After having read Ruby Wax's 2 books "Sane New World: Taming The Mind" and "A Mindfulness Guide For the Frazzled" earlier this year I wanted to extend my interest in Mindfulness. I spotted Oli Doyle on iTunes as he has released many podcasts which then led me to look on Amazon for any books he had written and found this one which seemed to be exactly what I was looking for and I was right.

This is an excellent introduction to Mindfulness (with which is included a 10 part audio accompaniment) covering the 10 chapters in the book. And it is exactly what it says on the tin, Oli breaks down in simple terms the background and principles of Mindfulness, it is not a spiritually angled introduction as it merely touches on this aspect, but concentrates on the practical application and highlights the traps our minds so easily fall into. Oli has a very laid back manner in both his style of writing and on the audio podcasts (I found his voice very calming) he emphasizes the importance of not being hard on ourselves allowing for the fact that acquiring the ability to become Mindful in everyday life is not easy and requires practice and that when we fall back into old habits just to bring yourself back to the present moment.

My intention is to repeat the audio podcasts a couple of times to really get the feel of Oli's introduction and then to move onto the second book which is a longer six week course.

I can highly recommend this as a starting point to learning about Mindfulness. Thanks Oli