Mindfulness: An Easy-to-Understand Approach to Mindfulness and How It Works

by Domyo Sater Burk

Improve your outlook on life and develop calming thoughts with the ultimate guide to mindfulness for beginners

Written by a Zen Buddhist monk, Idiot's Mindfulness helps readers understand and use the practice of mindfulness to ease psychological and physical issues, repair and improve relationships with others, connect with children, and find meaning in life.

Perfect for readers suffering from anxiety, depression, compulsive behaviors, addiction and trauma looking to manage their thoughts and habits with peaceful thought practices.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Reference, Meditation, Psychology, Buddhism

339 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2014

Reviews

[Karl Styrsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book that one can read through and then say "got it!" It's a thorough and detailed mindfulness training and mentoring resource book, at least for a beginner like myself. I anticipate rereading various sections and working through the exercises for years to come.

[Rachel Skerle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely life changing book. I have this book highlighted like crazy and look back at it daily. There's so much widsom, I couldn't possibly hope to retain it all, which is why I go back often and reread the little nuggets of wisdom. I highly recommend this book for anyone, those especially who have a hard time controlling their emotions. The biggest take away from this book is that there's a difference between thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Emotions are not reality. We can let them pass like clouds and not base our actions on them

[Yaaresse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Been trying to read this damn thing for nearly a year. Finally just gritted my teeth and finished it to keep it from taunting me. That, and I had a stack of TBR samples to go through, so why not?

I'm sure there's plenty of jokes in there about my lack of mindfulness or something, but I really just found it had very little to offer. Most of what was there was either hyper-focused on happiness as if that is THE goal of mindfulness or meditation. (It's not, not really.). The tone is both overly chirpy in that way that presenters get when they are trying to please everyone in the audience and slightly patronizing. I get it, it's their schtick to present at a simple level, but there is a difference between simple and simplistic.

Had this been a library book, I would have just let to go back to circulation, but since I bought the thing, I felt like I should finish it: the "sunken cost" fallacy at work, obviously.
But now I can delete it from my Kindle with less regret than if I just DNF'd it.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good, clear overview to mindfulness. Quite a broad approach. Will have to read again to review some of the concepts

Re-read this book once it became available again from the library. Great explanation on many aspects of mindfulness. Really good resource.

[KStar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and follow, it is something i practice regularly and even i learned something from this easy to read and simply set out book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ton of information beyond meditation. This book is chalked filled with numerous ways to bolster ones own mental and physical health, reduce stress and promote a healthy lifestyle.

[Kuan Shun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Domyo is a wonderful teacher. Compassionate and humble but very articulate and knowledgeable. This is one of the best meditation manuals. Of course she comes from a Soto Zen perspective but the work does not address anything religious and is meant to point directly at the mind and its processes. Our brains have two modes : awareness and the default thinking mode. Most of our lives are spent in default thinking where the mind ruminates and gnaws at everything thrown at it. Left alone, it gnaws at its own substance leading to unhappiness and estrangement from our own lives which always unfold within the present moment. Various techniques of grounding ourselves in the mode of awareness are presented in the manual. Get it, read it and use it. I visited Domyo’s online sangha in the past and she is an absolutely lovely Bodhisattva. Skip the new age bull, the Eckart Tolle’s and the gurus who charge thousands of dollars for trite advice and go to this genuine, brilliant teacher instead. In gratitude,

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very happy with the way that they had explained in the beginning that there will not be that moment of enlightenment immediately. It does take time to achieve it, but I have learned many things from this and happy with setting up my new routine.
Fully recommend this book for people who are trying something new or want to learn more about what mediation actually does for you.

[Aki · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to mindfulness with plenty of helpful tips, useful strategies, and really heartfelt guidance. A great book for beginners looking for somewhere to get started as well as for experienced meditators hoping for a fresh look with a new perspective.

[Bianca David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very digestible. I liked the audiobook enough to buy myself a hard copy.