An 8 Week Long Book Review : Week 7 – Mindfulness Starts Here

Here we are at Week 7. So close.

The title of the chapter I read/contemplated and did practices from this past week in my continued exploration of ‘Mindfulness Starts Here’ is ‘Sustaining Well-Being Through Compassion’ and is focuses upon contemplating what brought us to the point of even seeking mindfulness in the first place. It’s a chapter that has a much more noticeable Buddhist flavour to it and points to our old friend suffering as the instigator that would bring a person to read, study and practice on the topic of mindfulness or Buddhism in the first place.

After this ‘Why’ is answered, the chapter wastes no time in getting into the result of the practice of mindfulness which is compassion - both for our selves and others. The practice of mindfulness can help to bring us back to being able to restore our balance when we fall apart and just allowing a bit of space to examine our reactions, feelings, habits and the wooha that goes on between our ears can help to provide a pause.

This is a chapter where the backgrounds of the authors as clinical psychologists really shines as it presents several case studies of patients where mindfulness practice helped to relive symptoms of depression, distress and mental disorders. Mindfulness isn’t touted as a cure, but rather a continuous path that when walked upon, can take root in our daily lives.

The chapter outlines several methods that individuals can use to sustain their mental health and well being. It also relays the crucial role that love and compassion plays upon the ability to maintain a sense of well-being (hence the title). Not to play favourites with the chapters, but it is one of my preferred ones within the book given it’s explanation of compassion in a way that uses an interesting analogy relating to medicine and nutrients. I have to confess that I’m going to use this analogy when I provide mindfulness instruction so I’m adding it to my swipe file.