Becoming more mindful was a major step on my road to personal transformation. Not an easy task, I assure you, but so worth the effort!  I’ve experienced benefits ranging from strengthening my immune system, reducing stress, to increasing happiness, and I’d like to share these benefits with you. If you would like to learn more about mindfulness, a great place to start is with a good book. I’ve made it easy by listing some books that helped educate me on the subject. If you’re interested in learning how to apply mindfulness to everyday life, plug into one of these:

Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom, by Dr. Rick Hanson, combines ancient practices with modern neuroscience to help us understand how to access calmer brain states and create peace of mind.

 

 

Awakening Joy: 10 Steps to Happiness, by James Baraz and Shoshana Alexander, offers a spiritual, mental and emotional training manual for the human brain, helping readers use mindfulness to stay open to joy on a daily basis.

 

 

Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn—founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness at The University of Massachusetts Medical School—reminds readers to be Human Beings rather than Human Doings by incorporating physical and spiritual mindfulness into their lives. This book has been a favorite since the mid-90’s and continues to inspire, teach and help readers today.

 

Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System As a Path to the Self, by Anodea Judith. The author marries metaphysics and brain science in an East-meets-West system for mindfully learning more about oneself.

 

 

Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence, by Dr. Rick Hanson, teaches us how to toggle out of disappointment and hurt feelings into contentment and confidence by using creative and handy mindfulness techniques.

 

 

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, by Dr. Daniel J. Siegal, brings his psychiatric knowledge of counseling and neuroscience together to shine a light on mindful awareness as a curative agent for personal struggles, such as trauma, OCD, anxiety, depression and shame.

 

 

The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, by Dr. Ronald D. Siegal, is a book that offers practices, strategies, and routines to take you through your day, cultivating mindfulness and improving life in every way.

 

 

The Art and Science of Mindfulness: Integrating Mindfulness Into Psychology and the Helping Professions, by Dr. Shauna L. Shapiro, Dr. Linda E. Carlson and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, combines equal parts psychology and Buddhism to create a mindfulness recipe for anyone who is in a career targeted at helping others.

 

Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha, by Dr. Tara Brach, offers guided meditations and colorful stories to help the reader use mindfulness to create a deeper sense of self-acceptance.

 

 

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, by Pema Chodron, is a classic book using a variety of Buddhist mindfulness teachings to illuminate concepts like wisdom, compassion and courage in the face of pain and disappointment.

I wish you luck cultivating mindfulness, and happy reading!

Rose Caiola
Inspired. Rewired.