Michael Singer’s first book, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, plays a significant part in Oprah’s life. “It’s one of the most important books of my spiritual growth and development,” she tells Singer in a conversation they recorded for a Super Soul podcast episode. The book, which charts a course from finding inner peace to achieving true happiness, is required reading for every senior at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. Oprah says she doesn't even know how many copies she’s gifted over the years—the number is just too high.
Singer’s latest book, Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament, which was officially released today, picks up where his other work left off. When Oprah and Singer sat down to record the conversation in the video above, they talked about freeing ourselves with positivity, being present, and the meaning of life. Below, a few highlights from their discussion:
Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament
Awareness and acceptance come from within.
Oprah shares one of her favorite insights from Living Untethered: “The moment in front of you is not bothering you. You are bothering yourself about the moment in front of you.” Singer agrees that it’s one of his favorites, explaining that it’s important to realize our problems are often internal, not external. By having a negative reaction to something that happens to you, “you are creating that problem inside yourself,” he says. But once you’ve come to terms with that, you can begin to work on yourself.
New Harbinger Pubns The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
Stop resisting the present moment.
In Living Untethered, Singer writes, “No one has ever been able to make something not happen that already happened. Period.” Accepting this is the first step to being more present. Oprah calls it surrendering—and says that anxiety and stress are often results of people not being able to accept the present moment. If you’re complaining about something, Singer says to ask yourself, What good did any one of those complaints do? “The answer is ‘nothing.’ It didn’t change anything. Why are you doing it, then? Why are you doing it?”
Let go of the darkness to find the light.
“The meaning of your life is to let go of the darkness, the disturbances, and the blockages that you’ve stored inside,” Singer tells Oprah. This is part of becoming a giver rather than a taker—and includes being okay when things don’t go your way, and realizing that wanting (and getting) what you don’t have won’t actually fill you up.
As Oprah notes, these concepts can be confusing for first-time readers, so Singer outlines a key takeaway for everyone. “I’d like everyone to understand you can learn not to cause all that trouble inside yourself, and then deal with the problem rationally, calmly,” he says. “You’ll find your life is much better off.”
Listen to more of Oprah’s enlightening conversations.
After watching the video above, listen to more Super Soul episodes on Spotify or watch them on Oprah Daily below.
Cassie Hurwitz (she/her) is an associate editor at Oprah Daily, where she covers everything from culture to entertainment to lifestyle. She can typically be found in the middle of multiple books and TV shows all at once. Previously, Cassie worked at Parents, Rachael Ray In Season, and Reveal. Her love language is pizza (New York slices, Chicago deep dish, and otherwise).
