The No Self, No Problem Workbook: Exercises & Practices from Neuropsychology and Buddhism to Help You Lose Your Mind (The No Self Wisdom Series) by Chris Niebauer

The No Self, No Problem Workbook: Exercises & Practices from Neuropsychology and Buddhism to Help You Lose Your Mind (The No Self Wisdom Series) Reviews

• 
  Srikanth

  This book is filled with exercises and practices to actually help the reader experience the concept of 'No Self' or use the right brain more to live in the present moment and let the left brain handle the analytical stuff. Definitely worth reading and trying out the exercises.
• 
  John Johnson

  The No Self, No Problem Workbook is a sequel to Chris Niebauer's No Self, No Problem. You might think of the original book as the theory of no-self and the follow-up workbook as a set of practices for achieving a sense of no-self. However, the first book is not completely theoretical; Dr. Niebauer does sprinkle some suggested activities for achieving a sense of no-self in it, a few of which appear in the workbook. And, as Dr. Niebauer states at the outset of the workbook, you do not need to read the first book to understand and make use of the workbook. Having already read the original book, I recognized the briefest recapitulation of ideas from it in the workbook. In my judgment, Dr. Niebauer is correct in suggesting that reading the original book is not necessary for understanding and making use of the workbook (although I do recommend reading the original simply because it is an excellent book in its own right).
  
  The point of both the original and workbook is that most of us rely so heavily on the left cerebral hemisphere's constant use of language, categorizing, and story-telling that we miss out on experiencing the world through our right cerebral hemisphere, which connects us to our body's movement through the world and our feeling of wholeness and connectedness to everything. Thus, most of us live in an unbalanced state most of the time, our left brain chattering away like a sports commentator, interpreting the world instead of just experiencing and enjoying it. The goal of the exercises in the No Self, No Problem Workbook is not to eliminate the fictions created by the left brain (including the sense of an unchanging self), but simply to understand the limitations of those fictions and to become more open to our silent but important right hemisphere.
  
  The No Self, No Problem Workbook is a bit of a paradox in that a book full of words is intended to get us to stop using our words so much. But it accomplishes this successfully through two main routes. The first to demonstrate the biases and forms of faulty thinking our left hemisphere engages in constantly. These demonstrations will be familiar to anyone like myself who has taught psychology and maybe by students who are lucky enough to have encountered them in an introductory psychology course. The demonstrations illustrate how what seems logical can lead us to incorrect solutions, how beliefs lead to visual illusions, how motives distort thinking, how we use limited information to draw incorrect conclusions, and—to my mind, most importantly—how the left brain tends to create more problems and suffering than it solves. These demonstrations are highly effective for punching holes in the left-brain ego, readying the reader for alternatives to the limited left brain.
  
  The second route for quieting the left brain and bringing out the right brain is a large set of activities that rely by necessity on the right brain. These activities you actually have to do to receive the benefits; reading about them is not enough, as Dr. Niebauer clearly states. Although some of the activities might cause a bit of discomfort (to the left brain), I think you'll find them actually enjoyable. I did. In fact, I was so sold on the idea of spending some time each day barefoot in the grass, that I have been doing this, even in the middle of winter. The right brain is about doing, so if you want benefits from this book, you must do at least some of the exercises.
  
  One thing I must say about the book is that its format did not look at all like I expected. In the positive psychology I taught for many years we used a workbook that briefly described a number of hands-on activities followed by open-ended questions with a lot of blank lines where the reader could write about his or her experiences with the exercises. Our workbook was also organized into chapters on different topics in positive psychology (e.g., compassion, mindfulness, gratitude). No Self, No Problem Workbook is not that kind of workbook. Although some of the exercises can involve writing, there are not spaces for writing in the workbook. Also, there is no organization into chapters on topics. Instead of long chapters, there are very short (a page or two) sections with headings. Some headings describe forthcoming content, while others begin with the label Exercise: or Practice: that ask the reader to do something. I (that is, my left brain) kept looking for some kind of overarching organizational pattern to the book, but I found none. Not that the book is disorganized (far from it), but it seems that Dr. Niebauer didn't want the reader to get caught up in intellectualizing, which would have been contrary to the purpose of the book. The book flows along beautifully and kept my attention from beginning to finish.
  
  A final comment. When I reviewed Dr. Niebauer's first book, I noted a similarity between his ideas and those of don Miguel Ruiz, and I wondered if he had read or even met Ruiz. This question is answered in the No Self No Problem Workbook, as there is one explicit reference to Ruiz. If you are a fan of the books written by Ruiz and his sons (as I am), I am pretty sure that you will love the No Self, No Problem Workbook.
  
• 
  Naman Gupta

  Learn the state of "No-Self" and be free from all the sufferings.
  
  In this book, I learned about thinking patterns, improving our thinking habits, the function of the right brain and left brain ( and how to use them properly), how to use the brain in our growth, etc.
  
  Exercises and practices were immensely amazing. They helped a lot in understanding the lessons more clearly.
  
  Read this book to learn a new perspective of seeing yourself and the world. Unlearn the false sense of self you have within that is the root cause of all your mental suffering.
• 
  Rashmi

  The No Self, No Problem Workbook by Chris Niebauer is a remarkable workbook to know our thinking patterns and improve them accordingly. It explains the whole concept of how the right and left brain work. It helped me better understand our thought process.
  
  after reading this book. I can control my thoughts and thinking. Thank you, Chris Niebauer, for writing this book.
  This book is a miracle for me
• 
  Anna Stewart

  Fantastic read, so “mind opening” ha! Or mind separating more like 🤣 it really puts you into different perspective , I’ve read the first one and I’m glad I’ve got that one too as all the practical exercises are super helpful and can get you to state of your “real” self.
• 
  Zoe

  So interesting and thought provoking. A must for anyone who’s interested in mindfulness.
• 
  Kris

  This one didn’t resonate. Most exercises didn’t make sense or I heard of them before. Can’t see any point n finishing it.
• 
  Bill

  Some good bits, but he really does throw the kitchen sink at this, with everything from gratitude journals to walking barefoot stuck onto a little bit of Buddhism.
• 
  o.roodie

  TAKE THE NEW PATH EVERYDAY
  
  This book got a great new understanding of our mind errors, like do the same to keep you safe, but DO NEW EVERYDAY - descover new paths around, expantion, evolution, new joy…