Customer Reviews

A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If I had to identify one quality that separates this book from the rest of the mindfulness resources in the self-help aisle, it's that these pages are so practical and can't help but provide the reader with plenty of "Aha!" moments. Reading through the chapters and exercises, I appreciate all the research that Goldstein and Stahl studied, material that illuminates how mindfulness exercises can alter and help shape your brain to be more optimistic and resilient. But what won my trust is that they have both been stress cases themselves at certain points in their lives, and can therefore communicate with empathetic language. They both know, on a very personal level, how stress can disable a person. Much like Kay Redfield Jamison, the famous psychologist who suffers from bipolar disorder, they speak both as expert and patient.

I understand mindfulness as forcing a bit of time and space between a situation and your reaction, or recognizing the snowball of thoughts that's forming in your mind before it becomes too overwhelming to sort through yourself. Goldstein and Stahl quote Vicktor Frankl, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

Although mindfulness techniques aren't able to rescue me out of an acute, severe depression, if I diligently adhered to all the wisdom contained in Stahl and Goldstein's book, and designated a time of the day to do all the exercises, I could save myself some considerable heartache and headache.

Why?

Their mindfulness exercises allow the reader to take some of the files off of her cluttered and disorganized desk because the files relate to the past or to the future, and the present tense is the only one she should worry about now. According to the authors, mindfulness is about sticking to the here and now and banishing all judgment. It's also about breaking the job, day, or situation down ... into small parts, in order to better manage it.

Goldstein and Stahl's workbook uses a strong motivator for readers to learn the beneficial habit of mindfulness, and that is accountability. When you write things down and record your progress, you become accountable. Maybe that's why my kids hate homework so much, come to think of it. So what they have done for us is set up a system by which we can challenge ourselves to better integrate our body, mind, and soul. Or at least that's the plan.

I recommend this workbook to anyone who is stressed out ... um ... everyone I know.

I think I first became aware of "mindfulness" from one of the Star Wars movies. But it's played a central role in Buddhist meditation for a long time and is backed up by loads of research. The research per Wikipedia shows that a mere 6 weeks of mindfulness exercises is correlated with physical results such as the body's ability to fight disease.

Mindfulness exercises seem to develop the brain's ability to deal with anxiety and stress. Once I understood this, it was easier for me to devote the time to the exercises in the book. I skipped a lot of days, which isn't good, but I was able to resume without difficulty. That made me appreciate that mindfulness is continuous, something that can potentially be practiced all the time.

The exercises in this workbook put me to observing and recording my thoughts and feelings at critical times. One result of this is that experiences of certain routines changed, I believe. This puts me more in the present, which is not as simple as I had believed. For example, if you think about times of the day when you feel something is wrong and try to observe your thoughts and feelings at that time, recording them, you'll become aware of what really influences your physical response.

I liked the formal practice log and found the informal practice reflection a bit difficult at the present time. Everybody will surely have their own experience. At least I have something to aim for ahead.

Mindfulness teaches that thoughts and emotions float by, and realizing this will help us to not take our own thoughts too seriously. Reduction of physical responses to negative thinking is possible and this is what probably boosts the immune system per the research.

Interestingly, there are yoga stretches and exercises in this curriculum. I started doing them at work although I haven't succeeded yet in establishing a regular routine. This certainly helped me feel better and assisted with the mindfulness exercises.

I highly recommend this book for those that will put at least 25 minutes a day into performing the exercises, even if one takes off many days as I did. I believe I've already had some results and look forward to doing better.

Presented with practical steps and illustrations, this workbook provides a comprehensive collection of wonderful mind-body exercises, mindfulness information and background on stress reduction. Bob and Elisha cover in this book, a wholistic set of topics in a straight forward and practical style. Each chapter gives you just enough information to understand the subject and useful exercises that can be applied directly to your practice. I found each section enjoyable to read and found myself revisiting the ideas and exercises, as a good workbook will do. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to start or broaden their mindful practice and, for students of any program that focuses on mindfulness, stress or improving one's life-style.

I was looking for something more clinical, so this makes me unusual.
There was a decent portion of clinical practice and results etc. but not as I had expected BUT I am different
in that I tend to very clinical..it's my job.

I liked the exercises, stretches etc and some of the content and ideas that I found
practical. However I am not at all into new age or yoga other than for exercise and
good stretching.

BUT for those who ARE into new age and /or yoga, I believe you will like this very much
'It is precise , it is visual , it is easy to do and maintain and it is well explained
as what to do, how to do each specific exercise, relaxation, breathing etc.and why
you do what you are doing.

This also gets you thinking and seeing things differently .This is a 50-50 split of new age and clinical
which is an excellent division to get the most accurate way to accomplish the purpose--to relax
and change the way you think and the manner in which you do things

It will relax you..I am positive as I did/do many of the exercises and stretching plus the breathing
.
These alone are great stress reducers and often pain relievers as well.Helps my pain go done or sometimes away

So, despite my 'difference' I hope this helps you make the right decision for you !!!

I've done some meditation as part of a yoga class and the instructor used mostly mystical-sounding descriptions of what we were doing. On one hand I wanted to get into it, but the Western logic part of my brain wanted some science and statistics to back it up. It's hard to take some things seriously when there's so much disinformation on the web and elsewhere.

This book takes a fairly neutral approach to mindfulness meditation. It doesn't immediately overwhelm you with happy-sounding terms or promise that it is "the way" to do something. Chapter 1 defines mindfulness and talks about habitual thinking patterns, which can be very destructive time wasters and lead to stress. The first formal practice involves eating a raisin mindfully, and there's a 3-minute check-in to help you get a better idea of how the practice works.

There are two types of meditation: insight and concentration. This workbook focuses on mindfulness, which is a type of insight meditation. Basically, you focus on your body and feelings and observe what's going on at the moment without judgment, whereas concentration meditation involves mantras and imagery. I think insight meditation is a bit more approachable for most Westerners simply because there's no outward appearance of religion or doctrine associated with it. Essentially, it seems more mechanical and thus, scientific.

The meditations are approachable and for most of them you don't need to do anything special. A short meditation can be done at your desk or simply seated on the sofa (with the TV off, of course!). Later chapters do get into meditation postures, including sitting poses and lying poses. Chapter 6 on "Deepening Your Practice" includes yoga-based stretches that will help relax your muscles. To keep the text approachable to its Western audience, the authors use common English names for the poses and don't even include the Sanskrit asana names.

The accompanying CD to this workbook is for mp3 CD players only. I rated the workbook/audio only 4 stars for that reason. The recorded meditations vary in length; some are only 5 minutes while others are 45 minutes. You can do the meditations with or without the audio. I would recommend reading the entire chapter first, then reading a meditation before going on to listen to the audio version. I find that I do a little better when I have an idea of what is coming and how long the meditation will take.

This is not a book to read once and put on the shelf, as the exercises are meant to be something that you adapt to your daily life. For most of us, time commitments mean we can't sit and meditate for hours at a time, so the book's short meditations are welcome breaks in an otherwise hectic lifestyle. I recommend this as a good starting point for daily practice, and as you become more comfortable with the idea of meditating you may want to investigate concentration meditation, too.

I'd not heard of this type of stress reduction as referred to as mindfullness, but I have meditated and done yoga in the past. This workbook and MP3 CD, puts the three theories together in a very useful way that will change how you react and think about your life on a daily basis. I find after using the workbook and CD it has changed how I react to things or if I react wrongly, my mind goes to the workbook and some of the exercises and I am reminded of what I should have done. It's a start and it definately can reduce anxiety and stress.

The workbook has you note known stressors and it has you do things that will take you through the moments in your life. Instead of thinking of the past, or what he or she said or thinking of the future, the book reminds you to think of now, this moment. It has me looking at life with one moment at a time instead of rushing to the next activity and stops me from constantly thinking of what I have to do later.

The CD you can put on your Ipod or MP3 player and starts you off small with meditation and works up to full body scans and meditations that last one hour. The book has yoga poses and stretches that help you deal with stress. When I do the meditations on the MP3 player I feel so much better when I am finished. The logs inside the workbook has you keep notes regarding the feelings and changes you felt after you've finished the meditiations.

Mindful eating of a raisin might sound funny, but it works. You'l learn from this book, how to appreciate things and not take them for granted. This is a workbook and CD that you will use for a long, long time. It's a great learning experience that helps you in stressful situations and teaches you how to react differently and how to center yourself on a daily basis. I love the MP3 CD and can use it anywhere.

This is a very useful book. I have been going through it almost daily and doing at least one of the meditations provided. Each week is a brand new lesson. I find when I do the activities and meditations and yoga that my life is richer and more thoughtful then just going full throttle all the time from one activity to another. I would think that if one suffers from anxiety or stress this book would be very handy as a tool to help cope with life on a daily basis. There are lots of tools to use and helpful information that can be used in most situations that cause stress. This is a great comprehesive program to integrate into your life to make it more meaningful and less stressful, and make your appreciate life and the gifts it has to offer more stringent and valuable.

This workbook is a nice packaging of the concepts of mindfulness, and practical applications for modifying behavior to reduce stress. I was familiar with many of the concepts and techniques presented in the book, and in fact was practicing some of them before they started appearing under the "mindfulness" banner.

The book presents the concepts and techniques in a gradual manner, starting off with short, easy exercises and working up to longer and more insightful activities. The surveys and logs are very useful for tracking history and progress.

The inclusion of a CD with guided meditations is great. That helps a lot in getting started and in "programming" your own mind. However, the audio files take up about 500 MB, and a CD has a capacity of at least 600 MB.

It would have been nice if the authors had used that extra space to include document files (text, or RTF which can be read my most word processing programs) of all the surveys and logs in the book. I don't like to write in books, and it would be nice to be able to print out a new log of any of the exercises when I needed to.

Reviewing this book and recommending it to my clients. always seeking different ways of reducing the difficulties that life throws at us.

Stahl and Goldstien present material that I have personaly gathered in 30 years of practice. The core of it is stress reduction. It is presented as a meditative approach. Low key and along the lines of yoga and sensory awareness, the later of which even the best of the knowledgable have difficulty.

I now look to my clients strengths and their best practices for self soothing and managing life's difficult times. If you are a reader and probably are or you wouldn't be looking for a book??, this is a good easy read.

Being a guy and liking tools I get irritated sometimes with "catchy phrases" but that's how we sell the concept. Getting beyond my prejudices I found this book informative, and stress reducing.

If that irritats you, as it had me, be a little patient, attempt the exercises, and maybe you will reduce your bias ..oh yes, and your stress.

Added bonus for this book is a cd, but with a caveate, it has to be played on your computer not the audio player. You can convert the many different guided relazation/meditation processes to your MP# player. Sigh I may be getting to old for "Hi Tech". But there is a lot and you can choose what works for you.

Some phrases such as "belly breathing" are still difficult for me to listen to. But that's my predjudice.

All in all it's an excellent all encompassing stress management tool.

Helped me remember what I already knew..LOL

Good buy!

I am a bad reviewer. I admit it: I have not done the exercises in this workbook.

I've looked through the book many times. It's a beautiful, interesting, thorough book, written by experienced, well-qualified authors. There are questionnaires and worksheets to fill out, an audio CD to listen to, exercises both mental and physical to do.

And that's the thing: this is a WORKbook. It takes work. It takes time. When I ordered this book, I was miserable from the amount of stress I was dealing with. I saw "stress reduction" in the title, and jumped. But right now? I flip through this lovely book and I can't imagine when I will have the time to go through this. Which could explain the stress. :)

So, be advised. If you are stressed due to a prolonged time crunch, this may not be the book for you. I mean, I think it would help, and maybe you need it, but it won't help you any just sitting there on your shelf. I can confirm this. *g*

Mindfulness is paying close attention to whatever you experience in the here and now. It does not necessarily mean doing things slowly, it simply means cultivating nonjudgmental awareness of your life one moment and one breath at a time.
Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein's insightful and practical exercises in "A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook" brings mindfulness into your daily life. Their helpful step-by-step training includes mindful breathing, eating, walking, self-inquiry, interpersonal communication, meditation and rest. The workbook provides a perfect companion to Jon Kabat-Zinn's book "Full Catastrophe Living." Kabat-Zinn, a molecular biologist with a long-term meditation practice, founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979. Today there are over 250 hospitals around the country and many more around the globe who use the mindful-based therapies. Unlike concentration meditation where the focus is on a mantra or concept mindfulness meditation focuses on the body and mind in the present.
The Mindfulness practice, originally an ancient Buddhist meditative discipline, is not only used for mental and emotional well being today but also helps people deal with stress, pain and illness.
Mindfulness flourishes when the following eight attitudes are present: Beginner's mind, non-judgment, acknowledgement, non-striving, equanimity, letting be, self-reliance and self-compassion.
Stahl and Goldstein say you can't always control or eliminate stressors but you can engage with them differently. The answer isn't to turn away but towards the mind traps like negative self talk, interpretations and thought patterns. The six negative thought patterns are: thinking of worst case scenarios called "catastrophizing," exaggerating the negative and discounting the positive, assuming without actual evidence called "mind reading," being the eternal expert, holding others responsible for your pain through "blaming" and feeling guilt and disappointment because of a list of unbreakable rules called "shoulds."
Other mindfulness tools include:
The body scan, investigating and working with pain, tension and emotions in the body.
Formal sitting mindfulness meditation that focuses on the breath, sensations, sounds, thoughts and emotions.
Mindful lying and standing yoga to bring awareness to the breath, movement, posture, thoughts and emotions. Yoga brings together the body and mind and keeps bones, joints, muscles, nerves and organs healthy, supple and flexible.
The "Transforming fear through loving-kindness meditation" helps access compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity to dissolve egocentricity, greed, resentment, jealousy and hatred creating more spaciousness and freedom in the mind and heart.
Observing thoughts to see how busy minds mostly rehearse and rehash instead of being in the present.
Interpersonal mindfulness brings nonjudgmental present moment awareness to your interactions with others. This includes mindful listening and the "Aikido" of communication. Aikido, a physical movement called entering and blending allows you to respond to an attack with a skillful deflection so no one gets hurt. There are four steps: "Align" and enter through empathy, (What's their point of view?), "Agree" on shared concerns (I'm also disappointed), "Redirect" focuses on shared goals, (What can we do to make it better?) and "Resolve" explores mutually agreeable compromises or agrees to disagree.
Stahl and Goldstein's groundbreaking program will not only help you alleviate stress but gently invites you to find "peace with your own soul" and discover the treasure within you.