), etc.
Judith Orloff is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA along with her private practice. It is with the experience of this therapy on herself and her patients that led her to write this book and share it with the world.
She incorporates a blended wisdom of mainstream medicine and “complementary fields of intuitive and energy medicine” then combines an aspect of spirituality to have an all-encompassing skill set in healing.
She breaks down surrender into four main types, intellectual, physical/sensual, emotional, and spiritual. She then divides the book into six parts: “An Introduction to Letting Go”, Part One “Power and Money”, Part Two “Reading People and Communication”, Part Three “Relationships, Love, and Sensuality”, Part Four “Mortality and Immortality: Cycles of Light”, Part Five “Embracing Ecstasy”.
She organizes the book so that the reader can go directly to the topic pertaining to their needs or to read straight through. There are tools, quizzes and exercises in each chapter related to each topic to help gain a deeper understanding.
To see other works by Judith Orloff visit her website at: http://drjudithorloff.com/
FTC Disclaimer: I was loaned an ARC of this title by Net Galley for review purposes only, no other compensation was awarded.
The Ecstasy of Surrender
12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life
By Judith Orloff
Surrender: Not giving up, trusting the power inside yourself!
Judith Orloff heralds an intriguing idea of how to better one’s life by reducing stress and having more fun in life. Not the touted anti-“All Work and No Play” adage, but a way of conquering fears and inner resistances by being less serious. She says people tend to become too uptight, constantly battling to get through blocks without success. They obsess and attach emotions and themselves to other people, ideas, and a certain outcome which leads to unhealthy mental anxiousness.
She dispels the myth that surrendering is only defined by the warrior mentality of giving up, or waving the white flag in defeat. It also means to give completely, as in to yourself, instead of the ego; a way of mastering one’s life without giving up power. There is an assertiveness involved in being able to choose when to say no and when to acquiesce. By learning to communicate more effectively with others as well as oneself, it can free one from the bonds of mental obsession that block goals from being accomplished. Sometimes you have to let go to move ahead. Let serenity in to get past one’s resistances.
This book involves all aspects of life, from relationships (stop worrying), accepting change (honor proper timing), financial hard times (enjoy the good), health/weight issues (self-care), etc.
Judith Orloff is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA along with her private practice. It is with the experience of this therapy on herself and her patients that led her to write this book and share it with the world.
She incorporates a blended wisdom of mainstream medicine and “complementary fields of intuitive and energy medicine” then combines an aspect of spirituality to have an all-encompassing skill set in healing.
She breaks down surrender into four main types, intellectual, physical/sensual, emotional, and spiritual. She then divides the book into six parts: “An Introduction to Letting Go”, Part One “Power and Money”, Part Two “Reading People and Communication”, Part Three “Relationships, Love, and Sensuality”, Part Four “Mortality and Immortality: Cycles of Light”, Part Five “Embracing Ecstasy”.
She organizes the book so that the reader can go directly to the topic pertaining to their needs or to read straight through. There are tools, quizzes and exercises in each chapter related to each topic to help gain a deeper understanding.
To see other works by Judith Orloff visit her website at: http://drjudithorloff.com/
FTC Disclaimer: I was loaned an ARC of this title by Net Galley for review purposes only, no other compensation was awarded.
March 18, 2014
This is the first self-help book that I have ever read, and I think that I haven benefited from it. It is about surrender, not in the sense of giving up, but in the sense of letting go. I think that anyone who would like to improve their quality of life could benefit from at least a part of this book. It is divided into four main sections: power and money, reading people and communication, relationships, love and sensuality, and mortality and immortality. There were parts of it that I found more enjoyable than others, but they were probably the parts that concern the parts of my life that I am most ready to work on. The author is both a professor of psychiatry, and has a private practice which was important to me because I believe in science more than I believe in the spiritual world. It was comforting to know that the spiritual information was being given by someone who has an actual medical background as well.
The book contains exercises and mantras that aid in stress reduction, learning to accept love, and learning to ask for help when it it needed. I'm not really a mantra person, but for those who are the mantra would probably be quite effective. It also contains methods for reading people, and getting a better idea of how they are feeling. It gave me a better understanding of empathy, not just in the sense of understanding the way other people feel, but in absorbing the energy of the people around you. There were simple quizzes in the book that helped me to get a better understanding of myself and why I feel the way I do about certain things sometimes.
In the midst of reading this book, a very stressful and unexpected event occurred in my life, and I believe that following some of the advise that is given is allowing me to get through the situation with far less stress than I would have a few weeks ago.
The book contains exercises and mantras that aid in stress reduction, learning to accept love, and learning to ask for help when it it needed. I'm not really a mantra person, but for those who are the mantra would probably be quite effective. It also contains methods for reading people, and getting a better idea of how they are feeling. It gave me a better understanding of empathy, not just in the sense of understanding the way other people feel, but in absorbing the energy of the people around you. There were simple quizzes in the book that helped me to get a better understanding of myself and why I feel the way I do about certain things sometimes.
In the midst of reading this book, a very stressful and unexpected event occurred in my life, and I believe that following some of the advise that is given is allowing me to get through the situation with far less stress than I would have a few weeks ago.
August 28, 2014
If you're new to the new age approach approach to life than this book is as good as any.
This self help book could have been written in the eighties or before so there's nothing much new here if you haven already read about new age approached that rely on myths, the supernatural, and religion narratives. The difference is that the pitch is around surrender, as opposed to gentleness, patience or grace etc.
Despite the MD suffix there's little science provided and no end notes. I found sections on soulmates flat, superficial and contradictory. Near death experiences can be explained by a physiological response. The thing here is you can seek to understand something to a truth by study, open-minded ness and apply logic and reason, or you can use a cute narrative to tuck yourself in at night and need not worry any further.
There are smart and healthy ways to deal with all the challenges life brings. There's other books that capture a more truthful understanding and approach I you're into that.
This self help book could have been written in the eighties or before so there's nothing much new here if you haven already read about new age approached that rely on myths, the supernatural, and religion narratives. The difference is that the pitch is around surrender, as opposed to gentleness, patience or grace etc.
Despite the MD suffix there's little science provided and no end notes. I found sections on soulmates flat, superficial and contradictory. Near death experiences can be explained by a physiological response. The thing here is you can seek to understand something to a truth by study, open-minded ness and apply logic and reason, or you can use a cute narrative to tuck yourself in at night and need not worry any further.
There are smart and healthy ways to deal with all the challenges life brings. There's other books that capture a more truthful understanding and approach I you're into that.
March 8, 2015
I'm a big fan of this author and have loved both her previous books--"Emotional Freedom" and "Positive Energy"--in which she talks about empaths (those who absorb the energy of people around them) and the unique challenges they face. As one myself, I have found her insights and practical tips have brought a lot of peace in my life and have helped me to cope with my energetic porosity with compassion and self-care. But this new book resonates less with me. Perhaps because "I'm not there yet." Orloff (as is the case with most authors) writes very much from whatever place she is in at any given time, and it seems to me that her current space is the exploration of ecstasy and surrender (read Tantra). As a recent empty nester, I'm still trying to brush the cracker crumbs from my minivan and wash the spit stains from my blouse--I'm looking for peace and quiet, not ecstasy and surrender. Not yet. But this book might be perfect for you.
March 1, 2014
I feel that I am always trying to become a better person and live a more satisfying life...not by acquiring more possessions, but by being a happier person. I never pass up a chance to read a book that will help me accomplish that goal. This book is jam packed with so much great information to help you let go and empower yourself to be a better and happier person. It is not only about how to help make yourself better, but to learn to deal with others in a more productive way. This is a book I will continue to read and refer to on a regular basis. It is an AMAZING book and I give it 4.5 stars.
April 5, 2016
I guess it must be because the author wrote this book over a period of a few years, so the sections seem disjointed. There are a few gems within the pages, but you really have to have the patience to encounter them.
At times the writing just goes all over the place, which is a pain for the reader. The book is not terrible, but at the same time I don't understand how she has become a best-selling author (well, maybe the connections in Hollywood help quite a bit). There are a lot of similar quality books out there that don't pack the shelves like this one does.
In any case, there are some good points in the message, how it's delivered is another story.
At times the writing just goes all over the place, which is a pain for the reader. The book is not terrible, but at the same time I don't understand how she has become a best-selling author (well, maybe the connections in Hollywood help quite a bit). There are a lot of similar quality books out there that don't pack the shelves like this one does.
In any case, there are some good points in the message, how it's delivered is another story.
Want to read
November 22, 2016Book Lover's Calendar 2016 - 21 Monday November 2016: Have you ever longed to just let go, give up the fight, and relax for a change? Have you ever wanted to step away from the rat race? If so, this book will show you how. The author reveals that learning how to live with emotional ease and surrender to the moment is the way to a happier and more successful life. You can be more efficient in work and relationships, and much less tense overall, if you follow this guide that combines psychiatry, energy techniques, neuroscience and more.
January 18, 2015
I enjoyed this book. I read it straight through, and it will now be a book that I go back to specific chapters to help encourage me with whatever I need to focus on at that moment.
I do agree with other reviewers who mentioned the frequent use of "I will show you how", "I teach you" - it did grate on me by the end. Quite long introductions into each chapter. However, I do believe she did a good job of showing and teaching.
I do agree with other reviewers who mentioned the frequent use of "I will show you how", "I teach you" - it did grate on me by the end. Quite long introductions into each chapter. However, I do believe she did a good job of showing and teaching.
June 11, 2015
I'll preface my review by saying that most books I read are audio. I'm listening to this book on CD and there is nothing ecstatic about the reading : the reader (who is the author) reads in a flat voice with little emotion.
That being said, this book addresses mindfully releasing issues that control one's life, really thinking about what one needs in life and what emotionally holds one back. A worthwhile read.
That being said, this book addresses mindfully releasing issues that control one's life, really thinking about what one needs in life and what emotionally holds one back. A worthwhile read.
July 28, 2015
***I received this book through the the GoodReads giveaway program.***
I enjoy reading self-help books and this book was a great fit for me. It centers on the idea of surrender and learning to let go in each area of your life. This book has found a permanent home on my bookshelf. This is a solid 4 stars!
I enjoy reading self-help books and this book was a great fit for me. It centers on the idea of surrender and learning to let go in each area of your life. This book has found a permanent home on my bookshelf. This is a solid 4 stars!
January 11, 2016
Although the book talks about a simple solution to all problems it rants the same thought throughout the book.. Just a couple of chapters suffice the entire theme.. Recommend to read a few chapters to get the gist of the entire book.. Does not bring any new thought other than what is written in first few chapters
May 22, 2016
A good editor would've gone a long way for this book. There's actually a ton of great ideas & messages in this book, you just have to wade through a lot to get to them. Also, I thought there was way too much focus on romantic relationships & skipped over most of those chapters, as it'd isn't really apply to me.
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