‘Inner Game’ authors workshop
By Alicia Doyle
A recent article in the Ventura County Star highlights a workshop give by Tim Gallwey and this co-authors of “The Innergame of Stress”, Westlake Village physicians Edd Hanzelik and John Horton.
The possibility of building enough inner stability to withstand the inevitable winds of stress is the focus of “The Inner Game of Stress,” a book by sports psychology expert Timothy Gallwey, who teamed up with Westlake Village physicians Edd Hanzelik and John Horton to provide a guide to mental health in today’s volatile world.
“It’s not a cookie-cutter approach to managing stress; it helps people access their own innate human qualities, which can not only prevent stress but increase the joy in their lives,” said Gallwey, of Malibu. “When a person is clear about the core of who they are, then the changes that take place in the external world do not have the power to throw one off balance.”
Gallwey, Hanzelik and Horton visited California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on Sept. 23 to discuss and sign copies of the book, as part of the Health and Social Change Lecture Series presented by the CLU Center for Equality and Justice.
The popular “Inner Game” series started with self-help books for athletes and then explored other realms, including music and work.
For the latest book, released Aug. 18, Gallwey, Hanzelik and Horton spent 15 years applying the principles to the management of everyday stress brought on by personal, professional, financial and physical issues to develop a practical solution.
“We go to the core of the problem. The mammalian fight/flight system cannot adequately respond to the human challenges of life,” said Hanzelik, who lives in Calabasas and has an office in Westlake Village.
“We need to play ‘The Inner Game’ and discover a host of resources within us: nonjudgmental awareness, stability, clarity, choice and a personal shield,” Hanzelik said. “This book is unique, because we help people discover a fresh, enjoyable approach to responding to the challenges of life.”
It is about learning specific, practical tools to shift from our primitive stress system to our more evolved human wisdom system, said Horton of Westlake Village, who has collaborated with Gallwey on the “Inner Game” series for more than 30 years and with Hanzelik on stress seminars for 15 years.
“We know that we do not like stress, but we think that is just the way of life. So we try to manage or adapt to stress,” said Horton, who will describe the stress system and how overusing this system opens the door to illness, among other related topics.
Gallwey will discuss specific tools for building inner stability, including how to be the CEO of your own life, as well as a model for learning and growing without self-judgment.