Author Rohan Gunatillake presents a fresh, approachable take on modern mindfulness. My review is of advance uncorrected proof, but it is clear that the author has put considerable time and energy into compiling techniques to increase mindfulness in our everyday lives. I love that his book doesn’t make twice daily hour-long meditation the only path to serenity; in fact it is almost the opposite. Each chapter presents tips tools and techniques that you can try right then and there while reading the chapter or during your commute or a meeting etc.

[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Formats: Paperback, eBook, Kindle, Audiobook, Audible
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | iBooks[/alert]

I enjoy the Kindness Practice where he breaks down and builds back up the mantra of ‘may you be well; may you be happy’ and other variations. Now more than ever I want to and we need to extol this on others. The end of the section, as in the others, has ten meditation exercises, each with a succinct but detailed description of the activity and modern interpretation if based on in tradition. Example is titled “Love Email” in which the author suggests you reflect on intention you used when crafting the communication and ensure that it, within bounds of appropriateness, send it with kindness. The big win is that you should probably already be doing this, at least pausing to check intention before sending – that’s just smart email behavior, but its a great example of how he highlights everyday opportunities to be mindful and kind to self and others.

I hope this book is also made available in audio format because a few of the practices are a bit awkward to do with the book the first time through (practice practice!), when you need to close your eyes but he provides a list of other references and resources, of which one is his app. Notably though, this book is not shameless self promotion for his successful app. I am not a mindfulness guru and time will tell how effective and much of that depends on my (and yours) discipline and focus, however, this this book feels like a great resource. I recommend this book, but more importantly I strongly recommend you practice mindfulness.

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