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The Practicing Happiness Workbook
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The Practicing Happiness Workbook

How Mindfulness Can Free You from the Four Psychological Traps That Keep You Stressed, Anxious, and Depressed

Ruth Baer PhD
New Harbinger, 2014

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8

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Recommendation

Mindfulness calls for consciously keeping your thoughts in the present. It helps you deal attentively with what’s happening around you. People who study and apply mindfulness can use it to help them overcome common psychological challenges. Ruth Baer’s straightforward text addresses pitfalls that afflict many people and detract from their overall happiness. Drawing from numerous case studies, she explains how mindfulness can boost your happiness – no matter how you define it. She explains that accepting negative emotions and addressing them with mindfulness helps you avoid the four “psychological traps” of “rumination, avoidance, emotion-driven behavior and self-criticism.” Addressing problems with mindfulness puts kindness ahead of criticism. Baer’s well-organized manual offers examples, worksheets, bullet lists, self-tests, glossaries and a helpful design that empathetically moves the reader through her lessons. getAbstract suggests it to mindfulness practitioners, to those who feel blue or dissatisfied, and to those who care about someone who’s struggling to find happiness.

Summary

Unable to Cope

Those who feel anxious, overburdened, unhappy and unable to cope with personal or work-related stress can pursue mindfulness to help them build a greater sense of contentment and peace of mind. Practicing mindfulness helps people concentrate on the immediate present and address problems and events with an “attitude of friendly curiosity.” No matter how people define happiness, mindfulness can help them access it.

People who study and apply mindfulness techniques develop insights into what really matters to them and improve their ability to manage difficulties and find fulfillment.

Going Round and Round

When most people say they know all about their problems, they mean they think about them all the time. Often, they don’t get all that far in resolving what troubles them. They switch tracks and try not to think about their challenges. Shutting off their worries becomes so difficult that they try to distract themselves or work even harder. Such responses can cause even more troubles. With mindfulness, people learn to approach problems without self-criticism. They adopt an attitude of kindness, even if the circumstances don’t look promising...

About the Author

University of Kentucky psychology professor and mindfulness expert Ruth Baer edited two books for professionals: Mindfulness-Based Treatment Approaches and Assessing Mindfulness and Acceptance Processes in Clients.

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    S. S. getAbstract 2 years ago
    This summary has such helpful and practical tips. It's great to see an author acknowledging the importance of having negative feelings, and not contributing toward the toxic ideals of perpetual happiness.