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Becoming Aware: A 21-Day Mindfulness Program for Reducing Anxiety and Cultivating Calm
This hands-on user's guide to the groundbreaking Wheel of Awareness meditation practice featured in the New York Times bestseller Aware takes readers step-by-step through a twenty-one-day journey to discover what it means to be truly present and aware in our daily lives.
In today's increasingly fast-paced world it can be difficult to find moments to catch your breath, regain inner balance, and just . . . be. This simple yet profound guide shows readers how to strengthen their minds by learning to focus attention, open awareness, and develop a positive state of mind--the three pillars of mindfulness practice that research shows lead to greater physical and mental well-being.
Psychiatrist and cofounder of the Mindsight Institute, Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., created the science-grounded meditation practice called the Wheel of Awareness to unlock the power of the brain to integrate its many functions and develop internal resources that lead to an enduring sense of calm and quiet. Packed with guided meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques, Becoming Aware meets readers where they are and offers a simple program to enhance our inner sense of clarity and even our interpersonal well-being.
In today's increasingly fast-paced world it can be difficult to find moments to catch your breath, regain inner balance, and just . . . be. This simple yet profound guide shows readers how to strengthen their minds by learning to focus attention, open awareness, and develop a positive state of mind--the three pillars of mindfulness practice that research shows lead to greater physical and mental well-being.
Psychiatrist and cofounder of the Mindsight Institute, Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., created the science-grounded meditation practice called the Wheel of Awareness to unlock the power of the brain to integrate its many functions and develop internal resources that lead to an enduring sense of calm and quiet. Packed with guided meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques, Becoming Aware meets readers where they are and offers a simple program to enhance our inner sense of clarity and even our interpersonal well-being.
176 pages, Paperback
Published October 5, 2021
86 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
Daniel J. Siegel
187 books3,230 followersDaniel J. Siegel, M.D., is an internationally acclaimed author, award-winning educator, and child psychiatrist. Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He is currently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he also serves as a co-investigator at the Center for Culture, Brain, and Development, and is a founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center. In addition, Dr. Siegel is the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute.
Dr. Siegel has the unique ability to convey complicated scientific concepts in a concise and comprehensible way that all readers can enjoy. He has become known for his research in Interpersonal Neurobiology – an interdisciplinary view that creates a framework for the understanding of our subjective and interpersonal lives. In his most recent works, Dr. Siegel explores how mindfulness practices can aid the process of interpersonal and intrapersonal attunement, leading to personal growth and well-being.
Published author of several highly acclaimed works, Dr. Siegel’s books include the New York Times’ bestseller “Brainstorm”, along with "Mindsight," "The Developing Mind," "The Mindful Brain," "The Mindful Therapist," in addition to co-authoring "Parenting From the Inside Out," with Mary Hartzell and "The Whole-Brain Child," with Tina Bryson. He is also the Founding Editor of the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, which includes "Healing Trauma," "The Power of Emotion," and "Trauma and the Body." Dr. Siegel currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife.
For more information on Dr. Siegel's work, please visit DrDanSiegel.com.
Dr. Siegel has the unique ability to convey complicated scientific concepts in a concise and comprehensible way that all readers can enjoy. He has become known for his research in Interpersonal Neurobiology – an interdisciplinary view that creates a framework for the understanding of our subjective and interpersonal lives. In his most recent works, Dr. Siegel explores how mindfulness practices can aid the process of interpersonal and intrapersonal attunement, leading to personal growth and well-being.
Published author of several highly acclaimed works, Dr. Siegel’s books include the New York Times’ bestseller “Brainstorm”, along with "Mindsight," "The Developing Mind," "The Mindful Brain," "The Mindful Therapist," in addition to co-authoring "Parenting From the Inside Out," with Mary Hartzell and "The Whole-Brain Child," with Tina Bryson. He is also the Founding Editor of the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, which includes "Healing Trauma," "The Power of Emotion," and "Trauma and the Body." Dr. Siegel currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife.
For more information on Dr. Siegel's work, please visit DrDanSiegel.com.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 25, 2022
'Becoming Aware : A 21-day mindfulness program for reducing anxiety and cultivating calm', a workbook by Daniel J. Siegel who is a very well known clinical psychologist and clinical professor.
21-days or 3 weeks is all you need to give this book and religious follow the steps in order to feel and see the change within you. It's a practicing tool but also at the same requires you to believe in it in order for any habits to build or bring about change.
Many times people get very overwhelmed when it comes to doing something for their own mental health or self-help books, but this one is quite simple yet very effective in terms of a workbook.
In this book we mainly focus on the concept called "The Wheel of Awareness", where we focus on our surroundings and ourselves at the same time and the wheel is a visual metaphor for the way our mind works which helps here.
21-days or 3 weeks is all you need to give this book and religious follow the steps in order to feel and see the change within you. It's a practicing tool but also at the same requires you to believe in it in order for any habits to build or bring about change.
Many times people get very overwhelmed when it comes to doing something for their own mental health or self-help books, but this one is quite simple yet very effective in terms of a workbook.
In this book we mainly focus on the concept called "The Wheel of Awareness", where we focus on our surroundings and ourselves at the same time and the wheel is a visual metaphor for the way our mind works which helps here.
December 28, 2024
Daniel J. Siegel’s Becoming Aware offers a structured 21-day mindfulness program aimed at reducing anxiety and fostering calm through reflective practices and exercises. While the intentions behind the book are commendable, my experience with it was mixed.
The concept of the “Wheel of Awareness” stood out as the most valuable takeaway. It’s a useful framework for exploring consciousness and becoming more attuned to different aspects of life, such as emotions, sensations, and relationships. Similarly, the breath exercise Siegel outlines is simple yet effective—a practical tool I can see myself returning to.
That said, the rest of the program felt a bit repetitive and less impactful. The pacing made it hard to stay engaged, and some sections leaned heavily on abstract explanations without offering enough actionable steps. For a book that promises a transformative 21-day journey, it lacked the depth or variety I was hoping for.
Overall, Becoming Aware isn’t a bad read, but it didn’t quite resonate with me as a whole. If you’re new to mindfulness, the Wheel of Awareness and breath exercise might make it worth picking up. For others with more experience in mindfulness practices, you might not find much beyond what you already know.
The concept of the “Wheel of Awareness” stood out as the most valuable takeaway. It’s a useful framework for exploring consciousness and becoming more attuned to different aspects of life, such as emotions, sensations, and relationships. Similarly, the breath exercise Siegel outlines is simple yet effective—a practical tool I can see myself returning to.
That said, the rest of the program felt a bit repetitive and less impactful. The pacing made it hard to stay engaged, and some sections leaned heavily on abstract explanations without offering enough actionable steps. For a book that promises a transformative 21-day journey, it lacked the depth or variety I was hoping for.
Overall, Becoming Aware isn’t a bad read, but it didn’t quite resonate with me as a whole. If you’re new to mindfulness, the Wheel of Awareness and breath exercise might make it worth picking up. For others with more experience in mindfulness practices, you might not find much beyond what you already know.
January 8, 2023
Do you want a 21-day meditation workbook? If yes, then this is the book for you.
Becoming Aware talks about three learnable skills to support the cultivation of well-being, the wheel of awareness, various guided meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques that help you reduce anxiety and cultivate calm.
The Wheel of Awareness is a profound concept. Meditating on it can help calm down the Monkey Mind.
There are many ‘Aware-on-the-go’ methods that you can use to ground and centre yourself.
The writing is simple, easy to understand, and intended for beginners.
The book has many pages for you to fill down your experience for every day till the 21st day.
You will find several resources at the end of the book.
IN A NUTSHELL: Becoming Aware is a 21-day mindfulness program when followed properly can help you reduce anxiety and assist you in grounding and centring yourself. The on-the-go methods are effective to use in daily life.
Recommend? YES. If you are a beginner in reading, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness, and would like to explore a system to incorporate it into your daily life, this book is a good start. If you already know all these but need a system to incorporate in your life, you can also pick this book. However, if you are at advanced stages (tried many variations of meditation, or read about yoga, and mindfulness techniques), you might not find this book interesting.
Becoming Aware talks about three learnable skills to support the cultivation of well-being, the wheel of awareness, various guided meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques that help you reduce anxiety and cultivate calm.
The Wheel of Awareness is a profound concept. Meditating on it can help calm down the Monkey Mind.
There are many ‘Aware-on-the-go’ methods that you can use to ground and centre yourself.
The writing is simple, easy to understand, and intended for beginners.
The book has many pages for you to fill down your experience for every day till the 21st day.
You will find several resources at the end of the book.
IN A NUTSHELL: Becoming Aware is a 21-day mindfulness program when followed properly can help you reduce anxiety and assist you in grounding and centring yourself. The on-the-go methods are effective to use in daily life.
Recommend? YES. If you are a beginner in reading, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness, and would like to explore a system to incorporate it into your daily life, this book is a good start. If you already know all these but need a system to incorporate in your life, you can also pick this book. However, if you are at advanced stages (tried many variations of meditation, or read about yoga, and mindfulness techniques), you might not find this book interesting.
January 10, 2022
I preordered this book while reading Dr. Shauna Shapiro's book called 'Rewire Your Mind' (called 'Good Morning, I Love You' in the US). I was really excited at the time about what I was learning with regards to mindfulness that I decided to buy this book before it came out and I was able to read a sample. It was a mistake...
This book felt lazy. It feels as if it was written and edited as an afterthought...a quick side project. Things are not explained well, the Wheel of Awareness seems unnecessary to me and the Three Pillars Of Mindfulness has been done/explained better elsewhere. I was really disappointed and expected better from this author, although I haven't read anything else by him, so maybe he is just not for me? Who knows. Before you buy this book (or any for that matter), I suggest reading a sample and seeing if it resonates with you or not.
I have since finished Dr. Shauna Shapiro's book, as mentioned at the beginning of my review- it's fantastic and I absolutely recommend it.
This book felt lazy. It feels as if it was written and edited as an afterthought...a quick side project. Things are not explained well, the Wheel of Awareness seems unnecessary to me and the Three Pillars Of Mindfulness has been done/explained better elsewhere. I was really disappointed and expected better from this author, although I haven't read anything else by him, so maybe he is just not for me? Who knows. Before you buy this book (or any for that matter), I suggest reading a sample and seeing if it resonates with you or not.
I have since finished Dr. Shauna Shapiro's book, as mentioned at the beginning of my review- it's fantastic and I absolutely recommend it.
March 4, 2022
I listed to this. Would be better in print.
August 22, 2022
It's mostly blank pages with lines for you to write on.
February 3, 2024
Citită în limba română: "Conștiență deplină în 21 de zile. Cum te ajută mindfulness să reduci anxietatea și să cultivi starea de calm". Utilă pentru că propune un program de 21 de zile de meditație și reflecție scrisă privind meditația formală din ziua respectivă, cu condiția de a aloca un timp variabil de la o zi la alta, plus timpul pentru notițe.
Mi-au fost de folos explicațiile privind exercițiul roții conștientizării pe care l-am regăsit și în alte cărți ale lui Daniel Siegel, precum și precizările privind starea de ațipeală din timpul meditației și cum să o abordăm.
Am oferit doar 3 din 5 steluțe pentru că este mai degrabă o carte pentru începători, deși durata variabilă a meditațiilor e foarte posibil să influențeze negativ consecvența unui începător - așa cum spune Daniel Siegel într-o altă carte a sa: pentru începători sunt suficiente 10 minute de meditație, pentru că o perioadă mai lungă îi poate descuraja în a fi consecvenți, iar consecvența zilnică este extrem de importantă pentru producerea unor schimbări.
În finalul cărții, în ziua 21, este propusă o variantă de trecere prin segmentele roții conștientizării cu fiecare inspir-expir (durată mai scurtă a meditației), ceea ce poate fi mult mai fezabil pentru începători 🙏🏻
Mi-au fost de folos explicațiile privind exercițiul roții conștientizării pe care l-am regăsit și în alte cărți ale lui Daniel Siegel, precum și precizările privind starea de ațipeală din timpul meditației și cum să o abordăm.
Am oferit doar 3 din 5 steluțe pentru că este mai degrabă o carte pentru începători, deși durata variabilă a meditațiilor e foarte posibil să influențeze negativ consecvența unui începător - așa cum spune Daniel Siegel într-o altă carte a sa: pentru începători sunt suficiente 10 minute de meditație, pentru că o perioadă mai lungă îi poate descuraja în a fi consecvenți, iar consecvența zilnică este extrem de importantă pentru producerea unor schimbări.
În finalul cărții, în ziua 21, este propusă o variantă de trecere prin segmentele roții conștientizării cu fiecare inspir-expir (durată mai scurtă a meditației), ceea ce poate fi mult mai fezabil pentru începători 🙏🏻
November 5, 2022
This is a workbook and companion to the author's best-seller Aware, which I haven't read yet.
The book is packed with guided meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques to become more aware of our surroundings and of ourselves, in three weeks.
The book has day to day meditation guides and also other tasks for the inner calm, and plenty of space to organise and jot down our thoughts and experiences based on that particular day's mindfulness activities. It talks about breathing exercises and visual techniques that allegedly serve the purpose.
It introduces “The Wheel of Awareness”, a simple yet profound visual map of the mind. The book includes several other interesting concepts.
It seems to me that the book will be more efficient when it is read after or along its main title, Aware, as the topic is intense and it appears that more detail is needed for beginners to practice the meditation. It would have been amazing with a little more insight.
The book is packed with guided meditation instructions, practical exercises, and everyday tools and techniques to become more aware of our surroundings and of ourselves, in three weeks.
The book has day to day meditation guides and also other tasks for the inner calm, and plenty of space to organise and jot down our thoughts and experiences based on that particular day's mindfulness activities. It talks about breathing exercises and visual techniques that allegedly serve the purpose.
It introduces “The Wheel of Awareness”, a simple yet profound visual map of the mind. The book includes several other interesting concepts.
It seems to me that the book will be more efficient when it is read after or along its main title, Aware, as the topic is intense and it appears that more detail is needed for beginners to practice the meditation. It would have been amazing with a little more insight.
February 4, 2023
First of all, this is a workbook that compliments meditation practice. If you buy this thinking you are purchasing a book that you will read straight through in 2 days, this is not that.
A few years ago, I was a big skeptic of the power of meditation. Over the past few years, I've changed my skepticism to curiosity. As we started 2023, my goal was to take the time to practice and see what, if anything, changed.
I can say that over January, I've become much more 'aware' of my surroundings and what I'm doing. I paired this notebook (and the audio portion) with reading another book that focused on a scientific approach to analyzing meditation. I felt that going through these lessons while learning more about science and its impact on the brain was very helpful. You can't really 'read' much each day using this workbook anyway, so you'll want another book to read at the same time and that seemed like a practical approach.
A few years ago, I was a big skeptic of the power of meditation. Over the past few years, I've changed my skepticism to curiosity. As we started 2023, my goal was to take the time to practice and see what, if anything, changed.
I can say that over January, I've become much more 'aware' of my surroundings and what I'm doing. I paired this notebook (and the audio portion) with reading another book that focused on a scientific approach to analyzing meditation. I felt that going through these lessons while learning more about science and its impact on the brain was very helpful. You can't really 'read' much each day using this workbook anyway, so you'll want another book to read at the same time and that seemed like a practical approach.
February 18, 2023
This is a self-help book containing 21-day mindfulness program for us in order to achieve inner balance and peacefulness. This book has instructions for meditation, exercises, and techniques.
There are blank pages in this book with prompts and we have to write in it. The main motive of this book is to develop our own personalized Wheel of Awareness practice so that we can have more clarity and deep, and a deep sense of stability.
This book can be very helpful and advantageous for us as it helps us to declutter our mind and find peacefulness within us. But of course, only reading this book won’t help us. We have follow the program and carry on the prompts here and write in this book.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. I can see how this book can be helpful as it has been proven helpful to me as well. This book is a great way to start your journey to mindfulness.
There are blank pages in this book with prompts and we have to write in it. The main motive of this book is to develop our own personalized Wheel of Awareness practice so that we can have more clarity and deep, and a deep sense of stability.
This book can be very helpful and advantageous for us as it helps us to declutter our mind and find peacefulness within us. But of course, only reading this book won’t help us. We have follow the program and carry on the prompts here and write in this book.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. I can see how this book can be helpful as it has been proven helpful to me as well. This book is a great way to start your journey to mindfulness.
April 24, 2022
A 21 day mindfulness program written in a journal form. Some good ideas and reminders in breathing. Enjoyed the thought of ‘monkey mind’ , that busy mind chatter that makes it difficult to be focused.
January 12, 2025
Listened to the audiobook. Almost worthless without the visual diagram he references. Ideas sound insightful and useful. Not a fully self-contained system of betterment. Most original contribution is reflecting on relationships.
November 16, 2021
not sure the objective of these excellent exercises.
Longevity?
Longevity?
January 6, 2023
This workbook will guide you through practices to become mindful. More suitable for people who's not familiar with conciousness or never try this practice before.
April 29, 2023
Excellent activities but I couldn't read and do the exercises. Recommend audiobook version.
July 12, 2023
Felt kinda lazy honestly
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews