Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life

by Chungliang Al Huang, Jerry Lynch

Written by a sports psychologist and a renowned T'ai Chi master, here is a guide to enriching all of life's pursuits through the practice of its simple mental tools and wisdom. Using stories of success from athletes and businesspeople, the authors present techniques and exercises to promote relaxation and enhance performance.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Philosophy, Spirituality, Psychology, Health, Taoism

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Chungliang “Al” Huang (Chinese: 黃忠良) is a notable philosopher, dancer, performing artist, and internationally acclaimed taijiquan master and educator, having received the Republic of China’s most prestigious award in the field of education, the Gold Medal Award, from its Ministry of Education.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that took me a long time to read. You can’t skim through this one.

I made 149 highlights.

This book is aimed at athletes but each chapter also adapts the lesson to business and life in general.

The essence is:
Don’t force things - this creates unhappiness and disharmony
Go with the flow
Visualise the outcome
Focus on the positive
Rehearse the worse case scenario and plan for various problems in advance
Do your best and free your attachment to winning (or any specific outcome)
Do your best
Respect your opponent
Don’t underestimate or belittle anyone
Get used to hardship
Train hard fight easy
That said don’t overdo training and rest appropriately
Eat, sleep, train and think right
Use affirmations to shift focus on what you want
Let go of the ego
Let go of attachment
SIMPLIFY

[Kendall D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost dried my highlighter out with this one

[Michael Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynch's first book and maybe one of the most influential of the five that I read. While one might suggest it's a self help book, it's not. It is a tool to help develop a better working knowledge of one's inner thought and personal development to open one's mind, body and spirit thus creating greater opportunities for self. Similar to how a building is constructed there are five phases; The blueprints, The Foundation, The obstacles, The frame, The inner structure and The Finishing Touches. Under each, Lynch present an analysis of a word/idea as developed in the Tao. Then, he presents how an athlete was affected and how through meditation and concentration exercises worked through the issue. He also gives some ideas of various "Affirmation" to assist in growth. He also different examples as they relate to business and other aspects of life. This book is good for self, coach and others who seek greater awareness of self.

[Jenifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as required reading for my Tai Chi class. It is well organized in outline and thorough in its topics. Each section has an introduction to a principle of the Tao Te Ching such as positive thinking, relaxation, and focus - which I liked, followed by some suggested visualizations and affirmations - which I thought were mostly redundant or silly. (I stay in the here and now, so I'll take a bow.") Each section also includes some basic sports psychology and motivational business advice. These got a little old for me. The layout of this book will make it easy for me to skim the gems and skip the rest. I particularly liked some of the later sections, like adaptation and balance.

[David Shafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent primer for mental training for athletes. Like any book on this subject, it requires athletes to put into practice some simple lessons. It is the practice that is the important part, not the reading about the practice. I think that it is especially useful for adult athletes who will put the ideas into application in their lives. However, if younger [High School age] athletes could read this and have a structured environment to work on the methods it would serve them well for their athletic and non-athletic future.

[Jess Lavender Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only book I have both the hard and ebook because I found myself needing to read sections at very random times and often is random places in my life. The chapters are broken into challenges that may arise in life/sport/business, I.e., injury, fear of failure, fear of success, slumps, it takes you through affirmations and stories. That usually helps me enough. But to get deeper, the following chapters work on the surround qualities that fortify your life perseverance. And I don’t give 5 stars like I give bread to fish and ducks.

[Cecelia Beyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of helpful things, but maybe :too many: helpful things. How on earth does one do :all: of the suggested visualizations and mantras? Was helpful in framing my sport-related mental block issues, but ultimately what was more helpful was having a athletic mental coach tailoring it specifically to me.

[Anagha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book - it introduced me to the power of meditation and helped me pick up life lessons and better understand experiences embedded in this year’s struggles personally and professionally. Will likely keep going back to refresh my memory on this one.

[Rdmooers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a beautiful book offering small changes to live a better life. I read this years ago but re-reading this while prepping for a big sporting event has helped me refocus energy and really enjoy the sport I play!

[Madon Dailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pick a Page, and Live a Better Life

Any page will give greater health and lead you to joy and calm. Combine the Way of the Tao, flowing like water, being all that you can be, and letting go. Use this for any and all facets of your life.

[M31 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aunque tiene una buena colección de enseñanzas aplicadas al entrenamiento deportivo, le sobran mantras, ejemplos y la parte de business and life... De lo que tiene, considero que solo la mitad resulta útil y tampoco es que sea nada revelador.

[Teri Temme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Motivational.

[Christos Andreev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gold! Some great advice in there that is applicable in all areas, no matter if you are into sports or in anything else.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains several meditation techniques to calm the mind and body. I found it beneficial for anxiety.

[Victoria Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the content but struggled to get gripped by the writing style.

[Zamfir Andrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary book! 😍

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with the general ideas in this book; however, I found the book poorly written.

The guidelines tend to childishly rattle on (and give mundane examples that insult the reader's intelligence) and each guideline strongly resembles numerous others found throughout the book.

The affirmations try to be memorable and catchy, but often only sound foolish.

Many of the visualization walk-throughs are ridiculous (personify fear, thank him for being there for you, shake hands with him, hug fear ... umm, no thanks, I don't feel like developing a neurosis today).

And the examples the authors give of Taoism involving their children annoy; every parent seems to think that reproducing is a godly act that instantaneously gives you insight. Everybody reproduces. Most people are stupid.

The second half of the book - or more - largely repeats the first.

Obviously, the authors did not learn the power of conciseness from the Tao Teh Ching or I Ching.

[Carrie Cheadle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. I have recommended it to many of the athletes I've worked with. I was actually in touch with one of the authors of this book recently (Jerry Lynch) and now I'm really excited to read his book The Way of the Champion. He has a great message and is doing some great work with athletes. This book is nice because it's broken down into specific topics so you can read it straight through or go straight to a specific section on anything from Positive Thinking or Relaxation to Perfectionism or Persistence.

[Shayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The above description doesn't touch on how awesome this book is. It is a book which combines western sport psychology concepts with eastern philosophy, particularly Taoism. I wish I had had this information when I was a high-level athlete. I have since found it and have required it as a text for my courses. It is a great book for helping an athlete or business go from good to great. It is a wholistic way of looking at life in general which I find refreshing.

[Jack Medford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting content. The first portion of the book gives an overview and the second gives actionable advice.

I would not recommend this book as a one time read. Instead, this one works better as a reference book. Read once with a highlighter/pen/tabs and take notes to be referenced later. There is so much actionable advice that it would be impossible to read this book once and get everything out of it.

[Mark Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting combination of sports psychology and Taoism, which mix surprisingly easily. It is much better if you already been exposed to eastern philosophy. I enjoyed the perspective of applying balance and humility to competitive sports. The emphasis on visualizations and affirmations for each minor point got old quickly, but that was mostly due to the way I absorbed it.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, I read this for a dance class. Mental gymnastics is the term that comes to mind. It has its uses, I will say! Sorry, I need to end this review so I can go listen to some Phillip Glass and just be................ :)

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spoke to Steve B. about how you can apply meditation to sports. I even rehearsed the fatigue of some workouts. When I take a two week vacation from resistance training though, I can start to use all the more weight when I return to the gym.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of the "Beginner's Mind" from this book. In essence, we must be always willing to learn new things and throw out old information. We must be excited and willing to take risks, and that is how we grow.

[Michael Cozzi]

Not only did this book help me immensely with my personal sporting goals , but it also gave me a positive mindset in my battle with cancer. I also used some of the philosophy in coaching youth ice hockey quite a few years ago, with pleasing results. A must reado

[Thomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book for anybody willing and open to learn and grow. especially good for competitive athletics. The visualizations and exercises in this book are adaptable to all the challenges that life provides so long as one is willing to look at themselves truthfully. :)

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Control the Mind and you can control anything. Thinking Body, Dancing Mind does a great job covering enthusastic techniques. Both authors highlight the benefits of staying positive and using visualization to overcome obstacles in both business and sports. Great Read.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

What we think... matters.

[Joan Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book a text book for a dance class I took (over a decade ago) and I still refer to it for exercises in focus, over coming obstacles, and moving forward.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a part of a dance class in college, but the book left such an impact on me, I have always kept it on my bookshelf and recommended it to others. Hope you read it and like it too.