I've been hearing people talking about mindfulness and seeing books about it pass through the library for years, but I never really had a good idea of what it actually is. I thought it might just be another touchy-feely trend that tells me I can choose which emotions I feel, blah blah blah, and I kind of harrumphed myself away from learning more about it.
When I was reading another book earlier this year, [b:Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change|18144153|Beyond Addiction How Science and Kindness Help People Change|Jeffrey Foote|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392574958s/18144153.jpg|25491489], there was a reference to an informal meditation technique that I found very helpful in calming my mind when I was getting overwhelmed and agitated. This sparked an interest in mindfulness and meditation that eventually led to my trying out this book.
It's a book I had seen floating around for years. When I worked for Borders in Madison, Wisconsin, we stocked it by the floorstack. It's an extensive introduction to meditation practice and an outline of how meditation in its various forms can and has been used to approach health issues, both mental and physical. And the concept of mindfulness as an alternative to going through life in autopilot mode made sense to me. I don't know if I understand every nuance or am totally on board with every concept, but I was glad I read it and valued what I got out of it enough to buy a copy to keep as a reference. ( )

i understand what some may like abt this, how it may help some ppl

the chapters on dealing w pain were particularly good, and its nice that it gives relatively simple and direct instructions for different sorts of meditation

but there r far better sources for such instructions, and i far prefer the traditional tibetan approach to meditating with pain

the book claims to partake in a revolution in modern science/psychology, but remains trapped in its positivistic reductive outlook, claiming that a "systems view" will save the coherence of scientism. ultimately though, it has nothing but mild platitudes to offer to the making of such a so-called "paradigm shift"

the best part by far is a single phrase from the introduction: "as long as u r breathing, there is more rite w u than wrong" ( )

If you are looking for a different way to deal with stress and pressure, whether work-related or not, this book is for you.

Do not be intimidated by the size of this tome - the premise is actually quite simple and it is highly likely that you will "get" the essence and basics of the practice after reading just the first two chapters. For this reason, it may feel repetitive at times. Reading the whole book is still highly recommended if you want a deeper understanding of MBSR and its applications. ( )

I liked the message, but thought it was rather longwinded. Bit of a mixed bag, but it got me started on yoga and meditation, which I like doing. ( )

I read this book as an introduction to Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as I am attending a weekend retreat taught by the person in the area who leads the MBSR clinics at a local hospital. It's all very valuable information, very well thought out, very well expressed. But, it is so very long. I faithfully read Part 1, skimmed Part 2, and couldn't ready any longer. I will instead put the information into practice as that is where I will likely gain the most now. ( )