Shauna Shapiro PhD

"When mindfulness is oversimplified, it loses its radical transformational power. This book clarifies the subtleties. Mindfulness is more than just paying attention. HOW you pay attention -with kindness-is where the magic is. Many people have trouble with mindfulness because they're beating themselves up with self-criticism and judgment. If you practice mindfulness without kindness, you limit your capacity to change. Kindness changes everything. This book explores the science of changing the brain and the mind, demonstrating that we can carve out new pathways in any moment, lifelong. It all comes down to where you put your attention and what you practice. The book opens with a close look at mindfulness as a foundation from which the other brain rewiring practices grow. It then looks at our need for practices that help us more effectively manage not only the difficult times, but the good times to also help us engage more fully when life is going well. We learn that self-compassion is often the missing link to lasting change in the face of suffering, and dive into the science of why kindness and compassion are more effective. Shame doesn't work. The whip doesn't work. Self esteem doesn't work. Empathy doesn't work. Mindful self-compassion is what works to change the brain when dealing with hardship and suffering. We will learn numerous practices to grow our self-compassion, including the simple and powerful practice of saying "Good morning, I love you" to oneself at the start of every day. Next, we will shift our focus toward how to prime the mind to truly take in the good to counterbalance our inherent negativity bias (we remember negative experiences, where we did poorly or felt poorly, and tend to forget positive ones, where we did well and felt well). We'll cover the ways gratitude and appreciation, awe and inspiration, and generosity practices all grow the good. Then, we'll bring all the concepts we've learned into our lives and our world. We will look at the science supporting our deep interdependence and the interconnection with all things. We will learn about the harm of loneliness and isolation and the importance of belonging. We will learn how our practice has a ripple effect and how we are not only altering our own lives, we are transforming the collective. And we'll look at bringing all the tools learned so far into everyday life"--