Review: Mindfulness for Challenging Times

We are all living in challenging times at the moment. Like many people, I've sometimes been struggling with anxiety, low moods and disrupted sleep. Things that help me include enjoying nature outside my windows, doing meditations and visualisations, and practising mindfulness. I recently downloaded a book for my Kindle: Mindfulness for Challenging Times, by Shamash Alidina and a community of authors from the mindfulness field.

This was the review I left on Amazon:

I found this book really helpful. I've been struggling with anxiety during the pandemic  - like a lot of people have. Although I do practice mindfulness already, I found this book was very useful in reminding me to practice it as well as teaching me some new techniques. Chapters cover different topics that are relevant in the challenging times we face, such as coping with isolation, stress, trouble sleeping, working from home and the problems of social media. There are exercises to try out - and most of them are quick and easy. The chapters are contributed by various authors who are specialists in various areas of mindfulness and mental wellbeing, and this offers a wonderful selection of ways to tackle the stresses and strains of living in troubled times.

The chapter on media is one I found particularly relevant. It points out that the ability to connect with people using technology has been a real benefit during lockdown, while the wide range of programmes and movies available for streaming helps keep boredom at bay. However, there are downsides too. Social media can give us an emotional boost, but it can also get us down. Depressing, alarmist and fake news can cause our mood to plunge and our blood pressure to soar. Mindfulness for Challenging Times offers easy mindfulness techniques to help us stop, take a deep breath, and step away from the screen when doing so would be in our best interests.

I must admit that I took advantage of getting the ebook when it was free for a day or two as a special offer, but all profits from sales of this book are going to charity. Mindfulness for Challenging Times is available in paperback as well as for Kindle. You can view Mindfulness for Challenging Times on Amazon.