A review by ginabyeg
How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers by Toni Bernhard

3.0

This book was okay. I appreciate the Buddhist teachings on mindfulness, and acceptance of suffering as a part of life. But I don’t quite agree with the practices of equanimity. Buddhism seems very cerebral, and equanimity seems like a way to bypass, minimize, or ignore one’s feelings and emotions, rather than experience them fully. The more I learn about embodiment, the more I recognize that emotions have to be felt both in mind and body to be able to work through them in a healthy way. Equanimity feels contradictory to embodiment, and a good portion of this book focusses on equanimity as a coping strategy for chronic illness. I couldn’t get behind those practices, and the practises on mindfulness and acceptance were not really new content. Someone new to mindfulness may find this insightful, but for me it was just okay.