Best Mindfulness Books

[Glade]

I searched but there were a lot of threads, mostly people praising the practice of mindfulness, but I didn't really find what I was looking for.

There are a lot of books, and I'm wondering which to get, so that I can learn more about this.

I am going to up Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn tonight after work, but I was wondering if any of the "guided meditation" books with CD's were worth a look?

[knk]

Try the "headspace" app if you have an iOS or Android 'phone.
10 x 10min sessions free.

[Hoofy]

Lots of free stuff online. Just understand the principles and apply them daily.

An acolyte asked his monk, "When do you meditate?" The monk replied, "When do I not meditate?"

[Glade]

This is going to be interesting!

[Hoofy]

Glade said:

This is going to be interesting!

You know something? You already practice mindfulness meditation. When you're playing Battlefield 3, what else are you doing/thinking about? Exactly.

[Glade]

Hoofy said:

You know something? You already practice mindfulness meditation. When you're playing Battlefield 3, what else are you doing/thinking about? Exactly.

It does focus the mind solely on that task... Surely being absorbed in BF4 isn't the same as meditating though... but I guess it is very of the moment and stops you thinking about anything else really...

I started reading one of the books in the bath. Fascinating. I'm going to take time to read a little more every day and start thinking about it all. (or not thinking about it as the case may be)

I've been thinking too much about the past and what will be in the future... this focusing on now seems quite novel.

And hopefully it'll give me the clarity to then do important things, like putting energy into, and taking joy in eating well and exercise... rather than getting trapped with spiralling thoughts, and making 'bad' choices.

Its a very personal thing I think, and perhaps this is my moment to "get it"...

Edited by Glade on Thursday 29th May 21:42

[Hoofy]

Indeed. In its essence, that is all mindfulness is. Whether you get absorbed in a game, a book or a musical instrument, it's about focusing on the now.

We do have a tendency to relive the past and worry about the future. The best approach with a future concern is to plan how to tackle the problem then focus on that then just let everything slot into place. As for the past, you have to tell yourself to stop replaying images in your head. Mindfulness can help in that you just focus on something else and as a result become less stressed.

It's probably the easiest form of meditation because you are simply distracting yourself. Ultimately, you want to be able to think about nothing but that's pretty difficult.

There was another thread not so long ago - I think it was the mindfulness challenge?

[goldblum]

OP might like to read some basic existentialist psychology as well, as that is what you are describing once you take away the meditative aspect.

[Bolebroke]

2 words ......Eckhart Tolle

[andy-xr]

Stephen C Hayes and the ACT methods work well for me, have the audiobook on in the car

[BenM77]

Interesting. A quick google tells me this is like meditation.


Is this something that a lot of people are doing nowadays?


It would be interesting to hear positive experiences of Mindfulness if anyone feels like sharing. In the meantime I will download the app and see what I think for myself

[andy-xr]

It can be 'just sitting' rather than meditation. But the aim as far as I'm concerned is to be aware of what you're doing and what you're thinking about (the brain chatter that goes on that you dont really pay attention to). By being mindful of it, and knowing it's there you find out whether you're in the recent past, recent future or somewhere in the distance. Or in the present.