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olivia_piepmeier's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice read with some great tips to put some zen in your heart. Bayda split up the book in an approachable manner that gives you stepping stones for your heart and mind.
I think the most important part is the first section, "The Me Phase of Practice." I think the realization of how me-focused our brains are is an incredibly powerful tool in becoming mindful and awake, and he spells it out well. Our minds will analyze, blame, and try to fix "problems" and any uncomfortableness we encounter because we think that we absolutely cannot be uncomfortable or inconvenienced and this is due to not being awake, being asleep in mind-chatter land. We use self-judgment, seek approval, and simply try harder to help fix something.
One little bit he mentioned really stuck with me: when you become aware of mind chatter, distance yourself from them by labeling it like you're not involved in the transaction ie. "Having a believed thought: I'm a terrible person," then once you recognize your patterns more you can categorize them "fantasizing, planning, conversing." When you recognize emotions based on these thoughts, you can distance yourself by replacing "I" with "it" like, "It's anxious," or "It hurts."
He puts out important and helpful questions for us to ask ourselves:
1. Can I make this my path?
2. What is my most believed thought?
3. What is this?
He suggests focusing on how we physically feel when we experience difficulties, and I've already found this very helpful.
As usual in these kinds of books, there are parts that don't speak to me as much and they're easily looked over.
I think the most important part is the first section, "The Me Phase of Practice." I think the realization of how me-focused our brains are is an incredibly powerful tool in becoming mindful and awake, and he spells it out well. Our minds will analyze, blame, and try to fix "problems" and any uncomfortableness we encounter because we think that we absolutely cannot be uncomfortable or inconvenienced and this is due to not being awake, being asleep in mind-chatter land. We use self-judgment, seek approval, and simply try harder to help fix something.
One little bit he mentioned really stuck with me: when you become aware of mind chatter, distance yourself from them by labeling it like you're not involved in the transaction ie. "Having a believed thought: I'm a terrible person," then once you recognize your patterns more you can categorize them "fantasizing, planning, conversing." When you recognize emotions based on these thoughts, you can distance yourself by replacing "I" with "it" like, "It's anxious," or "It hurts."
He puts out important and helpful questions for us to ask ourselves:
1. Can I make this my path?
2. What is my most believed thought?
3. What is this?
He suggests focusing on how we physically feel when we experience difficulties, and I've already found this very helpful.
As usual in these kinds of books, there are parts that don't speak to me as much and they're easily looked over.
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