What do you think?
Rate this book
The Rough Guide to Mindfulness
The Rough Guide to Mindfulness is the ultimate introduction to this highly effective antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression and will help you find balance and peace in a world that moves at an ever more frenzied pace. Written by two leading practitioners, this guide clearly explains all the basics of mindfulness, from breathing techniques to self-awareness and meditation. It outlines a short foundational course linked to free audio downloads of guided meditations, including the Body Scan meditation. The book also gives plenty of guidance on how to integrate the practice at work and home, avoid distractions, and really live in the present. It highlights the latest findings from health experts and scientists on the benefits and shows how you can continue your mindfulness journey. The Rough Guide to Mindfulness gives you all the necessary tools to find your way to a more peaceful existence, as well as boosting energy, confidence, and self-control.
- GenresNonfictionSelf Help
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 2013
12 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 26, 2015
This book is a bit hit and miss.
There were some useful insights and exercises that helped me think about how I self evaluate and manage stress. I especially liked chapters 5-7 and 9. Really, I would recommend getting the book out of the library and just reading these bits (and some of the other exercises mentioned below).
I also thought the online recordings were wonderful. I found the woman's voice very soothing. I have tried a few other mindfulness recordings and didn't like the cheesy American trailer voices but I liked hers: http://www.roughguides.com/mindfulness/
Some of the other chapters were pretty awful.
As someone who is perhaps a little over-analytical, I found the sections on the "scientific evidence" pretty shallow and off-putting. I would have much preferred having one strong chapter that really looked critically at the various studies mentioned, explained the methodology and the weaknesses of the studies and what things we don't really know. Let's be honest about what mindfulness does or does not do, and what we don't know. Or I would have preferred them to leave out the "science" entirely. The constant superficial reference to these studies felt like a cheap marketing ploy and just made me more dubious of the approach (And I am pretty open to mindfulness).
There was also a strong corporate tone running throughout- especially the chapter on Mindfulness and Work (better named mindfulness and corporate governance- the authors imagine all their readers work in banks and corporations, but what about people working in schools, hospitals, government, minimum wage jobs?). They have this very clear vision of an over-worked corporate executive who spends lots of cash on yoga and holidays looking for peace of mind, but this vision might not appeal to those working a lower paid job and managing family without the luxury of paid childcare and counseling. And quite what the connection is between corporate managers instituting mindfulness among their highly skilled workers to increase their productivity and changing their corporate culture so they do not exploit low skilled workers elsewhere or avoid taxes is also unclear to me. Some of the corporations they mention as role models have pretty shady tax practices.
The chapter on stress, anxiety and depression had a great introduction that gave a description of how our bodies physically and mentally react to pressure (I actually found pages 170-176 really helpful and made me want to read about this more deeply). However, the rest of the chapter was basically a sales pitch for the authors' paid courses (presumably in London).
Chapter 12 on self compassion also had some nice paragraphs here and there (the exercise on page 211 was helpful) however that too turned into another sales pitch and they have actually copy righted the model V-Growth, which amused me greatly. "Look guys, don't use this mindfulness approach to self heal without paying us for it!"
So overall, this book was both helpful to me and annoyed me. I wouldn't give it to anyone who is anyway doubtful about mindfulness. This book won't convince them and might in fact dissuade them from pursuing it further. However, if you already think mindfulness can help you and don't mind the occasional lapse into corporate PR speak, then there are some useful exercises here.
There were some useful insights and exercises that helped me think about how I self evaluate and manage stress. I especially liked chapters 5-7 and 9. Really, I would recommend getting the book out of the library and just reading these bits (and some of the other exercises mentioned below).
I also thought the online recordings were wonderful. I found the woman's voice very soothing. I have tried a few other mindfulness recordings and didn't like the cheesy American trailer voices but I liked hers: http://www.roughguides.com/mindfulness/
Some of the other chapters were pretty awful.
As someone who is perhaps a little over-analytical, I found the sections on the "scientific evidence" pretty shallow and off-putting. I would have much preferred having one strong chapter that really looked critically at the various studies mentioned, explained the methodology and the weaknesses of the studies and what things we don't really know. Let's be honest about what mindfulness does or does not do, and what we don't know. Or I would have preferred them to leave out the "science" entirely. The constant superficial reference to these studies felt like a cheap marketing ploy and just made me more dubious of the approach (And I am pretty open to mindfulness).
There was also a strong corporate tone running throughout- especially the chapter on Mindfulness and Work (better named mindfulness and corporate governance- the authors imagine all their readers work in banks and corporations, but what about people working in schools, hospitals, government, minimum wage jobs?). They have this very clear vision of an over-worked corporate executive who spends lots of cash on yoga and holidays looking for peace of mind, but this vision might not appeal to those working a lower paid job and managing family without the luxury of paid childcare and counseling. And quite what the connection is between corporate managers instituting mindfulness among their highly skilled workers to increase their productivity and changing their corporate culture so they do not exploit low skilled workers elsewhere or avoid taxes is also unclear to me. Some of the corporations they mention as role models have pretty shady tax practices.
The chapter on stress, anxiety and depression had a great introduction that gave a description of how our bodies physically and mentally react to pressure (I actually found pages 170-176 really helpful and made me want to read about this more deeply). However, the rest of the chapter was basically a sales pitch for the authors' paid courses (presumably in London).
Chapter 12 on self compassion also had some nice paragraphs here and there (the exercise on page 211 was helpful) however that too turned into another sales pitch and they have actually copy righted the model V-Growth, which amused me greatly. "Look guys, don't use this mindfulness approach to self heal without paying us for it!"
So overall, this book was both helpful to me and annoyed me. I wouldn't give it to anyone who is anyway doubtful about mindfulness. This book won't convince them and might in fact dissuade them from pursuing it further. However, if you already think mindfulness can help you and don't mind the occasional lapse into corporate PR speak, then there are some useful exercises here.
January 25, 2019
This was my first book of this sort. I did not get much out of it but I think that is partly my fault because I failed to keep interested in reading it.
But, I read some good reviews on Amazon so it must have something to offer. I guess.
One thing I noticed was the way that authors were trying to "sell" the reader their training courses, especially on the last part of the book.
But, I read some good reviews on Amazon so it must have something to offer. I guess.
One thing I noticed was the way that authors were trying to "sell" the reader their training courses, especially on the last part of the book.
September 2, 2014
Some parts were more accessible and applicable than others.
May 5, 2015
This really is a rough guide. It's advice about eating while you look in the mirror is just ludicrous. Invest in a better mindfulness book
April 1, 2016
Enjoyed this. Good tips for daily calmness!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews