The Little Book of Mindfulness

I was asked to review this book for 'Single Step' - a quarterly magazine out out by Depression Alliance. I've gotten involved with them through work as they've recently launched a support forum call Friends in Need. It's a great community and I'm really enjoying being involved in it.

And now, the review! 

I first began to practice mindfulness in 2008 as a way to help me recover from a complete mental breakdown. I was diagnosed with panic disorder and depression at the age of seventeen and at the age of twenty-three the fact that I had no real coping mechanisms or positive mental health practices caught up with me. 

I began seeing a psychologist who specialised in anxiety disorders and used cognitive behaviour therapy as one of her methods of treatment. She recognised very quickly that I was more than willing to work with my thoughts to find a solution to my excessive neuroses and on one of our very first sessions she talked me through the mindful eating of a raisin. 

Her approach was brilliant as it demonstrated to me the capacity I have for mindfulness and that everyone has an experience of it. Lately mindfulness seems to be ‘trending’ and it’s very easy to get caught up in it on a superficial level without an intrinsic understanding of what it involves. 

The Little Book of Mindfulness is like the Coles notes of everything I have learned in the last six years. I can emphatically say it not only presents mindfulness in an accessible way, but it can act as a refresher or tool for long-time practitioners. 

Sampling tidbits from a multitude of teachers with both psychological and spiritual backgrounds, this offers a well rounded view of the practice and how we can go about making it a conscious part of day to day life.