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Weight Loss for the Mind
Stuart shows how many of the opinions in our society that cause us anguish can be released through some psychological and spiritual understanding. He reveals the techniques that can help liberate you from the perceptions of others and, thus, set you FREE!
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 1994
About the author
Stuart Wilde
76 books153 followersWilde was born in Farnham, England. He was educated at St. George’s College, Weybridge, Surrey. After his schooling he joined the English Stage Company in Sloane Square, London. A year later he opened a jeans business in Carnaby Street London, at the height of the Swinging Sixties where he enjoyed considerable commercial success.
He studied alternative religions and Taoist philosophy for five years from the age of twenty-eight, and when he was thirty-three, he emigrated to the United States of America where lived in Laguna Beach, California with his first wife Cynthia. He wrote his first book, Miracles, in 1983.
Shortly thereafter he began a career as a lecturer appearing mainly in New Thought Churches and at New Age conferences. In the 1990s he toured regularly with Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay, appearing at venues such as the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
tuart Wilde is a prolific writer, with eighteen of his books published to date. They appear in more than fifteen foreign languages, with a total of ninety-three different books and audio works in circulation.[2]
He executive produced and was the lyricist on the music album Voice of the Feminine Spirit (1994), which sold several hundred-thousand copies. He later produced and was the lyricist on two albums of Celtic music, Voice of the Celtic Myth (1997), and Creation (1999), and wrote the book and libretto for Tim Wheater’s oratorio Heartland (1995).
He studied alternative religions and Taoist philosophy for five years from the age of twenty-eight, and when he was thirty-three, he emigrated to the United States of America where lived in Laguna Beach, California with his first wife Cynthia. He wrote his first book, Miracles, in 1983.
Shortly thereafter he began a career as a lecturer appearing mainly in New Thought Churches and at New Age conferences. In the 1990s he toured regularly with Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay, appearing at venues such as the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
tuart Wilde is a prolific writer, with eighteen of his books published to date. They appear in more than fifteen foreign languages, with a total of ninety-three different books and audio works in circulation.[2]
He executive produced and was the lyricist on the music album Voice of the Feminine Spirit (1994), which sold several hundred-thousand copies. He later produced and was the lyricist on two albums of Celtic music, Voice of the Celtic Myth (1997), and Creation (1999), and wrote the book and libretto for Tim Wheater’s oratorio Heartland (1995).
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 4, 2011
All of Stuart Wilde's books are priceless. I enjoy all of his readings and discoveries into the nature of existence and how we may be able to life ourselves up higher and higher.
Some of the interesting tid-bits of wisdom I gathered from this tiny-little book include:
1. We perceive what we believe
2. Serenity flows naturally from a heightened perception.
3. If you are diligent, and you concentrate and take right action, you'll most likely always get the best result. But you must love life and accept it when it doesn't go your way. (When faced with an adverse situation, don't react, just accept it. Act calmly. Act powerfully. If you don't know what to do immediately, do nothing - wait until the answer comes to you.)
4. Buy the solution - not the emotion
5. In leaning emotionally toward your dreams, you actually push them away. Yearning is a powerful affirmation that categorically states, "I do not have the thing I yearn for."
And lots of other wonderful quotes of wisdom sprinkled throughout this book of wisdom. Enjoy the read.
Some of the interesting tid-bits of wisdom I gathered from this tiny-little book include:
1. We perceive what we believe
2. Serenity flows naturally from a heightened perception.
3. If you are diligent, and you concentrate and take right action, you'll most likely always get the best result. But you must love life and accept it when it doesn't go your way. (When faced with an adverse situation, don't react, just accept it. Act calmly. Act powerfully. If you don't know what to do immediately, do nothing - wait until the answer comes to you.)
4. Buy the solution - not the emotion
5. In leaning emotionally toward your dreams, you actually push them away. Yearning is a powerful affirmation that categorically states, "I do not have the thing I yearn for."
And lots of other wonderful quotes of wisdom sprinkled throughout this book of wisdom. Enjoy the read.
February 14, 2019
اولین بار سال ۹۰ خوندم این کتابو و با توجه به یاداشتی که اول جلد نوشتم جالب بوده، دومین بار هم سال ۹۲ و باز یادداشت نوشتم که دوباره بخونمش کتاب کوتاهیه و زیاد وقت گیر نیست.
October 4, 2019
The first half was very inspirational and eye opening, life changing even. The second half was really strange, the author seems to have trust issues and also kinda narcissistic. Really weird read.
April 3, 2023
Amazing
Great read, cheap price, great bang for the buck. Go right ahead and sample this, nothing to lose. Interesting read.
Great read, cheap price, great bang for the buck. Go right ahead and sample this, nothing to lose. Interesting read.
July 21, 2025
Stuart Wilde was an angel of light sent by God to help the rest of us come in touch with our soul. This is An amazing book written by an amazing man!
February 13, 2026
Enjoywd
September 8, 2016
There's little here that's "new," in any particular sense of the word. Wilde is an entertaining figure in the world of New Age philosophy, without meaning any sleight to the genre at large. The trouble is that he is far more entertainer than philosopher, and to a certain degree, he's hypocritical.
In another volume, Wilde speaks in greater depth of his past. A clothing entrepreneur of the 1970s, the man was worth millions of British pound notes and, by his account, literally walked away from every last penny of it in order to find himself, his purpose, his true calling. What he's found is another fascinating way to make millions more by telling everyone else to throw away their own pennies -- not literally, but the intention is there nonetheless.
In Zen and other eastern practices, much is made of "detachment," saying in essence that it is best to be apart from all worldly things rather than to suffer the pain of losing worldly things, including life itself. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is famous for saying (I'm paraphrasing) that satisfying a want merely leads to manifold new wants, and thus one is never happy; his idea, like Wilde's, is to want nothing, and therefore never be disappointed. This is like saying that if one never eats, one will never be hungry again.
Wilde takes it a step further in what I find to be a particularly disturbing comment:
I've dropped enough time and money on the couch to know that, when people are really bad for you, it's best to walk away. But if you never form attachments to people, you are never really in their lives, nor are they in yours. If you risk nothing, you gain nothing. It is not possible to love without some measure of attachment, and this refers to any level, type, or depth of love. If your favorite menu item vanishes at your local restaurant, you're going to grieve a little -- maybe for only a few seconds, but it's gonna hurt. When a beloved friend or relative dies, you're going to grieve a lot, and that's not merely normal, it's vital, in the sense of "required to live." Life, at its essence, is about your relationship to the people in things that you encounter, and if you don't risk engaging with them, then you're a heartless slug who is wasting a perfectly good incarnation. In many religions, God takes the risk of making Himself human long enough to engage with, attach Himself to, and suffer through those infamous "slings and arrows." To be human is to suffer and to know joy, to have your spirit crushed and to have it experience ecstasy. That is what it is to be human.
Taking Wilde's own advice, I now detach myself from him, as I can't trust anyone who not only claims not to engage in life but who also is making money off of telling others to do so. Happily, he won't care that I think he's a money-sucking sideshow philosopher. You, Dear Reader, have the chance to judge for yourself, and I urge you to do so. My own tuppence is that Wilde is dangerously antisocial, and you're best done with him. Move on. Frankly, go find Leo Buscaglia and let yourself remember what love is all about. It's far more valid a viewpoint than mere detachment for its own sake.
In another volume, Wilde speaks in greater depth of his past. A clothing entrepreneur of the 1970s, the man was worth millions of British pound notes and, by his account, literally walked away from every last penny of it in order to find himself, his purpose, his true calling. What he's found is another fascinating way to make millions more by telling everyone else to throw away their own pennies -- not literally, but the intention is there nonetheless.
In Zen and other eastern practices, much is made of "detachment," saying in essence that it is best to be apart from all worldly things rather than to suffer the pain of losing worldly things, including life itself. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is famous for saying (I'm paraphrasing) that satisfying a want merely leads to manifold new wants, and thus one is never happy; his idea, like Wilde's, is to want nothing, and therefore never be disappointed. This is like saying that if one never eats, one will never be hungry again.
Wilde takes it a step further in what I find to be a particularly disturbing comment:
In my early 20s, I owned a clothing company. We hired a great designer who was the mainstay of the corporation. She was indispensable. Exercising power over us, she totally controlled the fate of the company -- and she knew it. After a while, her ego kicked in with a vengeance, and she became temperamental, capricious, and unreliable. As she wobbled, the whole company wobbled with her. She caused endless trouble because we had no real control. From that day forth, I decided I would never suffer the same situation again. Now, everyone in my life is dispensable. I hold no permanent emotion to any situation or person -- including family and friends. (emphasis added)
I've dropped enough time and money on the couch to know that, when people are really bad for you, it's best to walk away. But if you never form attachments to people, you are never really in their lives, nor are they in yours. If you risk nothing, you gain nothing. It is not possible to love without some measure of attachment, and this refers to any level, type, or depth of love. If your favorite menu item vanishes at your local restaurant, you're going to grieve a little -- maybe for only a few seconds, but it's gonna hurt. When a beloved friend or relative dies, you're going to grieve a lot, and that's not merely normal, it's vital, in the sense of "required to live." Life, at its essence, is about your relationship to the people in things that you encounter, and if you don't risk engaging with them, then you're a heartless slug who is wasting a perfectly good incarnation. In many religions, God takes the risk of making Himself human long enough to engage with, attach Himself to, and suffer through those infamous "slings and arrows." To be human is to suffer and to know joy, to have your spirit crushed and to have it experience ecstasy. That is what it is to be human.
Taking Wilde's own advice, I now detach myself from him, as I can't trust anyone who not only claims not to engage in life but who also is making money off of telling others to do so. Happily, he won't care that I think he's a money-sucking sideshow philosopher. You, Dear Reader, have the chance to judge for yourself, and I urge you to do so. My own tuppence is that Wilde is dangerously antisocial, and you're best done with him. Move on. Frankly, go find Leo Buscaglia and let yourself remember what love is all about. It's far more valid a viewpoint than mere detachment for its own sake.
July 27, 2024
The advice here is facile, simplistic, and brimming with toxic positivity. Having a feeling that is uncomfortable? Shove it down, it's not really there. More typical 90's "self-help" from a privelaged white man, who attributes his success to positive thinking, blind to the advantages he owes to circumstance. If there is anything valuable here, it is just a highly diluted version of a few zen koans or passages from the Dao de Jing. Skip this and go straight to the source.
November 1, 2013
I guess it should come as no surprise that I have a real affinity for small books (considering the size of my first three books) and Stuart Wilde’s book, “Weight Loss for the Mind”, is no exception. This book conveniently, and easily, fits into a purse or decent sized pocket and, indeed, it is precisely because of this fact that I was able to carry it around and read it whenever I had some time to spare.
The book itself consists of nine chapters, with the key point displayed as a “Realization” at the end of each chapter.
Stuart starts out by saying that our perceptions are based on our beliefs and that we get upset when we are emotionally attached to an outcome that doesn't manifest in reality. Additional insights include the pointlessness of guilt, overcoming fear, healing confusion and how, in many cases, the ego plays a big role in many of the obstacles in life.
Stuart cuts straight to the point with his ideas, but he also had a wonderful wit that comes through in this book (after visiting his website I came to realize he was quite the comedian). Although Mr. Wilde has now gone onto the Great Unknown, I am grateful that he shared his thoughts and I look forward to reading & reviewing more of his books in the next few months.
The book itself consists of nine chapters, with the key point displayed as a “Realization” at the end of each chapter.
Stuart starts out by saying that our perceptions are based on our beliefs and that we get upset when we are emotionally attached to an outcome that doesn't manifest in reality. Additional insights include the pointlessness of guilt, overcoming fear, healing confusion and how, in many cases, the ego plays a big role in many of the obstacles in life.
Stuart cuts straight to the point with his ideas, but he also had a wonderful wit that comes through in this book (after visiting his website I came to realize he was quite the comedian). Although Mr. Wilde has now gone onto the Great Unknown, I am grateful that he shared his thoughts and I look forward to reading & reviewing more of his books in the next few months.
May 8, 2009
It really is about relieving heaviness from the *mind.*
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews