I love little books. They are perfect to carry on trips or just for those waits at doctors’ offices. Moreover they make delightful gifts at holiday times. This month in Book Talk we will look at two little books, each quite different, but both of compact size as well as interesting, useful content.

Our first book is a follow-up volume to the author’s previous, best-selling work, The Hidden Messages in Water (Beyond Words Publishing, 2004), an amazing book we discussed earlier this year in Book Talk (see phenomeNEWS, Jan. 2005). Author Masuro Emoto, featured in the recent film What the (Bleep) Do We Know?, has written another fascinating work: The True Power of Water: Healing and Discovering Ourselves (Beyond Words Publishing, 2005). Emoto is an internationally renowned Japanese researcher. Originally a graduate in International Relations, he later received certification as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine. This new book utilizes Emoto’s previous research into the unique properties of water as he now applies it to healing.

As in his earlier book, Emoto includes many amazing photographs of ice crystals. Those alone are worth the price of the book. Readers who enjoyed The Hidden Messages in Water will respond equally positively to The True Power of Water. Nevertheless, readers unfamiliar with that previous work can read this new work with no problem. In fact, early in its pages, Emoto explains his water research before he goes on to various potential applications of the results of that research.

The main point to grasp from Emoto’s research is that “peoples’ consciousness changes water.” Throughout his books Emoto provides multiple examples of how water absorbs and retains “information” and that information “changes its quality.” What may be most difficult to accept, but what Emoto’s research consistently shows, is that water responds not only to thoughts and prayers, but also to written words. For example, “water formed beautiful crystals to all the words expressing gratitude all over the world.”

As a Doctor of Alternative Medicine, Masuro Emoto takes his research to the next step in this new book. He refers to the Japanese term, hado, which he uses to mean “all the subtle energy that exists in the universe.” (Note the first letter of each word in his subtitle.) He notes, as most scientists do today: “All existing things have vibrations, or hado.” He says, “Water is sensitive to (this) subtle form of energy called hado.” This is significant to human beings because 70 percent of the adult body is water. As a result, we are affected by the information we take in. “When we take in negative information, we can get sick.” Much of this book deals with this issue.

An interesting discussion of hado medicine reveals that Dr. Emoto uses “a type of radionics device capable of measuring various vibrations of the body at the cellular level.” He notes that he uses “several dozen devices” that he imported from the U.S. He doesn’t explain much about these medical devices, but as a side note, the only other place I have heard of “radionics” was in Edgar Cayce readings. “Radionics” was mentioned in over 40 of Cayce’s trance readings. One such device, popularly known as “The Black Box,” an invention of Albert Adams, MD, was said to “heal, even over distances, by broadcasting pulses of a type of radionics energy turned to alleviate the particular disorder.” (Edgar Cayce Encyclopedia of Healing, 1986, p. 506.) I hope that we will all learn more about such vibrational healing devices in future years.

What I just described above seems directly related to Emoto’s book. In one instance he reports on the healing practices of Dr. Yoshio Yamasaki, who uses “sounds to silence sounds.” The principle of canceling a sound wave by overlaying an opposite wave shape is, according to Emoto, “applicable to all hado.” Readers will welcome a simple table in which Emoto identifies various negative emotions, the main organs that resonate with those emotions, the usual disease manifestation that results, and most importantly, the “canceling emotions” one can elicit in order to “cancel” the problem. This chapter and table provide much food for thought.

Now, how does water relate to this healing? If indeed, as Emoto believes, water can hold information, then with words or thoughtful intention, one can place the “counter-active” emotion into water, ingest it, and help heal and balance the disease or problem at the cellular level. To support his thesis, Dr. Emoto includes several very interesting case histories to show how he applies his research in concrete situations with real patients.

This little volume is rich with both information and inspiration. Emoto’s key point is: “To live a healthy life, keep your thoughts positive.” He believes that “all doctors should be philosophers as well as healers.”

One fascinating bit of information Emoto shares from his research is that “the name of (a) disease contains negative information strong enough to prevent the distilled water from making crystals.” This might strongly suggest to readers that when we focus our thoughts and energies on our various aches, pains and illnesses, that we are reinforcing their powers. Emoto notes: “To give your attention to something is a way of giving energy.”

Emoto encourages readers to send healing to our bodies with prayers in the past tense. That is, instead of asking for healing in the future, “we can make our thought and intention stronger by saying it in the past tense” as if it is already accomplished. He urges readers to “talk to water” and to shake the bottle of water to help activate it (as is done in preparing homeopathic remedies). He also provides a very helpful chart of various foods and their relative healing vibrations in relation to immunity, anti-stress and anti-depression. He also provides warnings of the negative effects of electronic devices, such as microwave ovens, cellular phones, televisions and personal computers. Readers will be relieved to learn how to counteract negative effects of those waves. Thoughts of “love and gratitude” are the key. “The lesson is that positive information can prevail over electromagnetic waves.” Other healing devices are “beautiful pictures and music.”

This is a beautiful, informative little book sure to please the minds and hearts of many readers. I’ll end with words from the author: “May our understanding of water help bring peace to all humankind.”

Our second little book comes from the international best selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series. Richard Carlson, PhD, has reached more than 40 million readers in more than 100 countries as he taught people how to stop the little things in life from driving them crazy. In his new work, Easier Than You Think... because life doesn’t have to be so hard (Harper San Francisco, 2005), he sets a new course. Rather than dealing with life’s little and annoying stresses, now he demonstrates how simple, but effective, small changes can actually transform one’s life. Instead of stepping back in order to not “sweat the small stuff,” now he encourages us to “step forward” in order to become “a person who isn’t bothered to begin with.”

Readers who loved the Don’t Sweat series are sure to respond positively to Carlson’s newest book. It is a delightful volume filled with wisdom and practical psychological insights. Organized in the same format as the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, the book has easy-to-read chapters ranging from three to six pages in length. Readers can easily grasp Carlson’s message in each chapter. He conveys the same wise insights of many other teachers, but without any difficult metaphysical or quantum physics terminology. This book is for everyone from teens to grandmothers.

Carlson’s introduction makes an extremely important point, one especially relevant to today’s stressful times. In many ways most of us see the world as confusing and chaotic with conflicts in the Middle East, threats of terrorism around the world, gigantic hurricanes displacing thousands, high energy prices hurting the economy, and multiple job layoffs in hundreds of industries. All of this piles up on top of personal issues, bad health, stressful relationships and pressures at work. Carlson points out that we “tend to believe that the only way to find true peace is to escape.” Escape usually manifests as some kind of moving away from the chaos (to another town, job, relationships, etc.), or by “tuning out” by watching TV, playing computer games, overworking, use of alcohol or drugs, or other forms of distractions.

The lesson underlying this whole book is that those “escape” methods are only temporary fixes. “The root of our stress... is our very response to chaos. To be truly transformed, we need to first learn to be at peace while we’re in the middle of all this confusion.” It’s all about the difference between “reacting” to a given situation and “responding” to it. That is what this book can do. It will present many examples of small changes that can bring great rewards to your life. It will help you learn “how not to react out of impulse or fear, but instead to respond with calm and cool to everyone from bosses to loved ones.”

Richard Carlson organizes Easier Than You Think into four sections. The first, entitled “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” discusses how “one tiny shift in your attitude can make the difference between misery and happiness.” Just a few ideas here involve the following: examining your thoughts, recognizing negative thought patterns, and knowing that “your thoughts cannot harm you without your consent.” Another step is to question your belief system and assumptions. A third step is to “be there for yourself;” to be kind to yourself. A very important single step is to accept the fact that change happens. We need to prepare for it. Perhaps most important is attitude and how we approach each day. There are many more productive suggestions to explore in this section. Most are explained with anecdotes from Carlson’s family, friends, clients and his own life experience.

The second section of the book, called “Take Five,” shows how “making a small step back instead of overreacting or reacting simply out of fear can radically reduce your stress.” One of the most important points here deals with control issues – a major problem for most of us. Carlson points out the truth that “we have very little control over what happens around us.” His advice is to “let go” or in other words, “take five.” Step back, take time to center yourself to situations, so that you can “respond” reasonably. “The only aspect of life you have any control over is your own reaction to the events taking place.”

Another insightful chapter in part two of Carlson’s book is to “Notice what gets you.” This, too, requires that you step back, and “take five” to identify what bugs you. Usually what bugs us all are silly little things: drivers who tailgate us or who drive slowly in the fast lane, empty shelves at the supermarket, too many “forwards” in our e-mail box, piles of junk mail, phone calls at dinner time and people loudly talking on cell phones in public. No doubt we could all create our own list of minor, stressful situations. Carlson helps us become aware that it is not those specific things that cause us stress, but rather the way we react to them. His advice, and your small change, is to simply “observe your own reactions.” He says, “The first and most important step in eliminating a great deal of stress from your life is simply becoming aware of what stresses you out.” There are many more useful and insightful chapters in “Take Five.”

Part three is entitled “Turning on a Dime” where we learn about small changes that enable us “to adapt and respond appropriately to many of life’s twists and turns.” In order to adapt to constantly changing circumstances – which is what life is all about – we need to “know that the world and the vast majority of the people in it are not going to change.” So, “if anyone is going to change, it’s going to be us.” Some lessons in this section involve non-judgment of others, becoming more welcoming, learning to say “no,” stopping the blaming game and becoming conscious of how our life choices influence others around us.

Finally, in “My Two Bits,” Carlson talks about small changes you can make that affect the world you live in and in turn make you feel better about yourself. These changes involve practicing kindness to others, becoming more generous, reading more and leaving the environment and the world even more beautiful than before. The whole point is “to try every single day to make a small difference in someone else’s life.”

Surely by now you have noticed that all four sections of Carlson’s book deal with “small change:” pennies, five cents, a dime, and two bits. Carlson’s light-hearted approach reveals a significant truth: “The nature of small change (is that) a little effort goes a long way.” Easier Than You Think may be a “little book” but it is big in heart and rich in wisdom. Clearly, it is “easier than you think” to get the most out of life.

Gayl Woityra, a retired high school English and Humanities teacher, now resides in Arizona where she continues to pursue her eclectic metaphysical studies in consciousness, the Ageless Wisdom, astrology, flower essences, music, color and alternative medicine.