Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World

Mindfulness has enjoyed a recent upsurge in popularity. Essentially, this practice amounts to living in the moment, being able to experience negative emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them, and looking objectively at thought processes and memories. This book is designed to teach people how to do these things while also comprehensively explaining a great deal about mindfulness and its role in psychology.

Self-help books may seem off-putting to many people, as they can have a patronising tone or be heavy on jargon. Mindfulness does not talk down to readers, and instead takes a frank and refreshingly practical approach. Tasks and meditations are explained in simple terms, without buzzwords, and you feel as though every step in the course has a useful purpose. The tone and language make it easy to follow this book, and spur you on to continue if you feel discouraged. It also uses inspirational quotes on occasion, which are motivational without being overwhelming.

Another helpful aspect of this particular book on mindfulness is its scientific style. The book begins with a few chapters explaining what mindfulness is and how it could help you, interspersed with information based on scientific studies as well as short practical exercises. Sceptical readers will find their confidence in the book building as they go on. You are offered the choice of skipping the first few chapters and going straight into the course, but it’s best to go the long way round and build a foundation of knowledge if you want to get the most out of this book.
Speaking of the course, it offers a varied programme to help people who are struggling with daily life. In addition to guided meditation, readers are assigned tasks to help break them of destructive habits. These range from exploring new activities to simply making small changes in daily life. The addition of practical exercises is a good way to encourage readers, as the changes will be more immediately apparent then the benefits of meditation.

On the negative side, this book spends a lot of time emphasising how great mindfulness is. While some people may need convincing initially, a few chapters in it is likely that anyone who is still a sceptic will probably not be reading. It is also worth noting that this isn’t a book to dip in and out of, so if you are looking for a quick fix you should look elsewhere. While positive change can be apparent as early as the first meditation session if you are lucky, readers should really work through the entire eight weeks in order. Once you have done that then dipping in and out is fine, but you need to put in the time first.

If you like self-help that is rooted in solid science and practical advice, this is the book for you. If you are looking for an instant solution, or don’t like enthusiastic reminders about the value of mindfulness, then it’s best to pick another book.