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14 opere 362 membri 10 recensioni

Sull'Autore

Elisha Goldstein, PhD, is also the author of Mindfulness Meditations for the Anxious Traveler and the eBooks Mindfulness Meditations for the Frantic Parent and Mindfulness Meditations for the Troubled Sleeper. He is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post and is the author of the popular mostra altro Mindfulness and Psychotherapy column on psychcentral.com. He lives in Santa Monica, California. mostra meno

Comprende il nome: Elisha Goldstein Ph.D.

Opere di Elisha Goldstein

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Informazioni generali

Sesso
male
Luogo di residenza
Santa Monica, California, USA

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Recensioni

Not just theoretical, but practical as well. Awesome read.
 
Segnalato
Kristin058 | Nov 6, 2015 |
Questa recensione è stata scritta per Recensori in anteprima di LibraryThing.
I first began meeting with Cognitive Behavioral Therapist during my parents divorce. I was struggling to process my to process my grief and depression in a healthy way and it was becoming a burden. I had tried the pharmaceutical route with some success, however the side effects of the drugs were not appealing.

At the beginning of these counseling sessions my mind was like a tornado of thoughts and emotions. I was unable to to work, sleep, or enjoy time with my family. During those sessions my counselor taught me various tools to tame and process my thoughts. I learned to take pause during the day, control my breathing, and assess the state of my thoughts at any moment. I learned to slow down, scan my body, and recognize how my thoughts were effecting my physical body.

As I took notice of my thoughts and then questioned them, I began to be able (and not with any sort of ease) to let those thoughts pass. My body began to hurt less, sleep began to return, my mind seemed less frantic and cluttered. This process helped me to gain perspective and refocus on what actually required my attention at that moment

Someone with knowledge about Buddhism or Eastern Meditation might call what I’ve described “mindfulness”. At that time I was unaware that any such word existed. As my interests in various aspects of Buddhism have grown I’ve become aware that the tool I was given during those months is just that — Mindefulness. While some in my religious circles may balk at such a glowing recommendation, I’ve experienced the universiality of this practice.

Mindfulness Made Simple is a great introduction to benefits and practice of mindfulness. It wonderfully explains the practical ways mindfulness can help with anxiety, insomnia, anger, negativity and more. While the concepts of the book are rooted firmly in eastern traditions, the book doesn’t focus on Buddhist doctrine or other religious aspects. Mindfulness is universal and the book does a good job of presenting that.

The beginner meditations in the book are classic starting points in mindfulness. I appreciated the honest approach it took to failure as well as the difficulties of mindfulness. Many people, including myself, have a images of sitting quietly for 30 minutes in a particular posture. In reality 2 minutes in your office chair is enough to reap the benefits. It’s not easy. Fidgeting, errant thoughts, body pain etc.. are common and often demoralizing. this book makes you aware of those issues up front and normalizes their appearance.

I particularly liked the advanced meditations and put some of them into practice. Focusing on the feeling of the water against my skin during a hot shower or being attentive to the movement and sensations of each step where easy ones to try. The two that I found the most helpful were the Loving Kindness Meditation and the Orange Meditation.

The Loving Kindness Meditation helps calm the mind and focuses in on loving oneself and others. The other person might be a co-worker, a struggling friend, or someone you consider to be irritating. During the meditation you center yourself through basic mindfulness principles and then focus on the following thoughts:

“May I be safe. May I be well. May I be happy. May I be peaceful and at ease.”

Of course during this time you may think of ways that you don’t feel safe or well. You may even feel that you don’t deserve to feel happy, peaceful, or at ease. Recognizing these thoughts, allowing them to rise and pass, and refocusing on the meditation can be powerful. Feeling of anxiety, fear, and self loathing can begin to dissipate.

After this step, the process begins for a person other than yourself. You may begin to think of that person’s face while you focus on the the thoughts:

“May you be safe. May you be well. May you be happy. May you be peaceful and at ease.”

Meditating on loving kindness towards an person who frustrates you will be a stretch of compassion. While thinking of those who irritate me I often felt skeptical or insincere. Over time though my thoughts began to change. I realized that a person’s insecurity may be motivating their actions towards me. During these moments of clarity I would add to the meditation, for example, “May you feel secure”. Occaisionally I have noticed thoughts of negativity and irritation towards an individual and my mind will say to me “Loving Kindness Meditation”.

The Orange Meditation is one that is well known in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn. Regarding it he said:

“When we are mindful, we recognize what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It’s very simple. When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible.”

I’m a slightly overweight, middle-aged, software developer, so I practiced this meditation with a Burger and Chili-cheese fries from the Lexington’s favorite Tolly-Ho’s. But despite that, eating mindfully allowed me to experience the flavors and texture of food in a new way. Each bite felt like experiencing it for the first time again. My tendency it towards scarfing as much food as possible as fast as possible, but eating mindfully made that approach seem unsatisfying. Another benefit I noticed was that I felt full and satisfied when I was finished. Rather than wishing there was more for me to taste, I was content with what I had eaten.

I would recommend this book to anybody interested in exploring mindfulness or seeking a refresher. I found the information in the book helpful as well as motivating me to read more about the subject.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
erlenmeyer316 | 7 altre recensioni | Sep 21, 2015 |
Questa recensione è stata scritta per Recensori in anteprima di LibraryThing.
This book is a good beginners book to allow the reader to understand what mindfulness is. He gives a good overview of the practice and then also into the teaching of meditation. I personally find that reading about meditation while you are trying to do it is very difficult, an audiobook or CD works much better. The reference section in the back of the book is most helpful though. I received this book as an early review copy from LibraryThing in exchange for my honest review.
 
Segnalato
Diane.Wyen | 7 altre recensioni | Nov 4, 2014 |

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Statistiche

Opere
14
Utenti
362
Popolarità
#66,319
Voto
3.2
Recensioni
10
ISBN
36
Lingue
3

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