Wellness

Applied Mindfulness: Approaches in Mental Health for Children and Adolescents starts from the premise that mental health clinicians must have their own mindfulness practice before teaching the tenets and techniques of mindfulness to others, including young people. To that end, the book offers readers clear instructions on how to first practice mindfulness in their own lives and then extend their personal practice outward to others.

The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation offers a practical guide to building a strong meditation practice by unifying mindfulness, concentration, and insight into a single, integrated approach. Mindfulness and insight--clearly knowing what is happening in one's present moment experience--and concentration--the ability of the mind to remain steady and undistracted--are foundational elements of meditation, yet people are often confused about how these aspects of the practice fit together. Should they be doing insight meditation or concentration practices? How does concentration fit into insight meditation? To help, The Art and Skill of Buddhist Meditation offers specific guidance for cultivating both insight and concentration in meditation. This book will be of interest to both beginning and experienced meditation practitioners who wish to familiarize themselves with, deepen their understanding of, and increase their practical skills in mindfulness, concentration, and insight meditation. New meditators who want hands-on skills they can easily put into practice will find the step-by-step instructions accessible and easy to understand. Experienced practitioners will find a complete and useful guide for deepening insight and cultivating the deeper stages of concentration known as jhana. This book also discusses the most common experiences that can arise as the meditation process unfolds, and will help you find the approaches and techniques that work best for you.

Leading mindfulness expert and author of Calming Your Anxious Mind, Jeffrey Brantley, MD, offers daily mindfulness-based meditations to help you gain control of your emotional reactions, improve your relationships, and cultivate peace, balance, and well-being in your life. Anger is an intense emotion that everyone deals with, but when feelings of anger spiral out of control they can get in the way of living a full and happy life. If you struggle with intense irritability or angry outbursts, you may feel like your reactions are beyond your control. But this simply isn't true--you, and only you, have the power to change your life. You just need to be shown the way. In Daily Meditations for Calming Your Angry Mind, Brantley details three different paths--or approaches--based in mindfulness and meditative perspectives, that you can choose from to take control of your anger, and your life. First, you'll learn to disengage from your anger by pausing to be mindful when anger is happening. Second, you'll discover ways to cool your anger using meditative practices to nurture kindness and compassion towards yourself and others. And third, you'll find tips for practicing mindfulness to transform your understanding and realize your anger is not an identity, a defect, or a permanent condition. These three practical and easy-to-use approaches to anger management have a strong basis in both ancient and modern traditions. With this book as your guide, you can finally overcome the tumultuous thoughts, feelings, and reactions that have been holding you back in life.

Master Cherng's translation of Discourse on Sitting and Forgetting, an 8th century classic text on meditation by Si Ma Cheng Zhen, is accompanied by his extensive explanatory commentary, unique in its ability to make this complex text accessible to the Western reader. In the introduction to the text, Master Cherng explains how to practice the Purification of the Heart method of meditation and photographs clearly illustrate the correct postures. He deciphers the Chinese metaphors and abstract language of Si Ma Cheng Zhen to give a clear explanation of the processes involved and the resulting changes to mind, spirit and body. His translation and explanatory commentary present the classic text in a way that can be easily understood and applied, allowing Western students of Daoism, and anyone with an interest in meditation, direct access to the meaning of this text in practice.

The realities of the modern-day workplace can include stress, pressure and apathy, but with a thoughtful approach and an openness to change, anyone can transform their work experience. In ‘Mindfulness at Work', expert mediator and counsellor Maria Arpa shares her professional and personal insights into ways we can all create positive change at work - ways to cut conflict, find contentment and develop an environment where harmony and clarity rule. Learn how to use her meditation practices and meditation tools to enrich your daily life and thrive and flourish, whatever your working circumstances.

Is your worrying keeping you from reaching your goals? In Mindfulness for Teen Worry, a clinical psychologist offers quick, easy-to-learn mindfulness skills teens can use anytime, anywhere to stop worries from growing and taking over.

Our understanding of the nature and applications of meditation, especially mindfulness meditation, has been expanding almost as rapidly as the empirical evidence from neuroscience and intervention studies that have become available in the research literature. Meditation is centuries old and prevalent in almost all ancient cultures in one form or another. Initially, people in the West were enamoured by its spiritual promise of personal transformation, but now a larger portion is attracted to mindfulness meditation (Vipassana or insight meditation) because of the promise of enhanced physical and mental well-being. Indeed, research shows that engaging in a daily practice of meditation for 20 to 30 minutes a day over 8 weeks produces new neural networks in the brain, attesting to observable calmness and clarity of perception. This book brings together a diverse group of experts who collectively provide a nuanced view of meditation from a variety of perspectives. This book offers a single-source authoritative guide to an ancient practice that is coming into its own in the Western world.

Based on a newly revised theory of relaxation, ABC2 Relaxation Theory, devised by the author, this book explains why hundreds of techniques used by professionals typically sort into six groups. The integration of these groups forms the core of the book. Smith's findings also reveal that not only can relaxation go beyond stress management, but that different families of relaxation have different effects. Rich with practical suggestions and concrete illustrations of application, this comprehensive training guide details the following techniques: Yoga Stretching Progressive Muscle Relaxation Breathing Exercise Autogenic Suggestion Imagery/Relaxing Self-Talk Meditation (including Mindfulness) Special applications include: relaxation with children relaxation and pain management relaxation, spirituality, and religion