A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook [ペーパーバック]

If I had to identify one quality that separates this book from the rest of the mindfulness resources in the self-help aisle, it's that these pages are so practical and can't help but provide the reader with plenty of "Aha!" moments. Reading through the chapters and exercises, I appreciate all the research that Goldstein and Stahl studied, material that illuminates how mindfulness exercises can alter and help shape your brain to be more optimistic and resilient. But what won my trust is that they have both been stress cases themselves at certain points in their lives, and can therefore communicate with empathetic language. They both know, on a very personal level, how stress can disable a person. Much like Kay Redfield Jamison, the famous psychologist who suffers from bipolar disorder, they speak both as expert and patient.

I understand mindfulness as forcing a bit of time and space between a situation and your reaction, or recognizing the snowball of thoughts that's forming in your mind before it becomes too overwhelming to sort through yourself. Goldstein and Stahl quote Vicktor Frankl, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

Although mindfulness techniques aren't able to rescue me out of an acute, severe depression, if I diligently adhered to all the wisdom contained in Stahl and Goldstein's book, and designated a time of the day to do all the exercises, I could save myself some considerable heartache and headache.

Why?

Their mindfulness exercises allow the reader to take some of the files off of her cluttered and disorganized desk because the files relate to the past or to the future, and the present tense is the only one she should worry about now. According to the authors, mindfulness is about sticking to the here and now and banishing all judgment. It's also about breaking the job, day, or situation down ... into small parts, in order to better manage it.

Goldstein and Stahl's workbook uses a strong motivator for readers to learn the beneficial habit of mindfulness, and that is accountability. When you write things down and record your progress, you become accountable. Maybe that's why my kids hate homework so much, come to think of it. So what they have done for us is set up a system by which we can challenge ourselves to better integrate our body, mind, and soul. Or at least that's the plan.

I recommend this workbook to anyone who is stressed out ... um ... everyone I know.

I think I first became aware of "mindfulness" from one of the Star Wars movies. But it's played a central role in Buddhist meditation for a long time and is backed up by loads of research. The research per Wikipedia shows that a mere 6 weeks of mindfulness exercises is correlated with physical results such as the body's ability to fight disease.

Mindfulness exercises seem to develop the brain's ability to deal with anxiety and stress. Once I understood this, it was easier for me to devote the time to the exercises in the book. I skipped a lot of days, which isn't good, but I was able to resume without difficulty. That made me appreciate that mindfulness is continuous, something that can potentially be practiced all the time.

The exercises in this workbook put me to observing and recording my thoughts and feelings at critical times. One result of this is that experiences of certain routines changed, I believe. This puts me more in the present, which is not as simple as I had believed. For example, if you think about times of the day when you feel something is wrong and try to observe your thoughts and feelings at that time, recording them, you'll become aware of what really influences your physical response.

I liked the formal practice log and found the informal practice reflection a bit difficult at the present time. Everybody will surely have their own experience. At least I have something to aim for ahead.

Mindfulness teaches that thoughts and emotions float by, and realizing this will help us to not take our own thoughts too seriously. Reduction of physical responses to negative thinking is possible and this is what probably boosts the immune system per the research.

Interestingly, there are yoga stretches and exercises in this curriculum. I started doing them at work although I haven't succeeded yet in establishing a regular routine. This certainly helped me feel better and assisted with the mindfulness exercises.

I highly recommend this book for those that will put at least 25 minutes a day into performing the exercises, even if one takes off many days as I did. I believe I've already had some results and look forward to doing better.

Presented with practical steps and illustrations, this workbook provides a comprehensive collection of wonderful mind-body exercises, mindfulness information and background on stress reduction. Bob and Elisha cover in this book, a wholistic set of topics in a straight forward and practical style. Each chapter gives you just enough information to understand the subject and useful exercises that can be applied directly to your practice. I found each section enjoyable to read and found myself revisiting the ideas and exercises, as a good workbook will do. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to start or broaden their mindful practice and, for students of any program that focuses on mindfulness, stress or improving one's life-style.