Supera el estrés prestando atención a tus pensamientos y sentimientos en cualquier momento. Disfruta del aquí y ahora con técnicas basada en el mindfulness y la neurociencia. A lo largo del día podemos encontrarnos con situaciones que pueden provocarnos un profundo estrés. A veces la causa es estar en mitad de un atasco, otras por tener que tratar con un jefe demasiado exigente y en ocasiones por estar haciendo cola en la caja del supermercado. El estrés forma parte de nuestra vida, pero con el tiempo las tensiones crónicas pueden acabar dañando nuestra salud mental y física. Por esta razón, es importante que las pequeñas dificultades o contratiempos con los que todos nos encontramos a diario no nos afecten. Vive tu momento ofrece una serie de técnicas basadas en el mindfulness y en la neurociencia que te ayudarán a mantener la calma en cualquier situación. Imagínate sentir el estrés y ser capaz de superarlo prestando atención a tus pensamientos y sentimientos en cualquier momento, sin importar dónde estés ni que estés haciendo. ¡No es tan difícil como parece! Los ejercicios que presentamos en este libro te ayudarán a reforzar esas partes del cerebro que contribuyen a la vitalidad y a disfrutar del aquí y ahora. Con un poco de práctica, encontrarás el equilibrado que necesitas para superar los retos del día a día.
I’ve been meditating daily for the last year, in direct response to severe anxiety that was destroying my life. I’m already totally convinced in the miraculous healing power of meditation, but have been curious about strategies to take the mindfulness of meditation into my day-to-day life. It was happening naturally without me even trying, but I was hungry for more.
This book really jumped off the “Mindfulness” shelf at the bookstore --- the mention of neuroscience on the front cover pushed my buttons. I am naturally skeptical, and prescribe to a very stripped down, areligious approach to meditation i.e. I’m not interested in sacred spaces, aromatherapy and crystals. I’ve been aware of the “boom” in scientific studies collecting data to support the claims of meditation, and was hoping this book would cover some of that.
It exceeded my already high expectations.
The book is split into 3 parts:
Part 1: A new perspective on dealing with stress This is the part where the authors try to convince the reader of the benefits of mindfulness. Done. I’m on board. The science is a little light, but I’m already experiencing the benefits of meditation so needed no convincing anyway.
Part 2: Five steps to transcending stress This is the hands-on section. And it’s really, really hands-on. It starts with a simple but insightful self-assessment in five key areas of mindfulness, which was fascinating. I realized I was already strongly skilled in observing and describing, but not so great at detaching and self-compassion. This quick self-assessment alone was incredibly enlightening, but the real meat on these bones comes in the form of practical exercises that boost these various skills. I read this book quite quickly without doing all the exercises, but some of the simpler ones I could complete by taking a short pause from reading. However, some were more complex and required some sustained focus. Since completing the book I’ve purchased a mindfulness notebook and intend to slowly work through the exercises. I’m hoping this will bring even more depth to the content.
Part 3: Developing a mindful lifestyle Pulling it all together to make better choices day-to-day. To be honest, this section was less interesting to me than the super-practical focus from the previous section.
Postscript: It’s now been about four weeks since I finished this book (and this review is still sitting in my drafts… ughhhhh). One of the most fascinating and lingering concepts from the book is this idea that we exist as a distinctly different entity from our brain and our mind. I obviously already knew that our brain is an organ, like any other, performing a complex set of tasks, so that wasn’t a new concept for me. But to separate myself from my mind, and think of my mind as simply an advisor. And a flawed advisor at that. That was kinda groundbreaking for me because I realized I’d been keenly identifying myself with the ramblings of my overactive mind. The authors offer some advice for times when the mind is overactive, where you can speak back to your mind. I’ve got my own version along the lines: “Thanks for that advice mind. You’ve sure helped me a lot over the years. But right now, I don’t need that type of advice. It’s not helpful in this situation. So just chill out and let me handle this.” That may be the single most helpful piece of advice I’ve ever received.
This was a good overview of things we need to get our brains to do in order to mitigate stress. I already practiced these concepts, having learned them from other books, but I thought this would be a good starting text for anyone learning to focus on mindfulness. It does go into brain science a great deal, and that helped me clarify some of the techniques.
This is a good book for readers new to the subject of mindfulness, but not so meaning-full for readers looking for something more. Easy to read with good exercises.