8 Keys to Practicing Mindfulness: Practical Strategies for Emotional Health and Well-being

by Manuela Mischke Reeds, Babette Rothschild (Foreword by)

Overview

Learning how to pay attention to the present moment.

Becoming mindful is about the small, everyday things such as pausing to take a breath before you drive off in a hurry or considering the food that will nourish your body before a meal. Or it can mean checking in with yourself before responding to a challenging email or text. Every moment of our lives can become an opportunity to practice mindfulness. This book will invite you to sharpen your awareness and ask yourself with more frequency, “What do I notice right now?” or “How do I need to respond or be with this situation?” These seemingly tiny moments of noticing yourself can have a major impact on your life as you learn to track habitual patterns and awaken to change. Practicing mindfulness is not about being better by figuring it all out. It is about tolerating the moments when you don’t know or learning to be more curious about the struggle. Here you will learn how to establish a basic practice with guidelines for posture and breathing as well as various options for meditations that involve sitting, walking, gently moving or lying down. You can try these exercises at your lunch break, before you rise or fall asleep. But best of all is for you to sprinkle mindfulness throughout your day. Whether you are new to mindfulness or a seasoned practitioner, you can make the conscious decision to change your approach to life. Moment by moment you have the opportunity to cultivate awareness that will make a difference in how you engage with the world on a daily basis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393707953
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/22/2015
Series:	8 Keys to Mental Health
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Manuela Mischke Reeds, MA, MFT, is an international teacher of mindfulness-based somatic psychology. She co-directs the Hakomi Institute of California and teaches in the US, Europe, and Australia. A meditation practitioner for over 25 years, Manuela lectures, consults and trains professionals in mindfulness, attachment, trauma, and movement therapy. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Menlo Park, CA.

Babette Rothschild, MSW, LCSW is an internationally recognized PTSD specialist and best-selling author of seven books translated into eighteen languages, including her new offerings Help for the Helper Updated + Expanded and the 8 Keys to Safe Trauma Recovery Workbook. Babette is also the creator and Series Editor of W. W. Norton’s 8 Keys to Mental Health Series. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword Babette Rothschild xi

Introduction xiii

Explanation of Exercise Icons xxi

Key 1 Meet the Present Moment 1

Key 2 Start Where You Are 21

Key 3 Slow Down 44

Key 4 Befriend Your Body 67

Key 5 Trust Your Sensations, Tame Your Emotions 97

Key 6 Ride Through Tough Times 128

Key 7 Cultivate Inner Calmness 156

Key 8 Choose Abundance 182

Epilogue: Mindfulness for the Road 209

References 213

Resources 221

Index 223

Editorial Reviews

"A clear and comprehensive guide to establishing mindfulness in your daily life, this book will help you feel and sense what is truly happening in the moment so you can make a more conscious choice about how you'd like to respond to daily events, rather than react out of habit. The heartfelt tone, real-life examples, and 'embodied' exercises make this whole process easily accessible."

Rik Isensee

"The true vocation of 8 Keys to Practicing Mindfulness is its ability to bring novice readers into mindfulness, meditation, and yogic practices with some key theoretical psychological underpinnings. . . . [A]n excellent book for those involved in providing or participating in psychotherapy that might benefit from such supplementary practices. . . . The frequent exercises provided also allow professionals to utilize what existing or gained knowledge of mindfulness they have, teach them to clients, and avoid complexity or ambiguity in their explanation."

Somatic Psychotherapy Today

"A wonderfully clear, concise, and accessible guide to the practice of mindfulness. It is on the cutting edge by showing how mindfulness is grounded in the body and is a powerful method for our emotional healing. Highly recommended for beginners as well as experienced meditators. Bravo!"

Reginald A. Ray

"[Reed] shows that she can serve as an excellent mindfulness coach through text as well as by teaching in person. . . . [S]he guides readers gently forward through meeting the present moment, learning to slow down enough to engage with both bodily sensations and emotional chatter, coping with difficulties, and continuing to re-discover inner calm. . . . This will be a good starting point for many readers."

Booklist

"With its clear and straightforward suggestions, this book is an excellent primer on mindfulness."

The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter

"Though I have had a meditation practice for many years, I learned some new techniques from this book that I will put into my practice and offer to others. It would be helpful for psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and any mental health professional to be aware of this 8 Keys series that offers practical, easy-to-understand steps toward better mental health practices."

PsycCRITIQUES

"[A]n excellent introduction to mindfulness for those who want to begin and grow a practice. . . . Reeds also gives us a way to measure our baseline at the beginning, then follow our progress as we go. . . . [A] thoughtful, helpful guide."

PsychCentral

"8 Keys to Practicing Mindfulness is a great boon to both the beginning and the dedicated practitioner of mindfulness. Speaking to the needs of contemporary Westerners, Mischke Reeds offers clear, systematic instructions to help readers to deepen in self-knowledge, reconnect their awareness to their bodies and daily lives, ground their understanding in cutting-edge science, and respond compassionately to our world. Offering inspiring stories of everyday people who have shifted their lives by developing these capacities, she encourages readers to choose such a life."

Donald Rothberg