Kindly Awareness: Managing Pain, Illness, and Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Sona (Author), Vidyamala (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005

This meditation practice helps us feel more positive, accepting and kindly towards both ourselves and others. It aims at cultivating a sense of connectedness and shared humanity with others, and is adapted from a traditional Buddhist meditation practice, the Metta Bhavana.

The CD includes two different approaches to the practice of developing kindly awareness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A friend who is bed-bound with severe back pain told me that these CDs were "the best." -- Marlene Eltschig, Germany

About the Author

Vidyamala was born and raised in New Zealand and first became interested in meditation in 1985, when receiving hospital treatment for a spinal injury. She then moved to the UK in 1990 to live at a Retreat Centre in Shropshire, training further in meditation and preparing for ordination into the Western Buddhist Order. In 1996 she moved to Manchester and in 2001 she started teaching mindfulness-based approaches to others living with physical pain and illness. In 2004 she founded Breathworks with Sona. Her spinal condition deteriorated further in the late nineties and she now uses crutches or a wheelchair for mobility, but she says that her overall quality of life has continued to improve as she has become more and more adept at managing the responses to her physical condition and enriching her life in other ways.

The CD's are co-lead by Vidyamala's partner Sona. Sona started meditating in London in 1972 and was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order in 1974. He has led retreats in the UK, Germany, Holland, Sweden, North America, Australia and New Zealand. At present he runs courses in Buddhist studies, meditation and pain management.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Breathworks (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955012023
• ISBN-13: 978-0955012020
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,592,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recovering from Breast Cancer, January 9, 2006

By 

Jo Poklington "Jo" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kindly Awareness: Managing Pain, Illness, and Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Audio CD)

I would like to recommend the Breathworks Kindly Awareness meditation CD to anyone. I received it soon after being diagnosed with breast cancer and I found the CD very helpful, as it was hard at times to feel love and compassion for myself. I am sure this benefited my immune system, along with the other Breathworks Cds, which helped my recovery.

I particularly enjoyed the quality of Vidyamala's voice on the CDs - gentle, balanced and authoritative.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connecting with all of life, February 21, 2006

By 

G. W. Hennessey "Gary Hennessey" (Manchester UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kindly Awareness: Managing Pain, Illness, and Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Audio CD)

I'd been practising the Metta Bhavana (Development of Kindness) in it's traditional form for about 25 years when I came across Vidyamala and Sona's adaptation of it. I think both ways of doing it are very good, but Vidyamala and Sona have adapted the practice specifically for people suffering from chronic pain and/or other chronic conditions, and I think it works very well. It helps you to empathise first with your own suffering, but then to expand outwards to use your pain as a point of empathy with all beings. Fantastic!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kindly Awareness Meditation, December 13, 2005

By 

Jan Sadler "Jan Sadler, www.painsupport.co.uk" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kindly Awareness: Managing Pain, Illness, and Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Audio CD)

The Kindly Awareness recording nurtures an accepting and kindly attitude firstly towards yourself and then outwards to others. I found Vidyamala's voice, in particular, full of compassion, gentleness and understanding, helping to enter a deep state of wellbeing and relaxation. The speed she moves throughout the meditations is just right, not too fast, not too slow. The recordings show what a great and deep understanding the speakers have of chronic pain, stress, other ill-health and the body and the mind. I am sure their meditations will help many others, from complete beginners to those with more experience, to make profound differences to their lives. I strongly recommend them.