Mindfulness is a powerful tool for moving through life with awareness and perspective, but it can be hard sometimes to know exactly what it means to practice mindfulness. At times it can feel like an abstract buzzword, hard to connect to or put into motion. The truth is that mindfulness can help us more meaningfully experience the present and develop a more solid understanding of our own thoughts, and this process can be easier to begin with some guidance and direction. Here are seven books and journals that can help us understand and interact with mindfulness in different ways, helping us to cultivate our ability to stay thoughtful about our present.
Practice You: A Journal by Elena Brower
A more amorphous, left-brained journal, Practice You‘s watercolor style and gentle, open-ended prompts may help draw some new reflections if you’ve felt blocked or stalled.
The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day by Andy Puddicombe
A down-to-earth, casual conversation about mindfulness from someone who’s gone through Buddhist monk training more than once, helping you find a new on-ramp for meditation through humor and approachability.
Little Book of Mindfulness: 10 Minutes a Day to Less Stress, More Peace by Patricia Collard
An easy, approachable guide to increasing mindfulness (and its natural products like gratitude and joy) a little each day by paying more attention to our everyday motions.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
A deeper read, Wherever You Go, There You Are walks readers through the process of “waking up” to ourselves in order to live more fully in the present moment.
The Mindfulness Journal: Daily Practices, Writing Prompts, and Reflections for Living in the Present Moment by Barrie Davenport
This journal emphasizes non-judgmental observation, encouraging us to put aside our conceptions about how we should be thinking, feeling or acting and allowing us to simply pay quiet attention to the truth underneath.
Practicing Mindfulness: 75 Essential Meditations to Reduce Stress, Improve Mental Health, and Find Peace in the Everyday by Matthew Sockolov
Full of exercises to establish mindfulness as a practice, this book has something different to offer you each time you return to it. Each meditation is easy to understand and states the amount of time it takes, making it easy to find the meditation that suits you best in the moment.
I Am Here Now: A Creative Mindfulness Guide and Journal Paperback by The Mindfulness Project
A more deconstructed journal, I Am Here Now encourages looseness, playfulness and creativity as it asks us to consider what mindfulness means to us.
