What do you think?
Rate this book
Mindfulness in Eight Weeks: The revolutionary 8 week plan to clear your mind and calm your life
Find your way into Mindfulness with this engaging and practical step-by-step guide that you can follow in your own time and in the comfort of your own home. Mindfulness training can change your life: recommended by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Excellence and prescribed by the NHS, it helps you to experience less stress and anxiety, and to discover more joy and deeper sense of being in each moment. In just eight weeks, people who have learnt these simple and easy-to-follow methods describe how it gives them new zest for life and an increased courage to face whatever obstacles they come across. Michael Chaskalson is an expert instructor. His forty years of practical experience with Mindfulness have enabled him to create a do-it-yourself programme that brings a fresh ease to practising. Endorsed by bestselling author in the field, Mark Williams, this course is a unique hybrid of the two most popular approaches: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Broken down into eight week segments with step-by-step instructions carefully coordinated for each, Mindfulness in Eight Weeks also comes with audio materials available to download to support home practice, making this book as near as you can get to being a participant on a teacher-led mindfulness course without actually joining one. Simple, supportive and highly recommended, this is THE revolutionary 8 week plan to detox, de-stress and de-clutter your mind.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2011
172 people are currently reading
542 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 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 26, 2018
A book designed to help you focus, in a world moving at breakneck speed. It is perhaps a little long winded at times. The exercises are meant to help you form a habit, reinforcing what we already know but do not routinely practice.
If you are willing to invest the time both in the book and in yourself, this is a life tool to help you accomplish that.
If you are willing to invest the time both in the book and in yourself, this is a life tool to help you accomplish that.
May 20, 2021
Honestly, i am already interested in mindfulness meditation since i watched a video on youtube about it, so i bought this book right after saw the title. It happens that there are so many things in this book other than guidance such as explanations, stories, the philosophy and so on. Reading this book also makes me realize that mindfulness is not just a way of meditation, it is a way to live your life in a best way which is to put your mind on your current situation. I also found out that reading this book after finishing Mark Romson books really helps me to find the way to be better. And i also found similarities between those books. If Mark Romson's books is about the theory, this book teaches you how to do it the best way.
November 26, 2014
A brilliant book about mindfulness. I read every single page but it's written in a way that if you want to read it differently you can.
The audio tracks are downloaded from a website and although I have only followed along with a few they work well for me.
The audio tracks are downloaded from a website and although I have only followed along with a few they work well for me.
October 17, 2018
This one's a keeper.
Think of this book, not as an informational resource among others, but as your manual of mindfulness. I haven't read that many things about meditation and mindfulness, but I've read some. So far, for my Western mindset, I would go as far as to say this book is not a manual, but THE Manual of mindfulness. Why?
Well, because:
1. It tells you exactly why you should do what it recommends. And we all know that us westerners are not that big on belief without proof or scientific backed up data
2. It teaches you how every kind of mindfulness meditation works and you get to practice all of them.
3. I've seen some improvements for myself, and this is the first time I felt mindfulness working.
4. It's based on a clinical stress reduction program started by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Now, regarding point 4, I've actually read a bit about this subject and came across some interesting information about Jon Kabat-Zinn's work done at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He actually went to study meditation with Buddhist teachers and helps organize dialogues between the Dalai Lama and Western scientists. I kind of like his work.
Long story short, it's a really good book. The improvements, like all good things in life, don't come in an instant, but you can feel them when they do. I'm actually going through the 8 week course for the second time at the present moment.
If you're stressed, anxious or just have an interest in mindfulness, read it and practice it. It really helps!
Think of this book, not as an informational resource among others, but as your manual of mindfulness. I haven't read that many things about meditation and mindfulness, but I've read some. So far, for my Western mindset, I would go as far as to say this book is not a manual, but THE Manual of mindfulness. Why?
Well, because:
1. It tells you exactly why you should do what it recommends. And we all know that us westerners are not that big on belief without proof or scientific backed up data
2. It teaches you how every kind of mindfulness meditation works and you get to practice all of them.
3. I've seen some improvements for myself, and this is the first time I felt mindfulness working.
4. It's based on a clinical stress reduction program started by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Now, regarding point 4, I've actually read a bit about this subject and came across some interesting information about Jon Kabat-Zinn's work done at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He actually went to study meditation with Buddhist teachers and helps organize dialogues between the Dalai Lama and Western scientists. I kind of like his work.
Long story short, it's a really good book. The improvements, like all good things in life, don't come in an instant, but you can feel them when they do. I'm actually going through the 8 week course for the second time at the present moment.
If you're stressed, anxious or just have an interest in mindfulness, read it and practice it. It really helps!
March 1, 2021
A little bit too repetitive for me. I feel like a majority of it was the same concept over and over. Nevertheless sometimes things need to be repeated a few times, until we get the message.
“Mindfulness is correlated with emotional intelligence, which itself has been associated with good social skills, ability to cooperate and ability to see another person’s perspective.”
“Running an automatic-pilot routine can be like opening a new window in a computer. That can be an efficient way of getting things done. But sometimes you can have too many windows open, too many routines running, and then the computer starts to slow and may even eventually crash. There’s just too much going on, too many conflicting routines running.”
“Mindfulness training helps you to spot when you’re overloaded before things start going wrong. It helps you to come away from automatic routines and focus more effectively on each simple passing moment.”
“your experience – there’s nothing to be fixed here, no particular state to be achieved. See what it’s like to simply let your experience be your experience – without needing it to be anything other than it is.”
“Mindfulness training opens up choice. Instead of just reacting you find that you begin to ‘respond’ a bit more. Reactions are largely unconscious, whereas responses come more from a place of awareness and conscious choice.”
“What unites all of these reactions is just that – they are reactions. They emerge at lightning speed from the more primitive parts of your brain before you’ve been able to think things through just a tiny bit and come out with more skilful and appropriate responses.”
“Part of the answer lies in learning the deeply counter-intuitive skill of allowing what is difficult and uncomfortable simply to be difficult and uncomfortable.”
“Mindfulness is correlated with emotional intelligence, which itself has been associated with good social skills, ability to cooperate and ability to see another person’s perspective.”
“Running an automatic-pilot routine can be like opening a new window in a computer. That can be an efficient way of getting things done. But sometimes you can have too many windows open, too many routines running, and then the computer starts to slow and may even eventually crash. There’s just too much going on, too many conflicting routines running.”
“Mindfulness training helps you to spot when you’re overloaded before things start going wrong. It helps you to come away from automatic routines and focus more effectively on each simple passing moment.”
“your experience – there’s nothing to be fixed here, no particular state to be achieved. See what it’s like to simply let your experience be your experience – without needing it to be anything other than it is.”
“Mindfulness training opens up choice. Instead of just reacting you find that you begin to ‘respond’ a bit more. Reactions are largely unconscious, whereas responses come more from a place of awareness and conscious choice.”
“What unites all of these reactions is just that – they are reactions. They emerge at lightning speed from the more primitive parts of your brain before you’ve been able to think things through just a tiny bit and come out with more skilful and appropriate responses.”
“Part of the answer lies in learning the deeply counter-intuitive skill of allowing what is difficult and uncomfortable simply to be difficult and uncomfortable.”
March 18, 2018
Worth the read. A good guide to meditation/mindfulness: clear and practical. The downloadable audio is also very helpful. While the title says 8 weeks, there's no must stick to timeline. I found taking my time with each step more to my liking and each different meditation may or may not be for any everyone. It more of a smorgasbord of daily meditations that you can try out and see what you find helpful. It's months since I was reading the book and I'm still using the guided meditation audio (although not as often as recommended in the book). If you're looking for a way to familiarize yourself with mindfulness meditation this is very helpful.
May 23, 2018
This was a very down-to-earth guide on mindfulness practice which I liked a lot. It seemed that the book was backed up scientific studies on the subject, which is something that I appreciate. It was very readable and the mindfulness meditations were easy to follow. My only complaint is that there were quite a lot of different practicals and I got frustrated for trying to find the time to do them according to the plan. But that's just me trying to over-achieve. I think I gained a lot from this book and I will try to incorporate more mindfulness in my daily life.
May 23, 2020
If you are interested in becoming more mindful through meditation I would definitely recommend this book on audio. Chaskalson provides explanation and examples of different ways of being mindful and meditating from walking, to eating, sitting and movement. I found Chaskalson’s voice perfect for getting into a deep meditative state however there seems to be an issue with his microphone so you can hear odd taps that break your concentration quite frequently; a better production would have helped.
July 8, 2022
A clear explanation of the practice of mindfulness which is thankfully short on hippy dippy philosophy and long on practical common sense. This is a manual which guides you step by step through building a meditation practice and becoming aware of the negative mind tricks that cause such unhappiness and stress in our lives. It really is a book that can change your life for the better as long as you remember what Michael says: You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it. The associated guided meditations are available on SoundCloud.
June 20, 2024
Amo mindfullness! Sempre me ajuda a ter um pouco mais de foco no momento, perceber mais o dia, o momento, o segundo e viver a plenitude daquilo, bem como criar hábitos que me ajudem a viver melhor. É um conteúdo pra se consumir periodicamente e aplicar doses dele no dia a dia. Esse livro tem mais foco em exercícios, gostei, devo revisitar de tempo em tempo.
January 27, 2025
I borrowed this book from the library and it’s so good that I’m purchasing a copy for home. It is an easily understood and practical guide to learning all about mindfulness and includes interesting side bars on the science behind it.
May 13, 2017
This book has given me a lot of determination and thought to my present lifestyle excellent
August 9, 2020
Basis for a calm mind. It must not miss in a library!
October 4, 2020
I had the audiobook version and it was stress-inducing the fact the speaker had such.a.patience to speak. Some tips were valuable, but overall not a book I'd recommend.
June 13, 2023
I appreciate the contents of the book, but most of the weeks were repetitive, and you find out that it is actually a meditation book once you start reading it. It is not advertised on the covers.
February 14, 2024
great just not an enjoyable layout. dawdles
November 13, 2016
Dielo má účinok na váš život. Za 8 týždňov naozaj uvidíte výsledky. Ja som to sama skúsila a môžem len odporučiť.
Recenzia
http://nathalys-reading.blogspot.sk/2...
Recenzia
http://nathalys-reading.blogspot.sk/2...
March 15, 2020
2.5 stars. I’ve been reading a lot on self help to help me get rid of negativity. This book has been a good one in terms of teaching how to practice mindfulness in practical ways. However I did expect more hence the 2.5 stars.
August 31, 2015
This easy to follow book has had a very positive effect on my life already, and I intend to incorporate mindfulness into my daily life.
October 7, 2015
The audio recording is a done by a British-accented man, and it was slightly difficult for me to think past his accent.
February 7, 2017
Sadly not as useful as I have initially hoped.
March 18, 2021
Para quem está buscando mais informações sobre a técnica Mindfulness, penso que o livro é um excelente caminho.
May 1, 2017
My original plan was to read this over the course of eight weeks, and actually follow along with this course in real time. It worked for two weeks. Then I kept forgetting. I have a terribly short attention span, it’s really sad. So I binge-listened to the rest of the book and extracted what you’re supposed to do each week and just … I’m gonna try following along without having to listen to just one chapter every week, which is obviously what you’re supposed to do, but clearly, that doesn’t work for me. Anyway. Overall, this seems a good course. It gives you many different techniques and the audio version includes guided meditations, stretches, body scans etc.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews