A collection of essays on the benefits and everyday applications of mindfulness—featuring contributions from Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and more A growing body of scientific research indicates that mindfulness can reduce stress and improve mental and physical health. Countless people who have tried it say it's improved their quality of life. Simply put, mindfulness is the practice of paying steady and full attention, without judgment or criticism, to our moment-to-moment experience. Here is a collection of the best writing on what mindfulness is, why we should practice it, and how to apply it in daily life, from leading figures in the field. Selections include: • Leading thinker Jon Kabat-Zinn on the essence of mindfulness, stress reduction, and positive change • Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh on the transformative power of mindful breathing • Professor of psychiatry Daniel Siegel, MD, on how mindfulness benefits the brain • Physician and meditation teacher Jan Chozen Bays, MD, on how and why to practice mindful eating • Pioneering psychologist Ellen Langer on how mindfulness can change the understanding and treatment of disease • Leadership coach Michael Carroll on practicing mindfulness at work • Psychologist Daniel Goleman on a mindful approach to shopping and consuming • Pianist Madeline Bruser on how mindfulness can help us overcome performance anxiety • And much more The Mindfulness Revolution also includes an in-depth discussion by writer-editor Barry Boyce about how mindfulness is being applied in a variety of professional fields—from health care to education, from performing arts to business—to improve effectiveness and enhance well-being.

Mindfulness is now all the rage. From endorsements by celebrities, to monks, neuroscientists, and meditation coaches rubbing shoulders with CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is clear that mindfulness has gone mainstream. Some have called it a revolution. The evangelical promotion of mindfulness as a panacea for all that ails us has begun to give way to a backlash, with questions arising whether its claims for achieving happiness, wellbeing and career success have been over-sold. Expanding on his influential essay Beyond McMindfulness, Ronald Purser debunks the so-called ñmindfulness revolutionî, arguing its proponents have reduced mindfulness to a self-help technique that fits snugly into a consumerist culture complicit with Western materialistic values. In a lively and razor-sharp critique of mindfulness as it has been enthusiastically co-opted by corporations, public schools, and the U.S. military, Purser explains why such programs inevitably fall short of their revolutionary potential. Simply paying attention to the present moment while resting snugly in our private bubbles is no mindfulness revolution. Mindfulness has become the new capitalist spirituality, a disciplined myopia, that mindlessly ignores the need for social and political change.

Shamatha meditation is a method for achieving previously inconceivable levels of concentration. Author B. Alan Wallace, an active participant in the much-publicized dialogues between Buddhists and scholars, has more than 20 years' practice in the discipline, some of it under the guidance of the Dalai Lama. This book is a definitive presentation of his knowledge of shamatha. It is aimed at the contemporary seeker who is distracted and defocused by the dizzying pace of modern life, as well as those suffering from depression and other mental maladies. Beginning by addressing the inherent problems.

Don’t let adult ADHD stand in your way—this 8-step mindfulness program provides you with the tools you need to stay focused and confident in all areas of your life Do you: • Have trouble paying attention and staying on task? • Suffer from disorganization, procrastination, or forgetfulness? • Have difficulty with restlessness or trouble managing strong feelings such as anger and frustration? • Struggle with self-doubt and difficulty following through? • In a way that causes problems in your relationships or your work? If so, you may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)—like an estimated 8 million adults in this country. Physician-researcher Dr. Lidia Zylowska has created an 8-step program for using mindfulness practice (attention and awareness training) to overcome the symptoms of ADHD. The program includes practices such as sitting meditation, body awareness, thoughtful speaking and listening, development of self-acceptance, mindful self-coaching, cultivation of a balanced view of thoughts and emotions, and more. Dr. Zylowska educates readers about ADHD, helping them to understand how their ADHD brain works and how they can use mindful awareness to work with their challenges. She also explains how the mindful approach can be combined with other treatments, including medications, to boost self-improvement. This book is accompanied by an audio program of guided mindfulness exercises for successfully managing ADHD. The introduction to the book, titled “Dear Reader,” includes a link to the free downloadable audio files.

Drawing on the ancient tradition of the bodhisattva warrior, a Buddhist model for enlightened leadership, Carroll explains what mindfulness is and how to develop it in the hectic and often stressful environment of the 21st-century workplace.

Originally published: Carlsbad, Calif.: Hay House, 2012.

"Exploring the health benefits that the hula hoop can foster in both the physical and mental sense, "Hoopdance Revolution" is a choice and highly recommended addition to health and self-help collections, recommended." Midwest Bookwatch If you are looking for healthy fun, regardless of your age, size, or level of fitness, this hands-on guidebook is for you. "Hoopdance Revolution" puts a new spin on that favorite childhood pastime, hula hooping. Find out how it evolved into a fitness program, what makes hoopdance so popular today, and why it is steadily gaining followers worldwide. As the counterculture of hoopdance took hold in recent decades, it gradually merged with other forms of dance, aerobic exercise, and yoga. Author Jan Camp takes readers to her first hoopdance class and introduces us to professionals in the field across the United States and abroad. Their fascinating stories reveal the unsuspected physical and mental benefits of playing with a hoop. With this simple tool, you can dance your way to greater stamina, sharper mental acuity, and emotional balance, and you may even find that hoopdancing increases your spiritual awareness and overall sense of well-being. The book's website at www.HoopDanceBook.com hosts over a hundred videos of tutorials and performances."