The Untethered Soul – Michael A. Singer

You ever just sit there and feel like your own mind is driving you crazy?

Like… your thoughts won’t stop. You’re trying to work, and your brain says, “What if this doesn’t work out?” Then later, “Why did she say that?” Then even when you’re trying to relax, it’s like: “Remember that thing you messed up years ago?”

Yeah, same.

So I picked up this book called The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer, hoping to quiet that noise. And wow — it didn’t teach me how to “fix” everything, but it completely shifted how I see myself and my thoughts. I want to tell you what I learned, simply and honestly.

1. You’re Not That Voice in Your Head

Okay, imagine your thoughts as this chatty person living in your head. Constantly judging, worrying, planning, remembering… like a radio that never shuts up.

Singer says: That voice isn’t you. You’re the one hearing it.

That hit me. I always thought my thoughts were me — but they’re not. I’m the awareness behind them. The one silently watching. That’s the real “me.” The soul.

It’s weird at first. But once you notice the voice, it’s like standing outside a glass window, watching it ramble inside. You don’t have to argue with it. Just watch. It starts to lose power over you.

2. That Inner Voice? It’s a Little… Unstable

Singer compares your thoughts to a roommate — but not a wise or calm one. More like a paranoid, dramatic, overthinking roommate who never lets you breathe.

If you actually heard someone say out loud what your mind says all day, you’d probably laugh or get annoyed. But we believe this inner monologue as truth!

Truth is, that voice is mostly fear trying to keep you “safe.” But it ends up trapping you in patterns that don’t help.

What do you do? Don’t argue with it. Don’t try to silence it. Just notice it. When you become the observer, not the participant, things shift.

3. Let Go. Please, Just Let Go.

Here’s one of the book’s most powerful lessons:
The moment you feel resistance, tension, or pain — let it go. Don’t hold on. Don’t feed it.

I know, letting go sounds simple but feels impossible. We hold grudges. We replay fights. We carry hurt from 10 years ago.

But Singer says emotional energy only stays because we hold it. If we just let it pass through — like a wave — it would be gone in seconds.

So next time someone says something that stings? Try not to react. Just breathe, stay open, and let it move through you. Don’t grab it. Don’t wrestle with it. Let it go like a leaf on a river.

4. Keep Your Heart Open — Especially When It Hurts

This part… whew. Singer talks about the heart not just emotionally, but energetically. When it’s open, life flows. Love flows. Joy flows.

But when we get hurt, we slam it shut. We put up walls. We protect ourselves.

I do it. You probably do it too.

But guess what? The more we shut down, the more life feels heavy and cold. Singer says: Even when pain hits — try to stay open.

When someone breaks your trust or life disappoints you, don’t collapse into yourself. Let the pain move, but keep your heart soft. It’s not easy. But it’s freeing.

5. Pain Isn’t the Problem — Your Resistance Is

This one messed with me in a good way.

Pain? It’s part of being alive. But suffering? That’s when we resist the pain.

Like, if someone leaves you, it hurts. But when you obsess, blame, replay — that’s resistance. That’s suffering.

What if — just what if — you let pain come, let it be, and let it go?

Singer says to think of emotions like weather. Storms come. But they pass. If you don’t fight the rain, you don’t suffer.

6. Death — The Wake-Up Call We Ignore

This chapter was like a soft slap to the soul.

Singer says we live like we have forever. But none of us do. We avoid thinking about death, but if we really remembered that we’re going to die — maybe not 50 years from now, maybe tomorrow — we’d live so differently.

We’d stop sweating the small stuff. Stop pretending we’re invincible. We’d love more. Forgive faster. Let go of crap we’ve carried too long.

That’s not dark. It’s honest. Let death remind you to live fully now.

7. Sit in the Seat of Awareness

Singer says we all have a center inside us — the calm space where we can sit and just watch. That’s the “seat of awareness.”

Most of us never sit there. We’re running around in our heads, reacting to every thought like it’s urgent.

But if you can sit back, breathe, and observe… suddenly everything slows down. You stop getting sucked into drama. You see clearly.

It’s not about controlling your mind. It’s about watching it. Like clouds passing in the sky. You are the sky. Not the storm.

8. Real Freedom Is an Inside Job

This part really spoke to me.

We keep thinking we’ll be happy when…
When we get that job. When we fix that relationship. When things go our way.

But Singer says — and he’s right — if your peace depends on outside stuff, you’re not free. You’re a puppet on strings.

True freedom is being okay no matter what. Even if it rains. Even if people don’t like you. Even if life doesn’t go “right.”

It’s not apathy. It’s peace. And it starts when you stop trying to control everything.

9. Practice Makes Peace

You’re probably wondering: “Okay, but how do I actually do all this?”

Singer says: start small.

Watch your thoughts like a curious observer.
Notice what makes your heart close — then breathe and keep it open.
When pain comes, say: “This will pass.”
Let things go — not later, now.
Keep showing up as the observer, not the victim.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s about choosing freedom again and again.

Some days you’ll get it. Some days you won’t. But each time you return to that quiet awareness inside… you’re coming home.

Final Words from Me to You

This book didn’t give me quick hacks or magical secrets. What it gave me is something better: space. Space between me and my thoughts. Space between me and my reactions. Space to breathe.

Life is still messy. But now I feel less tangled in it. Like I can step back and smile even when it’s not all perfect.

So if you’re tired, overthinking, or just feeling stuck… The Untethered Soul might help you remember who you really are.

Not your pain. Not your fear.
You’re the one watching. The one aware. The one free.
Always were.