Mindfulness & Meditation: Handling Life with a Calm and Focused Mind

by Whitney Stewart

From hormones to homework, parents to peers, health issues to bad habits, life can be a pressure cooker leading to anxiety and even thoughts of suicide. How can we find relief? Author Whitney Stewart introduces readers to the practice of mindfulness. With its roots in ancient Buddhist teachings, mindfulness—the practice of purposefully focusing attention on the present moment—can change a person's approach to stress, develop skills to handle anxiety and depression, and provide a sense of awareness and belonging. Stewart guides readers through how to get started with meditation as well as provides specific exercises for examining emotions, managing stress, checking social media habits and wellness routines, and setting intentions to increase happiness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mental Health, Meditation

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 6, 2019

About the author

Whitney Stewart has interviewed the 14th Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Sir Edmund Hillary for her young adult biographies. She has traveled all over Europe and Asia to write her books. When she is not writing, she is usually visiting schools and libraries to give talks.

Her personal interests are in reading, traveling, yoga, meditation, and sea kayaking. She lives with her husband and son.

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent advice if this book is the first a teen looks for info on mindfulness. It is very elementary so if you already have a basic knowledge, I wouldn't recommend. It is definitely targeted for young adults, aged 12+.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Sharon Naylor Toris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted so much more from this book, for today's young people who might have been looking for solid help here. If, as an author and publisher, you're going to approach such tremendously important concepts at a time like now, you have to be ready to provide fresh, effective advice that young adults can embrace. I found this material to be good on a topical level, a nice introduction to mindfulness and meditation, a basic handling of the wisdom in this niche. But today's kids have really, really stressful things to handle, and a deeper dive into mental wellness and meditation was sorely needed here. YA readers who pick this up might need to pick up some other books as well for in-depth guidance.

[Heather Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I am torn on this book, because while it provides some good info on the some levels for kids, I believe it missed on the major issues kids face. Such examples are shootings, getting into a good college, sex, and having every moment possibly captures on the camera and it never disappears off the internet.

[Jenny Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give it 5 stars because the content is right on. I didn't particularly enjoy it myself because it's geared toward highschool age teenagers. It's all relatable though and there are mindful exercises in there and pictures and diagrams. I picked it up because the pages looked so inviting. It's got all the basics of mindfulness and it was a good refresher for me.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I started doing some mindfulness and meditation a while ago and wanted to read more about it and try different techniques. So when I saw this book on Netgalley I requested a copy. I am glad I did as I learned some new things and broadened my meditation and mindfulness techniques thanks to this book.

Mindfulness and Meditation is mostly about those two topics as the title suggest. It has lots of exercises you can do and tips to live with a calmer mind. There is also a section about things like mindful eating, mindful phone/ social media use and being kind and thankful. I think it's a good book for people who are new to mindfulness and meditation. There were some things I already knew, but I picked up quite some new things too and I especially liked reading about the different ways of meditating and trying out what worked for me.

I do think the book is a bit dry. It reads a bit like a textbook and isn't as exciting to read. It's informative, but not as enjoyable to read, if that makes sense. It was aimed a bit toward young adults, but as adults you can read it too. It's mostly that the examples and situations used are aimed at young adults.

To summarize: Meditation and Mindfulness is an informative read. I found it a bit dry to read at times as it reads a bit like a textbook, but it is informative. It's about different techniques for meditation and ways of incorporating mindfulness. I tried out some of those for myself and found out a bit more what works for me, which is what I was hoping to gain from this book. I would recommend this to those who are new to meditation and mindfulness and want to know more or explore different techniques.

[Nana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The things that go on in the world today, I think people are and will be searching for ways to reduce stress and find a solution to get away from all the negativity for a while. I think this book offers that. As I read the book and practiced what it was teaching, I was skeptical at first but as I did the exercises, I found myself getting calmer, and began seeing the positives again. This is a book I will buy because it is one I will read and reread again and again. It is easy to follow and it is for me, something I should be doing every day but like most things that are good for me, once I am feeling good then I don't do it. I can feel the benefits already. I think this would be a good book for parents and they could teach their children the technics because the things these kids are seeing, they need an escape from it and drugs isn't the answer. I hope this book will be helpful to so many. Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read this book and give my review.

[Catherine Craig (Angelic Light) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this wonderful book about Mindfulness and Meditation. It is a book for young people, but as an adult, I also found it very useful. It has a lot of information and wisdom in it on what mindfulness and meditation actually is and where it originated from, as well as lots of practical exercises and meditations to try. I had a lot of fun doing all the little meditations and I learned a lot from them. I highly recommend this book to everyone, and not just young people, but I can see how young people would really benefit from it in a big way. It would be a great handbook for all teenagers and it should be available in schools, as it would really help young people with their mental health.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for allowing me to read this great book in return for an honest review.

[Olga Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book is great. I am relatively new to mindfulness although I have heard about it quite a bit. This book is informative, yet simple enough for me not to get intimidated by it. Loved the "what mindfulness is" and "what mindfulness is not". It is very easy to read and includes a variety of areas of life that you could apply mindfulness to. The list of resources at the end of the book is very helpful for further reading. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to start dabbling in mindfulness!

[Destiny Bridwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this book there was a lot of positive re-enforcement in it. It does the best to being the best in a person. I enjoyed the tips and the way it broke down the steps for meditation. I have learned a lot of techniques over that years and loved this one explained things to me and made it positive. That is not something I find with all self-help books. They all usually have a good message but don't always go about getting the message across in the best way. That was not a problem in this book. 

[Nguyễn Nhật Hoàng · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a guideline for a newbie who wants to change their lifestyle in a better way, gain more happiness and start to meditate to find their inner peace. I used to be an emotional-oriented person, but now I can learn many ways to be more positive and grateful every day, control my emotion and set up good habits.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many words that I want to use to describe this book. But they are mostly negative. I guess the safest word I could use, and a word I could definitely get behind, is generic. This book is a generic mash-up of the two concepts of mindfulness and meditation.

Positives

1. The strategies for being mindful while meditating were great. It gave strategies for mindful meditation, mindful reflection, mindful eating, mindfulness in dealing with emotions, etc. The strategies were solid, and if I had to recommend a book that had thorough guides on how to be mindful in some situations, I would recommend this book.

2. It gives you a lot of information about mindfulness and meditation; great for beginners.
It included real life quotes and statements from high schoolers, maybe so that the younger audience of this book can relate.

3. Backs information up with research and biological facts.

Negatives

1. I highly discourage on reading this book if you know a lot about mindfulness and meditation, because the information laid out on this book would’ve been something you’ve read a long time ago.
As a person whose read a lot about mindfulness, this book felt like an information dump; of what mindfulness is, how it works, strategies to use, etc. It didn’t feel personal, like with the more advanced books about mindfulness.

2. It uses common enough strategies that advanced readers of mindfulness will have been doing by now.

3. Almost all the information here is generic. They say that sleep is important, social media can be addictive, exercise can make you happy, etc. These are all facts that can be readily searched online in an article from Google.

All in all, this book wasn’t that enjoyable and informative, but if looking at this book through a beginner’s perspective, I could already say that this will help them in their mindfulness and meditation journey.

But as for me, and other advance practitioners of mindfulness and/or meditation, I’d give this book a hard pass.

I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Kristin Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was browsing the mindfulness section on the library app, I did not realize this book was written for teenagers. But since I checked it out and had already started it, I decided to read it anyway.

The information is very basic. It really doesn't go too deep into any one subject, or have any advice everyone hasn't heard before (eat better, get more sleep, move/exercise more, put down your phone, be kind, etc). Maybe if you were a high school student that has never heard this advice before the book would be useful, but every teenager I know already has heard these things.

I did not learn anything about mindfulness or how to reduce stress.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fine introduction to meditation and mindfulness with lots of examples and guided exercises. It is a bit of a dry explanatory basics book for teens, but I can see the value in the subject matter and content being helpful to young people in increasingly stressful times.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good introduction to mindfulness and meditation. I found the exercises in this book very helpful. Would be a good read for those who know little about the topic. I

[Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first introduction to this, Great info, this particular book is geared for students.

[Katie Haasch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A straightforward and easy to follow guide for mindfulness and meditation for teens. Had a lot of great resources and practice skills included.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice intro to meditation. Trying to incorporate this more into my life and take control of my mindfulness.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the concepts of mindfulness and meditation. If you're looking to get into the practice and know a little bit about it, pick this book up.

[keigos_bbg 🏳️‍🌈 ♋️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ali Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

check out why I would recommend on my latest podcast episode!!! Available wherever you get your podcasts. #booktok #bookclubtiktok #bookreview #podcastshow #bookrecommendations

[Tweller83 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good and I'm thinking of starting a club or doing something else at school with mindfulness. The only thing was a couple of these were a little hockey and towards the end, they didn't say all the steps, a little like they got a little lazy towards the end. Otherwise, well done.

[Daphne Bumpass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has great tips if you are into meditation. It teaches you breathing techniques and tips when feeling stressed.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meditation and the lure of intentional action.