Search Results for: Mindfulness for Health

WINNER OF BEST BOOK (POPULAR MEDICINE) AT THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION’S BOOK AWARDS 2014

Pain, suffering and stress can be intolerable – but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Mindfulness for Health reveals a series of simple practices that you can incorporate into your daily life to relieve chronic pain and the suffering and stress of illness. Clinical trials show that mindfulness meditation can be as effective as prescription painkillers and also enhances the body’s natural healing systems. Mindfulness can also reduce the anxiety, depression, irritability, exhaustion and insomnia that can arise from chronic pain and illness.
Mindfulness for Health is based on a unique meditation programme developed by Vidyamala Burch to help her cope with the severe pain of spinal injury. Taught at Breathworks in the UK – and its affiliates around the world – this programme has helped tens of thousands of people cope with pain, illness and stress. Breathworks’ pioneering approach is praised by Professor Mark Williams of Oxford University, Jon Kabat-Zinn and Professor Lance McCracken of King’s College London.
The eight-week programme at the heart of this book takes just 10-20 minutes per day. It is particularly effective for the biggest causes of pain – back problems, arthritis, migraine and diabetes but works equally well for cancer (and its associated chemotherapy), heart disease, fibromyalgia, celiac disease, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, IBS, labour pain and even tinnitus. You will be surprised by how quickly your suffering melts away, leaving you able to live life to the full again.

Based on Dr. Borysenko’s ground-breaking work nearly twenty years ago at the Mind/Body Clinic in Boston, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind continues to be a classic in the field, with time-tested tips on how to take control of your own physical and emotional wellbeing. The clinic’s dramatic success with thousands of patients-with conditions ranging from allergies to cancer-offers vivid proof of the effectiveness of the mind/body approach to health and its power to transform your life. Here are tips on how to elicit the mind’s powerful relaxation response to boost your immune system, cope with chronic pain, and alleviate symptoms of a host of stress-related illnesses. Updated with the recent developments in the field, the new edition is a must-have for anyone interested in taking an active role in healing himself or herself.

THE LIFE-CHANGING BESTSELLER – OVER 1.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD

‘A deeply compassionate guide to self-care – simple and profound’ Sir Kenneth Branagh

‘If you want to free yourself from anxiety and stress, and feel truly at ease with yourself, then read this book’ Ruby Wax

Authoritative, beautifully written and much-loved by its readers, Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world has become a word-of-mouth bestseller and global phenomenon. It reveals a set of simple yet powerful practices that you can incorporate into daily life to break the cycle of anxiety, stress unhappiness and exhaustion. It promotes the kind of happiness that gets into your bones and allows you to meet the worst that life throws at you with new courage.

Mindfulness is based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Co-developed by Professor Mark Williams of Oxford University, MBCT is recommended by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and is as effective as drugs for preventing depression. But, equally, it works for the rest of us who aren’t depressed but who are struggling to keep up with the relentless demands of the modern world.

By investing just a few minutes each day, this classic guide to mindfulness will put you back in control of your life once again.

When anthropologist Richard Grinker’s daughter was diagnosed with autism in 1994, it occurred in only about 1 in every 10,000 children. Within ten years, rates had skyrocketed, and the media was declaring autism an epidemic. Unstrange Minds documents Grinker’s quest across the globe to discover the surprising truth about why autism is so much more common today. Grinker shows that the identification and treatment of autism depends on culture just as much as on science. Filled with moving stories and informed by the latest science, Unstrange Minds is a powerful testament to a father’s quest for the truth.

Bestselling author, and ‘mother of mindfulness’, Ellen J. Langer makes her long-awaited return sharing her groundbreaking research in The Mindful Body.

Have you ever wondered if you could improve your health by harnessing the power of your mind?

When it comes to our health, too many of us feel trapped by a medical diagnosis, believing that it can only mean a static or worsening condition. Whether it is stiff knees, frayed nerves or failing eyesight, your mind can lead you to believe things will only get worse. But with practical steps and scientific research you can take control of your mindset, by using your thoughts and perspective to help improve your wellbeing.

In The Mindful Body, award-winning social psychologist Ellen J. Langer draws on her lifetime of expertise and trailblazing research by revealing the capacity that mindfulness has to transform our lives. Opening the door to her pioneering Harvard lab, Langer uncovers the secret of how the mind and the body are in fact a single system, and if we embrace the idea of mind-body unity, new possibilities for controlling our health become available to us.

Featuring autobiographical anecdotes, iconoclastic philosophy and cutting-edge research, The Mindful Body will help you navigate a path to improved health and wellbeing and in turn boost your cognitive capabilities so that you can take back control of your body for a brighter future.

In this important book, a megachurch pastor acknowledges the mental health crisis happening in our churches today and gives readers practical tools to fight back against depression, anxiety, and insecurity-and help them find victory.

Depression, anxiety, and emotional trauma are on the rise, even more so after the painful few years we’ve all been through. While the church has had an unfortunate track record of glossing over mental health issues, Paul Daugherty, pastor of the megachurch Victory, believes it’s time for the church to break its silence. You can’t just pray trauma away. Depression and anxiety can affect even the most devoted believer.
In this book, Paul Daugherty walks readers through some of the biggest mental and emotional health issues he has seen people in his life and his congregation facing, including depression, anxiety, insecurity, mood swings, and the scars of trauma. Daugherty dives into scripture and lays a framework for understanding the spiritual truths behind each mental battle. He also offers practical tips and strategies to help readers find lasting victory.
The result is an invaluable handbook that will help Christians and non-believers alike.

It’s well known that if you want to keep your body fit, you must do some regular exercise. But when it comes to our mental health, few of us take the time to maintain and improve it. For some reason, we expect to be in great mental shape without doing any work. And when we realise we’re struggling, we look for a quick and easy fix instead of developing the skills that will help us in the future.

Enter The Mind Workout – a home exercise programme for improving your mental health and fitness.


Developed as a result of Mark Freeman’s own recovery from mental illness, The Mind Workout combines mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It outlines twenty easy-to-follow steps you can take to free yourself from the ways of thinking and behaving that cause mental health challenges in your life – from cutting out the compulsions that cause uncertainty, anxiety and distress to relieving stress and distraction.

The Mind Workout is the key to making the switch from a frenetic, anxiety-driven life to one that’s based on your core values. It will leave you feeling mentally stronger, fitter and better equipped to navigate the complexities of everyday life.

Use the hidden foundations of mindfulness to rediscover calm and reclaim your life in our chaotic world

There are moments in life that decide your fate. They ripple into the future and dictate how you experience the world in the moments that follow; either positive and uplifting, dark and chaotic, or flat and dull.

What if you could recognise these moments before they seized control of your life? What if you could use them to set sail for a better future? What if all moments, big and small, could be harnessed this way?

In Deeper Mindfulness, Oxford Professor Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman reunite to present a new eight-week guided meditation programme that takes mindfulness to the next level. Deeper Mindfulness reveals how the latest advances in neuroscience, combined with millennia old wisdom, can be used to transform your life. These discoveries open the doors to a deeper layer of mindfulness known as the ‘feeling tone’. This sets the ‘background colour’ that tinges your entire experience of life. It is also the tipping point from which you can reclaim your life in an increasingly stressful and chaotic world.

Proven effective at treating anxiety, stress and depression, the practices in Deeper Mindfulness offer a new and more fruitful direction for both novice and experienced meditators. It also allows the rest of us to approach life with renewed strength, vigour and equanimity.

OPTIMUM NUTRITION FOR THE MIND is the classic guide to improving your mood, boosting your memory, sharpening your mind and solving mental health problems through nutrition. The book outlines breakthrough discoveries on how specific essential fats, vitamins and minerals can improve depression and anxiety; discusses the effects of stress, alcohol and exercise on mental health; gives details of new discoveries in the treatment of autism and schizophrenia; and provides concrete and well-researched guidance for those with mental health difficulties. With a questionnaire-based method to work out your own nutritional programme for improving your mood, mind and memory this book is essential reading for anyone wanting to stay in top mental health throughout life, free from depression, memory decline and other common mental health problems.

Confidence, health, and self-knowledge are the keys to a happier sex life,and sex expert Diana Cage is here to teach you how to achieve all three. Mind-Blowing Sex is an inclusive, hands-on guide to making sex more enjoyable for readers of all sexual orientations. Beginning with a brief historical overview, the book provides women and their lovers with an expansive view of female sexuality,from where it’s been to where it’s headed,and takes a contemporary approach to sex, offering direct tips and informed advice on how to have the best, most gratifying sex possible. Irreverent yet insightful, Cage covers both the emotional and physical aspects involved in increasing sexual pleasure,including tuning into your sexual fantasies, overcoming hang-ups, touching and being touched, choosing and introducing toys, and understanding female anatomy and orgasms.Straight-talking and non-judgmental, Mind-Blowing Sex will help women,straight and queer,to open their minds, reject stereotypes, educate themselves and their lovers, and learn how to enjoy sex more than ever before.

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? If you’ve ever doubted yourself, allowed other people’s negativity to stop you from doing what you want, or assumed that any success you’ve had in the past was just a case of ‘pure luck’, then you need The Mind Makeover.

For many years Sharron Lowe has been the go-to coach for global luxury brands. She has coached thousands of people, helping them to make positive changes in how they think, feel and what they believe is possible. In doing so she has transformed the brands and people she works with.

In The Mind Makeover, Sharron Lowe shares her success strategies. She will show you how to: create a positive inner voice, stop negative influences ruling your life, and build your confidence and self-belief. So what are you waiting for? A mind lift is much better than a face lift, and your mind is the key to living your best life yet. The Mind Makeover is essential reading for anyone who wants to take control of their life.

Based on the latest work from Professor Paul Gilbert OBE, bestselling author of The Compassionate Mind, and Buddhist expert Choden.

Professor Gilbert has spent the past twenty years developing a new therapy called Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) which has an gained international following. In recent years, mindfulness is being used increasingly to treat common mental health problems such as depression, stress and stress-related insomnia.

In this ground-breaking new book, Professor Gilbert, along with his co-author Choden, combines the best of Compassion-Focused Therapy with the most effective mindfulness techniques. The result is an extremely effective approach to overcoming everyday emotional and psychological problems and improving one’s sense of wellbeing.

From the creator of the MIND diet and author of Diet for the MIND, the definitive guide to eating for optimum cognitive health, weight loss, and longevity

Dr. Martha Clare Morris’s MIND diet took the nutrition world by storm when it revealed the link between diet and cognitive health, particularly as we age. Lauded by scientists, doctors, and organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association, AARP, and US News & World Report, the MIND diet, which combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, offers hope for an easy, non-invasive, and effective way to lose weight, prevent cognitive decline, reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and promote vibrant brain health well into advanced age.

The Official MIND Diet is a practical, day-by-day guide to improving your brain health for life by adjusting what you eat. You’ll learn:

– What foods to eat and limit to protect your brain from cognitive decline.
– How to seamlessly incorporate these foods into your routine.
– How to effectively stay on track and maintain your health and nutrition needs.

With more than sixty mouth-watering recipes for every meal of the day and fascinating, easy-to-understand science, The Official MIND Diet is your road map to weight loss, vitality, and a lifetime of delicious eating and optimal cognitive function.

Simple, effective exercises to reduce stress and renew your sense of contentment and joy

No matter who we are, or what stage of life we are at, we all long for similar things; to be happy, connected with others, in touch with a sense of calm and peace, vital, alive and joyful. And we long to be able to ride out the tough patches that hit all of us from time to time with some degree of grace and dignity.

The good news is that we can fulfil these longings at any time, in any place. They are only a moment away, a breath away. We can learn how to be comfortable with our body, know and understand our mind, and love our heart. It isn’t difficult, long-winded or time-consuming. In doing so you’ll feel happier in your own skin, less stressed, more confident, more capable and more at ease with yourself and life.

This is what Mindfulness for Women is about. It is a practical guide for busy women to coming home to yourself in each present moment. To finding the ledge behind the waterfall. To resting in the depths of the ocean rather than being tossed about by surface waves.

Mindfulness is a potent antidote to anxiety, stress, depression, exhaustion and irritability. It leads to a greater sense of contentment and can also reduce addictive and self-destructive behavioural patterns. This book will enable you to experience the benefits for yourself. It’s not designed as a lengthy course but is solutions-based. It’s fast – evidence shows that a little bit of mindfulness goes a long way. It’s also bespoke – you can read all of it cover to cover, or simply dip in and out, depending on what you want to focus on. You can listen to whichever meditation track suits you at any given time and you can run tracks together if you want to meditate for longer periods. It’s designed to suit your life and priorities now and well into the future.

Being a teenager has never been easy, but the digital age has brought with it unique challenges for young people and the adults in their lives. Nurturing Young Minds: Mental Wellbeing in the Digital Age collects expert advice on how to tackle the terrors of the twenty-first century and is a companion to Growing Happy, Healthy Young Minds.

A comprehensive and easily accessible guide for parents, teachers, counsellors and health care professionals, this book contains important advice about managing online behaviour, computer game addiction and cyberbullying, as well as essential information on learning disorders, social skills and emotional health.

This volume includes up-to-date information on:
Understanding Teen Sleep and Drowsy Kids
Emotions and Relationships Shape the Brain of Children
Understanding the Teenage Brain
Healthy Habits for a Digital Life
Online Time Management
Problematic Internet Use and How to Manage It
Computer Game Addiction and Mental Wellbeing
Sexting: Realities and Risks
Cyberbullying, Cyber-harassment and Revenge Porn
The ‘Gamblification’ of Computer Games
Violent Video Games and Violent Behaviour
Talking to Young People about Online Porn and Sexual Images
Advice for Parents: Be a Mentor, Not a Friend
E-mental Health Programs and Interventions
Could it be Asperger’s?
Dyslexia and Learning Difficulties
Friendship and Social Skills
The Commercialisation of Childhood
Sexualisation: Why Should we be Concerned?
Porn as a Public Health Crisis
How Boys are Travelling and What They Most Need
Understanding and Managing Anger and Aggression
Understanding Boys’ Health Needs

Throughout history people have sought to cope with a life that is often stressful and hard. We have actually known for some time that developing compassion for oneself and others can help us face up to and win through the hardship and find a sense of inner peace. However in modern societies we rarely focus on this key process that underpins successful coping and happiness and can be quick to dismiss the impact of modern living on our minds and well-being. Instead we concentrate on ‘doing, achieving’ and having’. Now, bestselling author and leading authority on depression, Professor Paul Gilbert explains how new research shows how we can all learn to develop compassion for ourselves and others and derive the benefits of this age-old wisdom.

In this ground-breaking new book he explores how our minds have developed to be highly sensitive and quick to react to perceived threats and how this fast-acting threat-response system can be a source of anxiety, depression and aggression. He describes how studies have also shown that developing kindness and compassion for self and others can hep in calming down the threat system: as a mother’s care and love can soothe a baby’s distress, so we can learn how to soothe ourselves.

Not only does compassion help to soothe distressing emotions, it actually increases feelings of contentment and well-being. Here, Professor Gilbert outlines the latest findings about the value of compassion and how it works, and takes readers through basic mind training exercises to enhance the capacity for, and use of, compassion.

Why are we drawn to the ocean each summer? Why does being near water set our minds and bodies at ease? In Blue Mind, Wallace J. Nichols revolutionizes how we think about these questions, revealing the remarkable truth about the benefits of being in, on, under, or simply near water.

Grounded in cutting-edge studies in neurobiology, cognitive psychology, economics, and medicine, and made real by stories of innovative scientists, doctors, athletes, artists, environmentalists, businesspeople and lovers of nature – stories that fascinate the mind and touch the heart – Blue Mind will awaken readers to the vital importance of water to the health and happiness of us all.

Fulfil your potential for physical health and emotional wellbeing. The Mind-Body Bible is an important book about the mind-body connection from leading holistic medical doctor Mark Atkinson. Dr Mark draws on his experience advising and treating thousands of patients to explain how our thoughts and emotions affect our physical health. He illuminates the connections between the body and mind, and offers us safe holistic solutions to illness, stress and emotional problems. Dr Mark provides detailed questionnaires to identify the core issues underlying your particular health problem. He then directs you to specific strategies to combat your problem. Body-based strategies include creating a personalised nutrition plan, cooling chronic inflammation, helping your heart and overcoming addictions. The mind-based strategies incorporate uncovering your personality type, fulfilling your emotional needs, managing your stress levels and taming the inner critic. When combined, these easy-to-follow strategies will boost your self esteem and immune system and help you to achieve a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life.

Renew your sense of purpose to achieve health and happiness with this actionable guide that incorporates astrology, integrative wellness, and positive psychology – from a renowned astrologer and integrative health practitioner.

There’s much more to astrology than weekly horoscopes, personality types, and predictions for the future. For astrologer and transformational coach Jennifer Racioppi and her clients, it is a guide to living in sync with the natural rhythms of the universe to achieve optimal health and astonishing success. Cosmic Health provides a groundbreaking cross-disciplinary approach to cultivating physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. By honoring your individuality, your role in the universe, nature, and the seasonality of life, you will be armed with the knowledge-and magic-you need to cultivate uncompromising health.

Inside this book, you’ll learn to:

* Open yourself up to the big-picture patterns that influence you-the daily, seasonal, and monthly cycles that govern your biology-and leverage those patterns for conscious action, growth, success, and a thriving life.
* Decode the planets and their cycles to get a precise blueprint of your evolving emotional, physical, and spiritual health needs-like how to exercise for vitality, cultivate your purpose, tackle obstacles, and skillfully care for your emotional needs.
* Support your specific astrological makeup and goals with healing rituals that serve as sacred medicine, enriching your spiritual connections.
* Develop a rock-solid understanding of the connection between astrology, health, and evidence-based personal-development practices so you can nurture your resilience, elevate your well-being, and realize your heart’s desires.
* Learn to view health and life challenges as a threshold to self-actualization.
* Put your intuition and self-knowledge at the heart of your quest for health.

Join the thousands of others who have used this body of work to transform their lives into fulfilling and multidimensional reflections of their Cosmic Health.

Plagued by anxiety and depression for much of his twenties and early thirties, Ed Halliwell frantically searched for ways to understand and relieve his distress. Eventually he stumbled on meditation and Buddhism, and discovered a path that was different from the other medical, psychological and spiritual cures he had tried. That path was mindfulness and the deeper he went into the practice the more it transformed his life, easing his depression and helping him see each moment as precious. A one-time editor for FHM magazine, Ed’s life has changed radically – he now teaches mindfulness to others.
In this book, Ed explores how mindfulness can help us see and transform our unhelpful biases and habits, enable us to live more at peace with stress and uncertainty, cultivate cheerfulness and compassion, and help us to find our life’s calling – if we are willing to journey to the heart of the practice. Offering his own experiences as inspiration, Ed emphasises that mindfulness training is a lifelong path and complete way of being rather than just a short course or quick fix. With practical advice and refreshing candour, he explores how working with the realities of our minds, bodies and day-to-day existence – rather than striving for positive results – can, paradoxically, help us rediscover a richly nourishing, deeply-textured life.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘With conversations on Maternal Mental Health on the rise, and more women speaking up about the way they feel, Anna Mathur’s insight as a psychotherapist AND mother make her someone you feel you can trust. She offers little nuggets of gold while reminding us to point some of our kindness and love inwards.’ Giovanna Fletcher, bestselling author of Happy Mum, Happy Baby

‘Anna is breath of fresh air – relatable, funny and wise’ Sarah Turner, bestselling author of The Unmumsy Mum

Baby-proof the house; panic-proof the mum.

Do you overthink what you said to the mum in the supermarket queue? Is your internal dialogue more critical than kind? Perhaps you wake to check your baby is breathing, or the sight of a rash sends you down an internet search rabbit hole. Whatever your level of anxiety, however much it impacts your life, this book is for you.

Anxiety is making motherhood a less pleasant, more fraught and pressured experience, and we do not have to accept joy-sapping worry and energy-draining overthinking as part of the motherhood job description. In Mind Over Mother, Anna Mathur, psychotherapist and mum of three, explains how to:

* Understand anxiety, why it affects you and what to do about it
* Make your mind a kinder, calmer, happier place to be
* Transform your motherhood experience by addressing your thinking

The most powerful tool Anna has to communicate this isn’t the letters after her name, it is the fact that she is open about her own experience of maternal anxiety. By sharing her journey, she gives you the confidence to reframe yours.

Mind Over Mother is full of light bulb moments of realisation. It will have you learning, laughing and loving yourself through the journey of motherhood. You will learn to address the most important conversation you’ll ever have – the one inside your head, because investing in your mental health is the best gift you can offer yourself and your child.

Stop disruptive, negative thoughts at their root with a new method of mental control from one of the most distinguished figures in the field of CBT

Our mind is always active, capable of generating free-floating thoughts that are entirely disconnected from each other and may have little relevance to our current situation. Sometimes these thoughts take on a darker, more negative tone because they’re triggered by a stressful or problematic situation. These unwanted intrusive thoughts play an important role in the persistence and severity of anxiety and depression. They often trigger other forms of distressing thought such as obsessive thinking, worry, rumination or pathological guilt. Based on new findings on the nature of mental control, this book targets negative, intrusive thoughts with therapeutic strategies based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). You will learn:

· How our minds become unsettled by doubts and unwanted thoughts
· Strategies for developing greater willpower and self-control
· Control skills for self-discovery, mental de-toxification and mindful self-acceptance
· Way to maximise positive intrusions and be mindfully accepting of yourself

Published by New Harbinger in the USA under the title The Anxious Thoughts Workbook: Skills to Overcome the Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts that Drive Anxiety, Obsessions and Depression

There is good and increasing evidence that cultivating compassion for one’s self and others can have a profound impact on our physiological, psychological and social processes. In contrast, concerns with inferiority, shame and self-criticism can have very negative impacts on these processes and are associated with poorer physical and mental health.

The Compassionate Mind Workbook is for anyone who is interested in how compassion – in the form of ideas and practices derived from Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and other approaches – may help us to engage with, understand and ultimately, try to alleviate suffering.

CFT utilises both Buddhist practices and Western psychological science. It draws on neuroscience, insights into emotion regulation and identity formation, interpersonal psychology and a range of psychotherapeutic models. CFT-based interventions can help people with a range of mental health problems develop compassion for themselves, be open to the compassion of others and develop compassion for others.

This workbook is a step-by-step guide to CFT, in which the chapters build your understanding of yourself, the skills that give rise to a compassionate mind, and ways to work with whatever difficulties you’re struggling with in life. The exercises, prompts and case stories in this book provide an understandable and practical way to develop compassion.

Many of us in the modern world are unhappier than they need to be, and mindfulness offers a solution that works. Science and clinical practice have only recently ‘discovered’ the profound potential of mindfulness-based practices for increasing our wellbeing. However, mindfulness has been practised for thousands of years as an attention-training technique that can reduce physical and psychological suffering and enhance health and happiness. Derived from ancient contemplative practices in many cultures and wisdom traditions, mindfulness practice simply involves directing our attention to what is (reality), rather than to what isn’t (our ideas of reality).

Mindfulness for Life is written by two experts on mindfulness with many years of personal and clinical experience. The authors have come together to provide both a medical and a psychological perspective on mindfulness and related conditions such as depression and substance abuse. The result is a book that translates the scientific principles underlying mindfulness into a simple, practical and accessible life manual.