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Take Back Your Mind: Buddhist Advice for Anxious Times
If you are reading this, then you’re likely plagued with anxiety. The good news is that you don’t have to be. You can live a life without so much anxiety and stress. You can train the mind to feel contentment, peace and joy—even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
Best-selling author and long-time Buddhist meditation teacher Lodro Rinzler shows us how to work with the mind so that we don’t hold ourselves in a state of stress and learn to relax into and appreciate our world once more. What you hold is a guidebook with practical and easy-to-implement steps for how to take back your mind.
"Lodro Rinzler has delivered a book with real dialogue and straight talk about stress and anxiety. TAKE BACK YOUR MIND is a relatable guide to help us recognize the innate goodness that rests inside each one of us and develop trust in the true experience of our lives. You'll find yourself coming back to these pages over and over again!" - Sharon Salzberg, author of LOVING KINDNESS and REAL CHANGE
"I encourage you to connect with these conversations that give clear instructions in meditation practice suitable for all levels. These accessible meditations beautifully balance Buddhist philosophy with modern values and will be helpful to anyone interested in discovering and integrating mindfulness and serenity into your life. In this critical juncture in the world we need to help ourselves while helping one another, and through meditation cultivate the energy and inner strength of peace and compassion to benefit one another. This book will give you a fresh view of your meditation experience and how to bridge it into your daily life." - Dza Kilung Rinpoche, author of THE RELAXED MIND
"Lodro Rinzler’s newest book purports to be a timely guide for working with anxiety—and it is. However, it is far more. It is an introduction to the Buddhist path as a way of becoming more fully human, awake, and capable of loving yourself, others, and life than you ever thought possible, including all your brilliance and confusion." – Susan Piver, meditation teacher and author of THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS OF LOVE: BUDDHIST WISDOM FOR MODERN RELATIONSHIPS
Best-selling author and long-time Buddhist meditation teacher Lodro Rinzler shows us how to work with the mind so that we don’t hold ourselves in a state of stress and learn to relax into and appreciate our world once more. What you hold is a guidebook with practical and easy-to-implement steps for how to take back your mind.
"Lodro Rinzler has delivered a book with real dialogue and straight talk about stress and anxiety. TAKE BACK YOUR MIND is a relatable guide to help us recognize the innate goodness that rests inside each one of us and develop trust in the true experience of our lives. You'll find yourself coming back to these pages over and over again!" - Sharon Salzberg, author of LOVING KINDNESS and REAL CHANGE
"I encourage you to connect with these conversations that give clear instructions in meditation practice suitable for all levels. These accessible meditations beautifully balance Buddhist philosophy with modern values and will be helpful to anyone interested in discovering and integrating mindfulness and serenity into your life. In this critical juncture in the world we need to help ourselves while helping one another, and through meditation cultivate the energy and inner strength of peace and compassion to benefit one another. This book will give you a fresh view of your meditation experience and how to bridge it into your daily life." - Dza Kilung Rinpoche, author of THE RELAXED MIND
"Lodro Rinzler’s newest book purports to be a timely guide for working with anxiety—and it is. However, it is far more. It is an introduction to the Buddhist path as a way of becoming more fully human, awake, and capable of loving yourself, others, and life than you ever thought possible, including all your brilliance and confusion." – Susan Piver, meditation teacher and author of THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS OF LOVE: BUDDHIST WISDOM FOR MODERN RELATIONSHIPS
258 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 9, 2021
57 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Lodro Rinzler
27 books198 followersLodro is a practitioner and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage. He began meditating as a child and sat retreats as a teenager, even going as far as attending a silent month-long retreat during which he shaved his head and took monastic robes and vows.
When he left for college he received two heirlooms from his parents. From his father, a mala which he had used to recite mantras. From his mother, her father’s flask. He utilized both greatly in the four years ahead. During that time Lodro became a Vajrayana student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. He also established Buddhist House, an eighteen person dorm at Wesleyan University which hosts a large meditation room. He began teaching meditation at that time.
After leaving college he was recruited to the position of the Executive Director of the Boston Shambhala Center. He began leading numerous workshops at meditation centers and college campuses throughout the United States. Lodro served as the Head of Development for Shambhala internationally before founding the Institute for Compassionate Leadership.
His column, What Would Sid Do, appears regularly on the Huffington Post and the Interdependence Project and his writing has appeared in Shape Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, the Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma, and the Good Men Project.
When he left for college he received two heirlooms from his parents. From his father, a mala which he had used to recite mantras. From his mother, her father’s flask. He utilized both greatly in the four years ahead. During that time Lodro became a Vajrayana student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. He also established Buddhist House, an eighteen person dorm at Wesleyan University which hosts a large meditation room. He began teaching meditation at that time.
After leaving college he was recruited to the position of the Executive Director of the Boston Shambhala Center. He began leading numerous workshops at meditation centers and college campuses throughout the United States. Lodro served as the Head of Development for Shambhala internationally before founding the Institute for Compassionate Leadership.
His column, What Would Sid Do, appears regularly on the Huffington Post and the Interdependence Project and his writing has appeared in Shape Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, the Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma, and the Good Men Project.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 16, 2023
Reading this book while doing a 3.5-hour border crossing really helped me get through it since it was a true test of patience. I don't like Lodro's style of writing all the time, but there is some good advice in here.
January 29, 2025
I always enjoy books by this author. The writing is accessible and the stories and examples are relatable. I really enjoyed the meditations incorporated throughout.
January 8, 2022
This book was extremely helpful during my recovery from an eating disorder, anxiety, and OCD. The perfect first step into a world of meditation, Buddhism, and mindfulness.
February 27, 2022
Lodro you sly son of a gun, you've done it again! INCREDIBLE X1MIL!!!
Future Kat: Buy a physical copy and annotate. You'll use these lessons for the rest of your life.
Future Kat: Buy a physical copy and annotate. You'll use these lessons for the rest of your life.
May 28, 2021
3.5 stars. A really solid read for sleepless hours in the middle of the night-- sprinkled with great nuggets I've come to expect and truly appreciate from Lodro. Love the short chapter structure, which allowed me to walk away and come back to this book very comfortably over time.
January 20, 2024
Rinzler has been a favorite Buddhist writer for me for awhile. This book is definitely something most people would find joy with especially in the world of anxiety we live. The book offer experience, practical ways to move forward and ultimately a voice of reason.
June 6, 2021
This book is relevant in the times where we live now. Lodro Rinzler also has made videos and meditation exercises as a complement to the new book.
February 6, 2022
I have loved all of Lodro’s books! This one included!
December 12, 2022
Excellent concepts from Buddhism to address the anxiety that is a part of all of our lives.
August 10, 2023
This book connected concepts with actions in ways that really resonated with me. I am so grateful I found it, and that Lodro Rinzler wrote it.
August 8, 2023
I'm not one for self-help books, but I really like the overall Buddhist message and am looking more into the religion as a way to stave off recent bouts of anxiety. I am NOT open to medication, so I'm looking into other forms of coping and overcoming.
I really like the message in this book, and as someone who has never meditated before, I appreciated the 'meditation for idiots' sort of guide that this book offers. I'm not the least bit sure if I'm doing it right or not, but at the very least, I'm finding peace in just sitting outside, slowing my breathing, and enjoying the presence of the moment without thinking or worrying about anything or having any electronics to distract me. Just sitting and appreciating nature and my place in this world for a few minutes a day. It's quite nice!
I really like the message in this book, and as someone who has never meditated before, I appreciated the 'meditation for idiots' sort of guide that this book offers. I'm not the least bit sure if I'm doing it right or not, but at the very least, I'm finding peace in just sitting outside, slowing my breathing, and enjoying the presence of the moment without thinking or worrying about anything or having any electronics to distract me. Just sitting and appreciating nature and my place in this world for a few minutes a day. It's quite nice!
September 18, 2023
This book is a collection of short thoughts and meditations on anxiety. It is structured to be read in tiny pieces over a long period of time and not necessarily linearly (the audiobook version is not very accessible for this). It may be helpful if meditation is your coping strategy of choice, but you definitely need to read it and build up a practice prior to crisis mode. If you are in a place of deep anxiety, this book will not help and may even harm because Buddhism, like cognitive behavioral therapy, is kinda victim-blamey on the subject of anxiety (though that vibe is mild here).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews