Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness

For me this book was informative but very dull to read. I got 1/3rd of the way through it when I decided to donate to my local GoodWill store. The information was somewhat difficult for me to follow, and many times I had to go back and re-read a paragraph because my ADHD brain got lost half way through the paragraph. Therefore this was not the book for me.

In Zinn's chapter, `Meditation is Not for the Fainthearted,' he writes: "Awareness offers a safe haven in which to restore ourselves and rest in a vital and dynamic harmony, tranquility, creativity and joyfulness NOW, not in some far-off hoped for future time when things are `better' or we have gotten things under control, or have `improved ourselves.' This sentence sums up the philosophy of Zinn's eagerly awaited book, and very effectively gets to the crux of what lies at the "dis-eased" heart of our society. As a mental health/drug counselor who daily witnesses the destitution found in the souls of my clients, and in the past my own, I became mesmerized by Zinn's "mindfulness" concept in his book, "Wherever You Go, There You Are." My life was so profoundly changed by utilizing that concept, I enthusiastically added Zinn's works to the suggested reading list for my clients. And, after reading this sequel, I have gratefully added it to that list as well. Zinn states our absorption with the future and the past has become such an overriding habit that awareness, and more importantly, connectedness with the present is completely lacking. Technology was created to make our lives easier and bring our world closer...thus providing more time to connect with self and greater intimacy with our fellows. Ironically, the exact opposite has occurred. Never in history has man been such a stranger to his own soul. Zinn's book not only shares the recipe for healing that estrangement...mindfulness...but leads the reader through the steps to accomplish that healing...meditation. For readers who may believe meditation to be "new agey" or "out there," rest assured Zinn uses practical, proven methods of meditation that are easy to follow and will be appreciated by those who embrace their spiritual side and by atheists as well. Voltaire once wrote, "We never live; we are always in the expectation of living." Zinn, thankfully, proves Voltaire wrong.

Kabat-Zinn's writing is accessible and understandable to those who may not be well-versed in meditation techniques and the concept of mindfulness. He is able to convey to newcomers how to practice mindfulness in every day activities, provides very helpful analogies and images, and gives the reader a concrete idea of the benefits received from practicing mindfulness. He is the best author out there on this subject that I have come across.

As a teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, I admit that I am biased in regard to Dr. Kabat-Zinn's work, but that having been said, this book is truly a treasure that I will take great pride in recommending to the most important people in my life (family, friends, patients, colleagues). Dr. Kabat-Zinn has the unique ability to act as the ultimate matchmaker: introducing (or re-introducing) each of us to our very own lives. He does this well in the first part of the book where he refines and deepens the ideas and practices he has talked about in his previous works. Then he goes on to take mindfulness into the broader context of the "body politic" and does a masterful job of putting aside any agenda and simply observing how mindfulness and resting in awareness could benefit our "dis-eased" political and social environment in profound ways. His description of making an "orthogonal rotation" in consciousness of the problems faced in our modern world (as he has taught about doing in our personal world as well) is truly radical and potentially highly impactful if our leaders take heed of his suggestion. All in all, a deep, moving and potentially important book on many levels. I highly recommend it!