Jon Kabat-Zinn

Very insightful, and with loads of respect for people struggling with depression. They really know their audience. A tad repetitive, but well, that's meditation for you.

The little stories about people trying the techniques got on my nerves a bit, to me they felt like sales pitches instead of examples.

This book has great insights, but is too abstract to start meditation. I hear there's a companion workbook, which I will be checking out.

I'll definitely read this one again, it feels like one of those books you can read again and again and you'll pick up something different each time.… (more)

This was published in 1994 and so rather than feeling revolutionary, the concepts seem well known. I guess that means it has become a classic and that its influence is huge, spawning many more books and literature on the subject.

It is still a useful book for those wanting to learn how to calm their minds and live in the present moment. The chapters are short and are often followed by an exercise so it is not a quick read.

For me, one of the largest take-away from this book is that meditation should be practiced daily. It is sometimes used as a crises management technique, but it is most effective when one has become familiar and adept at the practice.

Meditation as presented in this book is secular, although it also can be and has been modified into whatever religious practice you choose – ie Christian or Buddhist meditation.… (more)

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.… (more)