The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being
By:
Daniel J. Siegel
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Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Description:
A new framework for maintaining mental health and well-being. From the author of the internationally-acclaimed best-selling text The Developing Mind, and esteemed leader and educator in the field of mental health, comes the first book ever to integrate neuroscience research with the ancient art of mindfulness. The result is a groundbreaking approach to not simply mental health, but life in general, which shows readers how personal awareness and attunement can actually stimulate emotional circuits in the brain, leading to a host of physiological benefits, including greater well-being, resilience, emotional balance, and improved cardiac and immune function. For clinicians and laypeople alike, Siegel’s illuminating discussions of the power of the focused mind provide a wealth of ideas that can transform our lives and deepen our connections with others, and with ourselves. .
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A classic handbook on mindfulness - I love his summary of the key aspects of mindfulness practice as Curiosity, Openness, Acceptance and Love (COAL). this expresses the multi-dimensional nature of mindfulness. It has both active and passive aspects; not just about being aware of what is happening in the present moment, but about taking a keen interest and investigating the richness of the present moment so that we can see things in their full subtlety. This is a fundamental part of the healing process. If you would like to learn more about the transformational power of mindfulness, then I recommend The Path of Mindfulness Meditation
Customer Review: 3 out of 5
Intelligent synthesis of mindfulness and neuroscience - I largely enjoyed reading 'The Mindful Brain'. It is soundly grounded in neuroscience and empirical evidence, combined with great insight and a deep understanding about how our physiology and mental states influence each other.
However, I found that on occasions the writing lacked clarity and kept moving into all sorts of directions that perhaps were not necessary. Overall it was too focussed on theory. I kept looking for more in-depth practical applications and strategies. Even when they were briefly addressed, they were short-changed. For instance 'Being Present as a Teacher' in Chapter 12 consists of only two pages.
Think Less Be More:Mental Detox for Everyone could be a good companion guide to this book, as it is practical, inviting and systematically shows how one can cultivate a 'mindful brain' through practising mindful living.
Dr Christine Maingard, Author of 'Think Less, Be More' [...]
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Gobbledygook - I had hoped this would be a look at the scientific brain research on mindfulness, as well as a practical primer. Instead I found it full of the same BS gobbledygook that you get from 99% of the sources on meditation and mindfulness. Also a protracted story about the author tripping out on a retreat. LAME.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Excellent book! - The Mindful Brain is a great read, and probably the best single book on the latest available information connecting mindful awareness with the ongoing development of the human brain.
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
This vastly over-rated book is not mindful of the reader - I was very eager to read this book after hearing the author interviewed for an hour on episode 44 of Ginger Campbell's "Brain Science" podcast. However, I found the book a great disappointment.
Dan Siegel is obviously very interested in mindful meditation, but unfortunately he is not at all mindful of the needs of readers. His book struck me as an almost shapeless mess of repetitions over which a "structure" of chapter and section headings had been imposed with little or no discernible relation to the actual contents of each chapter or section. Some sections of the book are not even paragraphed logically.
For much of the book Siegel refers to what he calls "resonance circuits" in the brain, but it's not until you get near the end of the book that he explains what he means by this term, and why he has chosen to use it.
At one point in the book Siegel refers abruptly to some incident that occurred in Mexico where he fell off a horse, as if we already know about this (we don't). A hundred pages of so later he refers to an incident where he once experienced amnesia for a day (is this the horse incident, or another?). There's no introduction to his reference: it seems we're supposed to know about this already.
Siegel seems to be compelled to invent the most ludicrous acronyms. Thus we get COAL, for example, for "curiosity, openness, acceptance and love". It doesn't seem to have occurred to Siegel that COAL just might have other connotations for many of his readers.
This is all a pity, because there are some interesting ideas in this book (though many of the most interesting derive from authors whom Siegel cites, and are not his own). Siegel's own contributions mostly fall into the realm of the highly speculative (although, to be fair, he is very honest about this).
I would estimate that a good editor could reshape this book and formulate all the key ideas in about 40 pages. In other words, about four fifths of the book are simply redundant: Siegel repeating himself ad nauseam.
My advice: listen to the podcast (which will cost you nothing) and forget the book.
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