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kristinasshelves's review
2.0
If I hadn’t agreed to review this book, I would have put in down after reading the introduction because I recognize this is not a book for me. The core of this book is Buddhist teachings and while the authors explicitly state they are not trying to persuade anyone to adopt their belief system, they do exactly that throughout the book. Granted, they don’t specially relate everything back to Buddhism, but it is made clear that every principle to improve your life is rooted directly in Buddhism.
This book focuses largely on mindfulness and meditation, two concepts that have been shown to improve emotional and mental health. Personally, I believe these concepts function much like the placebo effect, but kudos to you if they help you.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the teachings of Buddhism and freedom of religion is a beautiful thing to have in this world. However, as a Bible believing Christian, this mindset is not for me, nor was this book. There was a whole chapter devoted to sex, which I skipped in its entirety because I knew it would not be for me. I do agree with some of the concepts presented, as far as being kind, generous and abstaining from substances, but my approach to life is much different than the overall message of this book. I can see the appeal to those who follow the tenets of Buddhism or subscribe to new age practices like those featured in this book. Objectively, this is not a bad book by any means and the writing is actually quite good. The authors have a great approach to their concepts and I felt like I was having a direct conversation with them throughout my reading experience.
I received an ebook of this title from Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
This book focuses largely on mindfulness and meditation, two concepts that have been shown to improve emotional and mental health. Personally, I believe these concepts function much like the placebo effect, but kudos to you if they help you.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the teachings of Buddhism and freedom of religion is a beautiful thing to have in this world. However, as a Bible believing Christian, this mindset is not for me, nor was this book. There was a whole chapter devoted to sex, which I skipped in its entirety because I knew it would not be for me. I do agree with some of the concepts presented, as far as being kind, generous and abstaining from substances, but my approach to life is much different than the overall message of this book. I can see the appeal to those who follow the tenets of Buddhism or subscribe to new age practices like those featured in this book. Objectively, this is not a bad book by any means and the writing is actually quite good. The authors have a great approach to their concepts and I felt like I was having a direct conversation with them throughout my reading experience.
I received an ebook of this title from Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
ksjones's review
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
I liked the general points made but the tone of the writing was weird. It felt like the authors thought the readers would be really stupid and need everything dumbed down.
readalongwithnat's review against another edition
3.0
CW: mentions of disordered eating
For being written by two white, straight, cisgendered folks, this book was surprisingly inclusive especially of gender identity and sexual orientation. I was also surprised when, early on in the book and then later on as well, they discussed the impact that white supremacy has on society. The book heavily focuses on Buddhist practices and mindfulness, which I found interesting, although I am not a huge fan of mindfulness itself. I do, however, think the mindfulness activities they suggest would be beneficial for many people. I also liked when they discussed how to work through trauma triggers when they arise in certain situations.
For being written by two white, straight, cisgendered folks, this book was surprisingly inclusive especially of gender identity and sexual orientation. I was also surprised when, early on in the book and then later on as well, they discussed the impact that white supremacy has on society. The book heavily focuses on Buddhist practices and mindfulness, which I found interesting, although I am not a huge fan of mindfulness itself. I do, however, think the mindfulness activities they suggest would be beneficial for many people. I also liked when they discussed how to work through trauma triggers when they arise in certain situations.
yogideetz's review against another edition
4.0
A fairly realistic guide to meditation and mindfulness.
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