This book is a masterful introduction to the practice of mindfulness. It also includes oodles of research and case study information on how mindfulness has been successfully implemented in clinical situations to reduce stress and promote well-being.
Mindfulness itself is another way of speaking about the practice of becoming aware of where you are right now, of what you’re doing right now, of who you are right now — warts and all, and all judging aside. As such, mindfulness may strike you as rather mundane or ordinary. Simply stated, mindfulness is the art of learning to pay attention.
Unlike most of the other books and practices that I’ve profiled, mindfulness has a background in Buddhism. As presented by Jon Kabat-Zinn in this book, it is offered in a secularized format. It is only connected to Buddhism like this is connected to religious yoga. There may be a few Buddhist terms thrown in here or there, but the basic practice of mindfulness appears in every major religious tradition.
Within Christianity, the subject of mindfulness shows up in the practices of centering prayer and the practice of the presence of God. If that’s so, you may ask, then why am I also advocating the reading of Full Catastrophe Living. Well, why are there different flavors of ice cream? Mindfulness as presented by Kabat-Zinn may be just the practice that hits you right (you know — like coffee ice cream — yum!). Also, if you happen to be of the “spiritual but not religious” persuasion, be aware that Kabat-Zinn presents mindfulness as a fully non-religious practice.
Are you curious what a non-religious mystical practice might look like? Well then, take a gander at the book…