Guide to Mindfulness and Meditation - Become More Mindful

Guide to Mindfulness and Meditation - Become More Mindful

Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to MeditationMark W. Muesse, Ph.D. Professor, Rhodes College


Course No. 1933
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Mark W. Muesse, Ph.D.
Mindfulness allows us to become keen observers of ourselves and gradually transform the way our minds operate.

InstitutionRhodes College

Alma materHarvard UniversityLearn More About This Professor
Course Overview


What is meditation? For thousands of years, human beings have practiced refined techniques of mental focusing, designed to change the habitual conditioning of the mind. Central to many spiritual and philosophical traditions and known in English as "meditation," these practices are considered a major means for enhanced awareness and self-mastery.


In recent decades, modern science has dramatically confirmed what advanced meditators have long claimed—that meditation, correctly practiced, offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning and emotional health, as well as for physical health and well-being.


The many practical benefits of meditation include


marked and lasting reduction of stress;

increased ability to focus and concentrate, as well as clarity of thinking;

freedom from detrimental patterns of thought and emotion;

increased learning capacity and memory; and

greatly enhanced well-being and peacefulness.



If practiced consistently, the results are real and very far-reaching. In the largest sense, meditation allows you to live in harmony with the realities of the world—to embrace life's ever-changing impermanence, to live in equanimity with the inevitable ups and downs of being human, and to feel deeply connected to the whole of life.


Now, in Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation, award-winning Professor Mark W. Muesse of Rhodes College takes you on a dynamic exploration of your own mind, giving you a clear and useable understanding of the essence of meditation and how to practice it.


In 24 detailed lectures, using numerous guided exercises, Professor Muesse teaches you the principles and techniques of sitting meditation, the related practice of walking meditation, and the highly beneficial use of meditative awareness in many important activities, including eating and driving. As a major strength of the course, you learn in depth how to use the skills of meditation in working with thoughts and emotional states, in deepening sensory awareness of the body, and in becoming deeply attentive to the operation of your mind. Emphasizing clarity and practical understanding, this course will leave you with a solid basis for your own meditation practice and for bringing meditation's remarkable and empowering benefits to every area of your life.

"Mindfulness"—The Eye of the Witness


Meditation, as you learn it here, is closely related to the notion of "mindfulness." In Professor Muesse's words, "Mindfulness is a deliberate way of paying attention to what is occurring within oneself as it is happening. It is the process of attentively observing your experience as it unfolds, without judgment or evaluation."


"Meditation," he adds, "refers to certain exercises that can be used to enlarge and refine mindfulness." Meditation cultivates mindfulness by training you to develop deep attention to the present moment, allowing the mind to become settled and centered.


With the ongoing practice of meditation, you gain the ability to bring the liberating effects of mindful awareness to moment-to-moment living. Ultimately, this means developing a mind of openness and flexibility, profound physical calmness, and a deepening freedom to choose how you respond to life.


Throughout the lectures of this course, you practice the principles of mindfulness through focused meditations and guided exercises, including these:


Sitting meditation: The core practice of the mindfulness tradition. You learn the specific methods of meditation with mindful awareness.

Body scan meditation: A second fundamental practice, bringing deep focus to the body and bodily sensations, promoting both concentration and physical relaxation.

Mindful engagement with thoughts: You learn four specific practices for releasing detrimental patterns of thought.

Metta meditation: Central to the mindfulness tradition, you learn this form of directed contemplation, focusing on the well-being of others and powerfully effective for cultivating compassion.

Meditations for physical pain: You practice two forms of meditation for alleviating pain and physical discomfort of all kinds.


The Insights of Meditation in Action


Building on your practice-based understanding, Professor Muesse takes the exploration into many different areas of life, showing you in depth how meditation and mindfulness apply to daily living.


Early in the course, you practice meditative awareness in the act of eating, in an exercise vividly highlighting all five senses. This exercise uncovers a richness of experience that usually goes unexplored and illustrates one of meditation's significant benefits—being deeply present in the moments of your own life.


You study the mindfulness tradition's approach to difficult emotions, using the example of anger. Here you find a way of disarming anger that builds on meditation, based in nonjudgmental attention, conscious acceptance, and the mental spaciousness to choose your response.


In the course's second half, you explore how mindfulness is used both in building qualities of personal character and in facing life's most challenging experiences. In individual lectures, you learn specific practices for cultivating generosity, empathy, and the beneficial use of speech, and for dealing with the inevitability of loss and grief.

Clarity on the Nature of Reality


As a core theme of this course, you delve into one of the most revealing and practical benefits of mindfulness—the freedom that comes with rigorous clarity about the nature of reality. Drawing on what Buddhism calls the "three marks of existence,"


you see how our conditioned resistance to the transience and passing away of all things causes suffering, and how mindfulness practice allows you to freely and joyfully embrace life's impermanence;

you explore the ways in which mindful awareness gives you freedom from the "insatiable" quality of human experience—the tendency to endlessly pursue the outward symbols of happiness and achievement;

you look at the factors that determine the sense of separateness that burdens many people, and how mindfulness practice leads to a fundamental experience of connectedness to the whole.


The Power of Living Mindfully


An expert in Eastern philosophies, Professor Muesse is the rare teacher with both extensive academic credentials and decades of experience as a meditator, having studied and practiced with meditation masters in Thailand, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. He enriches your experience with compelling reflections on his own journey with mindfulness practice, filmed demonstrations of key techniques, and enthralling stories and perspectives from the great spirits of history.


You hear the Buddha's penetrating counsel to a woman in the throes of grief, and Rilke's passionate words on the necessity of giving joyful consent to all of life. You hear about Professor Muesse's own transformative experience with the practice of generosity, and you contemplate the Zen parable of a man caught between two hungry tigers, highlighting the existential choices we all face in living rich and satisfying lives and in savoring life to the full.


In Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation, Professor Muesse offers you a rare and extraordinary opportunity. By grasping the essential nature of meditation and mindful awareness within the setting of specific, grounded practice, you deepen the power to shape your own mind and experience, to know a well-being that is not ruled by circumstances, and to find yourself truly and lastingly at home in the world.


Join Professor Muesse in this empowering journey of the spirit—the art of living at its most fulfilling, expansive, and meaningful.Hide Full Description


24 Lectures

Average 31 minutes each
1Mindlessness—The Default Setting
2Mindfulness—The Power of Awareness
3Expectations—Relinquishing Preconceptions
4Preparation—Taking Moral Inventory
5Position—Where to Be for Meditation
6Breathing—Finding a Focus for Attention
7Problems—Stepping-Stones to Mindfulness
8Body—Attending to Our Physical Natures
9Mind—Working with Thoughts
10Walking—Mindfulness While Moving
11Consuming—Watching What You Eat
12Driving—Staying Awake at the Wheel
13Insight—Clearing the Mind
14Wisdom—Seeing the World as It Is
15Compassion—Expressing Fundamental Kindness
16Imperfection—Embracing Our Flaws
17Wishing—May All Beings Be Well and Happy
18Generosity—The Joy of Giving
19Speech—Training the Tongue
20Anger—Cooling the Fires of Irritation
21Pain—Embracing Physical Discomfort
22Grief—Learning to Accept Loss
23Finitude—Living in the Face of Death
The mindfulness tradition considers reflecting on death to be both liberating and essential to living a full and satisfying life. Contemplate the ways in which our culture conditions us to avoid and deny death, and learn four meditations that deepen both the awareness of life's transience and our ability to live freely.
24Life—Putting It All in PerspectiveHide Full Lecture List
What's Included?


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A$234.95Download 24 video lectures to your computer or mobile app
Downloadable PDF of the course guidebook
FREE video streaming of the course from our website and mobile appsAdd to Cart


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A$269.9524 lectures on 4 DVDs
208-page printed course guidebook
Downloadable PDF of the course guidebook
FREE video streaming of the course from our website and mobile appsAdd to Cart

Reviews
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆4.3 out of 5 stars. Read reviews for Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation 4.3 389 ReviewsThis action will navigate to reviews.
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Overall☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆4.3Overall, average rating value is 4.3 of 5.

Most Helpful Favorable Review

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
DaveOfDallas
· 8 years ago

Review by DaveOfDallas. Written 8 years ago. 5 out of 5 stars.Very good! Exceeded expectations!

This is the first Great Course I purchased with the intent of learning a skill rather than just gaining insight.

I was very pleased with Professor Muesse’s presentation.

As expected, he provides good guidance on how to prepare for and conduct a breathing meditation.

But I really liked the fact that he first described the difference between mindfulness and meditation, and then went to some length to describe what mindfulness and meditation were NOT.

This helped me establish appropriate expectations.

Muesse prepared me for how hard it is to learn the practice of meditation, but he is also very encouraging. He effectively uses his “meditation voice” rather than his “lecture voice” in the appropriate sections of a lecture.

I found the other meditations about eating, driving, compassion, perfectionism, anger, pain and death particularly enlightening and useful.

While I am not yet “one with the universe” I do set aside some time each day to practice and I believe I am better off for it.

I highly recommend the course.

547 of 697 people found this helpfulSee more 4 and 5 star reviews

Most Helpful Critical Review

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆3 out of 5 stars.
highstandards
· 11 years ago

Review by highstandards. Written 11 years ago. 3 out of 5 stars.One View of Mindfulness

One View of Mindfulness

Have you ever completed a course with the view that it was in part poor and in another part excellent? This was the case with me with respect to this course.

Here are some its fine features:

1) Professor Muesse is a bright, prepared, and effective teacher.

2) The Buddhist teachings around which he builds his instruction are generally of great value in the many aspects of living that are covered in the course.

3) Irrespective of whether one shares Buddhist notions of mindfulness, there is much merit in the professor's teaching as to the many ways one can benefit by simply being awake to the moment.

But here are some the course's serious shortcomings:

1). The professor wants to make it seem like he's teaching from all traditions, and he's sometimes very misleading. For example, he quotes Socrates for support in his advice to "know thyself." But Socrates did not mean the sort of detatched and non-judgmental examination Muesse is discussing and advocating. Anyone who has studied the Dialogues knows full well how judgmental Socrates was in the mindfulness he advocated. It was a very different practice.

This happens again and again, and it really diminishes the course. Muesse suggests that both Aristotle and the Buddha prized happiness. But what he fails to acknowledge is that their views about happiness are quite different in many ways.

This goes in a way to the issue of integrity of the course. There are places where many traditions do approach aspects of living in the same way, and there are many in which they do not. I wish the professor would simply say that there are several approaches to mindfulness, and this course is essentially about practicing mindfulness in the Buddhist tradition.

2. This problem manifests iteself in other troubling ways. Many people, including myself, believe in the soul. We don't see that belief as something self-centered or greedy. The professor is entitled to believe and teach otherwise. But, while this represents an interesting difference in religious faith and practice, it seemed an unnecessary point of division in a course on mindfulness.

3. I agree with the professor that there is much in the modern world that is materialistic and mindless, but I found his black and white judgments to go over the top on occasion. There are many aspects of our modern, conventional lives that actually cause mindful behavior. Painting it all in one color may fit the professor's views, but I think it does a disservice in teaching to a broader audience.

So, some of the course was excellent, and some of it was poor. I'll give the course three stars.

383 of 427 people found this helpfulSee more 1, 2, and 3 star reviews
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
Fiorella
· 2 months ago

Exceptional & May Help You Sleep Better!


I have been meditating twice daily for decades and find it extremely beneficial. It really does calm your mind and refresh your spirit. I have been looking for a good meditation course for about 10 years, to get my husband to learn how. Many were extremely expensive or not very thorough - or the instructor did not seem very good. Another obstacle was that my husband kept saying it wasn't really for him/he was too busy etc. He works very hard, is very productive and highly valued by his organization - but it takes a toll on him. He can get very stressed. I knew he would benefit from meditation. Anyone would! When I told him that the entire Seahawks football team learned to meditate the year before they won the Super Bowl (as directed by their coach) - he viewed it differently. Then I bought this course so we could take it together. I discovered it is an excellent course, suitable for various levels. I learned a lot from it as well as my husband, which I didn't expect. He discovered that daily meditation really does make him feel more refreshed and now is committed to it. He loves it. Dr.Muesse clearly put a tremendous amount of work into making this course content very relevant and of great practical use. He included examples from his personal life that help illustrate various points in a vivid way. Dr.Muesse is a very polished speaker and paid attention to visual aspects of the course, such as a beautiful tranquil meditation room, lovely peaceful park for the walking meditation and wearing a variety of attractive outfits (yes, it does make a difference to viewers who are very visual, like me!). He is very articulate and great at explaining concepts in a clear way. If you ever have trouble sleeping, I highly recommend the lecture 8 where Dr.Muesse teaches a body scan meditation technique. It is incredibly relaxing and if you have been fretting about not getting to sleep, it helps you switch gears to drift into sleep. At first I thought I could do it on my own after watching the lecture once; but then discovered it is much more effective to do as a guided meditation. If you lie down on a yoga mat with a cushion under your knees and listen to Dr.Muesse guide you in this body scan meditation - that is definitely the best. I bought an oversize lumbar cushion from Target online and that works best for me (I tried other cushions/pillows previously and none were quite right). I think this course is full of gems. I have watched a variety of the lectures again as a useful refresher. I recently took an online course taught by a sleep expert (a prof.) and she said that whenever she can't sleep, she meditates to get back to sleep.
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
B Ford
· 4 months ago

Can be beneficially life-changing


Although most Great Courses I’ve watched have been informative to some extent and/or entertaining to a greater or lesser degree, I’ve found “Practicing Mindfulness” to be a very beneficial course that could change a person’s life in a good way. Professor Muesse is correct that not all the exercises may appeal to everyone equally all the time. However, I imagine many people’s lives could be a greatly improved and the world could be a much kinder place if more people tried some of the approaches Professor Muesse suggests in this course. Two examples that come to mind are regarding others as being “just like me” (lecture 15), and wishing “all living beings, everywhere and without exception, be well and happy…have no fears or sorrows…be healthy and free from illness…live calmly and peacefully” (lecture 17). It was nice to see the material covered in a practical down-to-earth manner rather than by aloof exotic naval-gazing or a general 30,000 foot abstract view.
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
Von Kuson
· 5 months ago

Beyond outstanding.


Prof. Muesse's expansive knowledge, experience, and teaching skills enables him to uniquely synthesize the subject's dimensions in the best possible way to inform the viewer. I have become a huge fan as his insights have truly impacted and expanded mine.
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Novice

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✔ Yes


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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
maryleelou
· 7 months ago

Excellent Course


I am fairly new to mindfulness meditation and found this course to be very informative, easy to understand and helpful in my meditation practice. I like Professor Meusse's style of presenting such important information, his meditation demonstrations and the guided meditations he offers to his students. I highly recommend this course.
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆4 out of 5 stars.
Rocky Iii
· 7 months ago

Great Content


I haven’t finished the course but so far, I have enjoyed the content. I find the presentation to be too choreographed and polished. I think a less formal presentation would make it less like a commercial.
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆4 out of 5 stars.
jc12
· 7 months ago

Mindfulness revisited


I have been watching/listening to the lessons of this course for a week now and in the beginning I wasn't so sure it was going to be helpful to me. I have changed my mind especially as I have been doing the recommended practices. The instructor has stimulated my interest in mindfulness meditation, which had waned, and which I am now enjoying once again.
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
Gnomes22
· 7 months ago



Enjoying the course. All of them have been great..
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.
willistamp
· 8 months ago

It is what I needed for wellness and such


it one product I was looking for in class room style
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☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆4.3 out of 5 stars. Read reviews for Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation 4.3 389 ReviewsThis action will navigate to reviews.
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Sort by: Newest answers▼MenuDavid N
· 3 months ago

I’m waiting for this course to come on special. I’ve purchased all the mindfulness courses and found them awesome.
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AshantaTGC
· 3 months ago



Thank you for your inquiry. We are delighted to read you're enjoying our content. Please keep an out for any special promotions via your email or catalog that we send out. If you have a specific question, please don't hesitate to contact a Customer Care Team member at 1800 461951.



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neve
· 7 months ago

When will the next special offer be available?
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KateTGC
· 7 months ago



We run regular sales in catalogs, by email and online. To ensure you do not miss the next sale, please add this course to your Wishlist. We will email you each time this course goes on sale. To add a course to your Wishlist, please select the format you are looking for and click the "add to Wishlist" button!



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bats101
· 10 months ago

Does this course come with closed captions?
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KateTGC
· 10 months ago



Closed-Captioning is NOT available for the DVDs or downloads, but is available in streaming this course.



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Leha
· 2 years ago

What id's a digital transcript? Is it necessary in addition to the pdf?
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TracyTGC
· 2 years ago



This course has two books, a Guidebook, which contains a summary of the lectures, and a Transcript book, which contains the summary of the lectures and the word-for-word print version of the verbal lectures. We give you the PDF of the Guidebook for free with the purchase of the course. The Transcript is available for purchase if you would like it. It isn't "necessary."



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xxxz
· 2 years ago

This Mindfulness class is priced online on 1-28-21 at 8:50PM CT as $254.95. An hour ago it was $35. And that is the price in the brochure I got in the mail. The sale lasts until Feb 4th. What is going on? I called your Customer Service, no answer.
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TracyTGC
· 2 years ago



I apologize for the problem. To get the same price on the website as in your catalog, enter the Priority Code/Catalog Code from the back cover of your catalog, near your name and address, on our website. To do so, click the orange bar at the top of the website. At the bottom of the offers that show up, click "Enter Code" where it says "Shopping from a catalog? You can sync prices with your Catalog code." The prices will then match the catalog. If you have any trouble, please call our Customer Contact Center at 800-832-2412, 9am-10pm M-F and 9am-5pm Sat/Sun EST. If we are receiving too many calls for our system to handle, you will get a busy signal. Otherwise, you will be placed in a queue and your call answered in turn.



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Geez
· 2 years ago

I would like to take this course, but don't understand what you mean by Instant Video? Will this be a video I can download to my computer? If I get the Instant Video, can I watch the individual Lectures whenever I want?
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TracyTGC
· 2 years ago



I apologize for the delay in answering. If you order the "Instant Video" version of the course, you receive nothing in the mail. We place the lectures and a PDF of the Workbook in a "Digital Library" just for you, that you sign into with your email address and a password that you create. (You can access your Digital Library on our website, our app available for IOS and Android devices, and your TV if you have a Roku streaming device plugged into your TV.) You can watch the lectures anytime, provided you have internet service, as many times as you like, forever. And yes, you can download them to your computer and/or mobile device to watch when you are away from the internet.



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jnmnm
· 2 years ago

Is the free 208 page guidebook shown as included with the DVD version of the course different from the course transcript which costs $25? I'm just trying to confirm that the guidebook is included with the $35 DVD course.
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TracyTGC
· 2 years ago



Yes, the Guidebook, which is included with the course at no charge, is different from the Transcript book. The Transcript book, which costs $25, contains everything that the Guidebook contains, plus the word-for-word print version of the verbal lectures.



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IAmMe2
· 2 years ago

Do you offer a preview of ths course?
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TracyTGC
· 2 years ago



Yes, there is a brief preview video. Hover your cursor over the picture on the course page to see the play icon.

We have free clips and lectures from this course and many other courses at www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com and our YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatCourses.

We also have a separate subscription service called The Great Courses Plus. You can sign up for the monthly, quarterly or annual plan. Each comes with a 14-day free trial. This course is part of The Great Courses Plus, so you can watch it there. Go to www.thegreatcoursesplus.com and click "start free trial" to see the 3 plans and choose one.

If you have further questions, please call us at 800-832-2412, 9am-10pm M-F and 9am-5pm M-F EST.



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Chip99
· 3 years ago

This course is listed as on sale through 3/5/20 @ $35. Why are you showing $254?
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TracyTGC
· 3 years ago



To see the same price on the website that you see in your catalog you will need to enter the Priority Code number from the back of the catalog (in a shaded area to the right of your name and address) into the "Priority Code" field on the website. Look in the top middle of the website. Click the words "Have a Priority Code" or "Priority code applied. Apply New Code" in small blue print. Enter the priority code in the field and click apply. The prices will then match. If you encounter any problems, please call our Customer Contact Center at 800-832-2412.



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celticachica
· 4 years ago

is this course based on the teaching of Jon Kabat Zinn
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TracyTGC
· 4 years ago



Thank you for your question. Professor Muesse based this course on many, many books, publications and writings. The bibliography is quite extensive and includes one work by Jon Kabat Zinn: "Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness." For Professor Muesse's full biography, please visit https://www.thegreatcourses.com/professors/mark-w-muesse/



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What Will You Learn?


Master the core practices of the mindfulness tradition, including preparation, position, breathing, and more.


Discover how to use the skills of meditation in working with thoughts and emotional states.


Learn how to practice awareness while eating, with a rewarding exercise that vividly highlights all five of your senses.


Practice two forms of meditation for alleviating pain and physical discomfort of all kinds.


Achieve a marked and lasting reduction of stress through the application of meditative principles.


Increase your capacity for learning, enhance your memory, and gain clarity in your thinking.

====



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Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation Audible Audiobook – Original recording
Mark W. Muesse (Narrator, Author), The Great Courses (Author, Publisher)
4.6 out of 5 stars 58 ratings



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Meditation - the technique of mental focusing for enhanced awareness and self-mastery - offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning and emotional health, as well as for physical health and well-being.

This practice is closely related to "mindfulness," which Professor Muesse defines as "a deliberate way of paying attention to what is occurring within oneself as it is happening. It is the process of attentively observing your experience as it unfolds, without judgment or evaluation."

"Meditation," he adds, "refers to certain exercises that can be used to enlarge and refine mindfulness." Meditation cultivates mindfulness by training you to develop deep attention to the present moment, allowing the mind to become settled and centered. These 24 detailed lectures teach you the principles and techniques of sitting meditation, the related practice of walking meditation, and the highly beneficial use of meditative awareness in many important activities, including eating and driving. You will also learn how to use the skills of meditation in working with thoughts and emotional states, in deepening sensory awareness of the body, and in becoming deeply attentive to the operation of your mind.

You'll come away with a solid basis for your own meditation practice and for bringing meditation's remarkable and empowering benefits to every aspect of your life.
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©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses


Listening Length

12 hours and 29 minutes
Author

Mark W. Muesse, see all

Product details

Listening Length 12 hours and 29 minutes
Author Mark W. Muesse, The Great Courses
Narrator Mark W. Muesse
Audible.com Release Date July 08, 2013
Publisher The Great Courses
Program Type Audiobook
Version Original recording
Language English
ASIN B00DTO49Y2
Best Sellers Rank #26,772 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#141 in Stress Management (Audible Books & Originals)
#147 in Meditation (Audible Books & Originals)
#522 in Meditation (Books)


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Candace Drimmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good intro to this most useful courseReviewed in the United States on September 20, 2016
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Very good intro to, if you haven't done or thought what IS this mindfulness stuff.
Full of details that most mindfulness classes, often running 10 weeks, don't delve into. More depth in other words.

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Harry B. Laufman
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent supplement but needs an indexReviewed in the United States on February 6, 2017
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The book is a very useful companion to the DVD series. I find a book so much easier to use as a reference. This book, however, only goes half way. There is no real index beyond lecture titles. The bibliography looks very complete. There is a short glossary, but again, without any page references.

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Tallone
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding meditation’s theoretical underpinnings make for more sustainable practiceReviewed in the United States on October 18, 2018
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A guide to a calm and peaceful existence - it set me on a path to a more compassionate and accepting mindset. I prefer the lecture format to the more conversational style of “the power of now”

10 people found this helpful

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tony
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite helpful.Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2013
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I love "The Great Courses" series (particularly the one on Buddhism). My only problem with this one so far is I had a hard time getting over the instructors accent. It sounded a little hokey to me at first, but I am only a third of the way through it and am getting used to his voice. The teachings are great, though. FIVE STARS!

9 people found this helpful

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Paul Mann
5.0 out of 5 stars Great courseReviewed in the United States on April 9, 2017
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I'm currently on disc 2 and really like it. The teacher is pleasant and articulate. The subject matter is organized well and interesting.

7 people found this helpful

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Little Willow
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique title you can listen to again and again and again...Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2017
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I listen to it over and over again in my car and get more out of it every time.

5 people found this helpful

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Tom Falcon
4.0 out of 5 stars so far so good.Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2014
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Only on my third lesson out of about 50, but like what I am learning and hope it gets me to where I want.

One person found this helpful

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Win
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent courseReviewed in the United States on August 28, 2019
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Super information


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Leycesteria, Surrey
5.0 out of 5 stars It was in good used condition and arrived promptlyReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2019
Verified Purchase

I bought this to give to a friend (having explained that it was preowned), as I own it as an Audible recording and wanted to share it, and didn't want to involve him in a possible Audible account if I sent it to him through them. It was in good used condition, there were tiny scratches but no fingermarks, and I copied it for the CD player in the car and there was no notification of any 'bad sectors' so presumably none of the scratches affected the quality of the recording and presumably the play back.
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Jun 26, 2021Roy Lotz rated it really liked it
Shelves: help-me-help-myself, gods-and-demigods
I am not what you would call a spiritual person. Quite the opposite. However, living, as I do, in a secular world, and trying my best to be rational, I have come to feel the gap in my life that would normally be occupied by religion.

When life presents us with a difficulty—anything from the death of a loved one to run-of-the-mill ennui—we have little recourse but to drink, spill our guts out to friends, or go to therapy if it gets bad enough. In other words, we must either try to improvise a solution or seek medical intervention. A spiritual or religious practice at least gives us a blueprint—beliefs to fall back on, or rituals to guide us through. The only problem is that, for many like me, those beliefs are not compelling, and those rituals are not meaningful.

The practice of mindfulness, then, attracts me because it is a kind of secular religion—one requiring no membership, no creed, and no voluntary donations. It is merely a method of regulating oneself, a technique that can be practiced anywhere at any time. This is essentially how Muesse presents it in this series of lectures. And he does quite an admirable job. Muesse explains the basic idea, takes the listener through a series of guided practices, and shows how mindfulness can be useful in many different contexts—from eating, to driving, and even to confronting one’s own mortality. By the end, I think he makes a convincing case that mindfulness practice is a valuable tool in dealing with life’s trials and tribulations.

For my part, I greatly appreciate how mindfulness can help with anxiety, sadness, or anger. But I sense the practice’s limitations when confronted when the more joyous parts of life—having fun, relaxing, or falling in love. Sometimes, it is desirable to put some mental space between oneself and one’s emotions. But being absolutely swept away in a passion is one of life’s great experiences; and though detachment is wise in many contexts, some things are worth getting attached to, even if that means enduring suffering in the future. But as Muesse does not present mindfulness as a complete life philosophy, I cannot really find fault with this course.

So if you are feeling a little sad, or anxious, or just experimental, you can do as Dr. Dre said, and “get straight and meditate like a Buddhist.” And this course would be a good place to start. (less)
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Sep 15, 2015Tiana Warner rated it it was amazing
This was a fantastic audiobook on mindfulness. I feel like several areas in my life are benefiting from these practices -- work, hobbies, relationships, sleeping, eating more slowly, and most importantly, dealing with anxiety. I highly recommend this audiobook. With one warning. In the last couple of chapters, he gets into more serious stuff like meditating on pain and illness, culminating in a chapter about meditating on death. Oh man, those were depressing. I don't think I've ever done something as grim as follow his guided meditation contemplating my own death. I nearly had a panic attack. But I applied what I learned and was mindfully attentive to the sensations of my panic, and got through it calmly. I do feel a bit more confident that I can handle panic and anxiety now in everyday life. It's quite a therapeutic book. Time to keep practicing. (less)
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Jan 27, 2012Eric rated it really liked it
Shelves: ttc
This was an impressive course on mindfulness that covers a wide range of techniques and basics on how to lead a wholesome life. Initially I thought the course would focus only on how to practice meditation, but it offered more than that. It is a complete package that teaches you techniques and skills that can aid you on how to lead a wholesome life.
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Nov 21, 2018Ilana rated it it was amazing
Shelves: nonfiction, mental-health-matters, spirituality, great-courses
August-November 2018: This past August seemed like a good time to give meditation yet another try. Major angst was just part of my daily life and had been for an awfully long time, with no relief in sight, having tried every blessed thing, seemingly. Kind of annoying, that. I wanted to try Mindful meditation, I should specify, which according for Professor Mark W. Muesse has nothing to do with what my preconceived notions of meditation were (thought at this point I couldn't exactly say what those were). I went sort of unwillingly towards this lecture series, the way I would approach eating mounds of raw kale, say. It was available as a downloadable audio via the library, though I later purchased it on Audible so I could refer to it later, and here we are.

As of today November 21st, I've been keeping up a daily meditation practice, only skipping out less than a handful of days in three months, which I consider to be in the order of miracles considering I grew up with hippie parents and a father who meditated at least twice a day and here I was, never able to maintain my own practice once every decade or so for more than a week at a time because THOUGHTS and because GUILT and because WTF?!?! and because BORING and FIDGETING! and CRAMPS and all the other reason probably YOU right now reading this (is anyone actually reading this??) find as a reason for NOT meditating... until Prof Mark W. Muesse said, not exactly in these words, but he said: Meditation is fucking hard, folks, and you will fail time and time again but guess what? every time you just fucking SIT there and just breathe and think of your breath, even though your thoughts are annoying as fuck and will intrude, and you remember to just breathe anyway, you still win. And every time you do it again and again, go back to breathing, and then do it the next day, and the day after that, even though you're sure it's a total waste of your time and you hate it and you see no result and even though you're sure you're fucking it up, then you're getting it right. And I thought: Right: Fucking things up, I know how to do. Only he didn't actually use the f-word—I did, because using the f-word makes me feel liberated and cool and like I can OWN things somehow because I'm really immature that way and if it makes me wanna try meditation, then f-word it all the way. Also, I'm totally paraphrasing what he said because I have a terrible memory, but I think that's the essence of it.

Since then I've downloaded a couple of apps, including 10% Happier which was started by a news anchor you might be familiar with called Dan Harris who is NOT a likely candidate for woo woo anything and which has a bunch of really good guided meditations which start from 1 minute to... well as long as you like and for every situation and mood you happen to be in including: "I Don't Want To Meditate" (an actual 5-15 minute meditation), and I found another English one I also love called Headspace (and there are countless others of course) and sometimes I use the apps sitting or lying down or somewhere in between on the couch or the yoga mat or in bed... or I meditate all on my own of course if I feel up to it, and is meditation miraculous? No it's not. But it is the most sane thing I can do for myself and I can say this as a Bipolar person who has very serious anxiety issues and for whom medication can only be so much help and who is seriously suffering in a Trump world and who took up mediation again precisely to cope with non-stop Trump-related coverage with basically causes me PTSD symptoms. So just saying.

Don't try meditation if you think it's crap. But then again, you might try it for 3 minutes a day. Because even if you have 10 kids, and a 100-hour-a-week job (think Dan Harris the news anchor here) you still have 3 minutes to spare, say, when you're picking your kids up from school and waiting in the car, or going for a potty break, and really, what do you have to lose? That insane part of your brain that keeps spewing obsessive and annoying thoughts you have no control over??? Just sayin'... Or... you can do like I did... ignore meditation for the best part of 4 decades and one day wake up and think you're going to die if the stress gets any worse and decide you're willing to try ANYTHING, and lo and behold... there's a simple thing called... meditation. Huh! (less)
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May 14, 2016Lauren rated it it was amazing
Shelves: audible, nonfiction, spirituality
This was my second Great Courses series and I loved it much more than the first. Each lecture is about 30 mins long and is basically a meditation in itself. I loved the professor's slow southern voice—it inadvertently encouraged me to slow down as well. Bookmarked several points in the course and plan to refer back to them in the future. (less)
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Jan 27, 2018Amy rated it really liked it
I didn't do every mindfulness practice while listening to this Audbile course, but I went back and re-listened (and will do so again, I'm sure, as needed) when I felt I wasn't concentrating as much as I could have in the moment. Iwas traveling during the last few chapters and listening while not fully mindful (while flying, etc.) and so know these are the chapters most important to re-visit (e.g. the mindful walking and eating chapters). Most of these courses were enlightening and those I found difficult or came away from feeling disconnected from or at odds against are ones I'll want to listen to again when I have more ability to concentrate on the message the speaker/author was trying to convey. I understand and acknowledge that the message, in these parts, flew against my learned belief system, so were immediately and in the moment disregarded due to this. It's worth another listen to see if I still disagree or if I discarded them out of hand without fully understanding what the speaker was trying to convey. (less)
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Jul 23, 2018Yelena Dubovaya rated it it was amazing
So much of this resonated with me and helped me gain a deeper understanding of incorporating mindfulness into much more than just meditation.

The lecture on death was probably my favorite. Muesse asserts that mentally comprehending our impermanence isn’t enough - one must be able to really embrace death in order to live a more fulfilling life. He makes a great many points about the discomfort our (western) society has with the idea of death and the inability to embrace it - as demonstrated by our completely hands off funeral traditions (especially when compared to funeral traditions in other areas of the world).

Muesse also does an amazing job of incorporating exercises throughout the lectures to demonstrate streams of both mindless and mindful thought. I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture on mindful eating and the exercise of eating a clementine mindfully. It opened my eyes to the frequency with which I eat mindlessly (or drive mindlessly, or do most things mindlessly).

The body scan technique is something that I learned from one of the first yoga classes I took back in high school and I have been using it ever since. It helps create a stronger connection between the mind and the body and the mind’s awareness of the body. The section on pain versus suffering embodies this idea as well - pain is simply a bodily sensation - but the label we attribute to the sensation and the suffering we endure is simply a creation of the mind. Muesse also makes a good point that suffering (in general) comes from our lack of acceptance of things we cannot change - and thus suffering is a choice that can be avoided.

He also talks about masculinity and how it relates to mindfulness/compassion/acceptance. Even as a female, these are useful lessons to hear because there exists a stigma about meditation and mental strength.

Overall, an extremely useful set of lectures which helped to deepen my understanding of mindfulness and meditation. I learned a great deal about different mechanisms to employ to remind myself to be more present. An extremely enriching course!!!! (less)
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Feb 18, 2015Silas rated it it was amazing
This probably should have had the word "Buddhist" in the title somewhere, since it was very much about Buddhist ideas. It did have a Buddha on the cover, so that should be a hint. While there were occasional nods to other traditions, there were also whole lectures on Buddhist ideals. That concern aside, this is a succinctly presented and helpful program on Buddhist meditation. It was an excellent introduction to Buddhist thought bundled with a good introduction to meditation. There are, of course, other kinds of meditation, but if you are interested, this is a good start. (less)
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Aug 15, 2021Chris rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: audiobooks
TGC Practicing Mindfulness focusses on how to develop a mindfulness practice. The purpose of developing the practice is to see the nature of reality as it is, devoid of the overlay of preconceptions that clutter out view of it. Muesse is skilled at conversing in the nuances of mindfulness.

"As we think, so we become." Meditation is used as an exercise to train mindfulness. Several forms are introduced; sitting and walking meditation as well as guided body scans by Muesse. I personally will be sticking to vanilla sitting meditation. Muesse notes that one can find value beginning meditation with a variety of motives, including egoistical ones, though eventually the ego will have to be subsided to realise the true nature of self and reality. There is an emphasis on developing frequency of meditation, 6x5 minutes is more valuable than a 1x30 minute session, and guarding the time for practice to do so.

"This too shall pass." Beyond the commentary around developing a meditation routine, the value of the content is in Muesse's musings on avoiding mindlessness generally. Approaches to develop mindfulness include breaking down unskillful thoughts, redirecting obsessive and unwholesome thoughts and releasing attachment. I found these productive reflections for cultivating focus and attentiveness. A hindrance I found was Muesse's personal analogies not landing with much impact. While intended to reflect everyday life, I found most to be banal and drawn out. I also did not find much insight in sections such as, mindfulness in eating and driving.

A useful guidance for framing for beginning a mindfulness practice, though as Muesse correctly asserts; mindfulness is a practice to be exercised and reading can only go so far.

3 stars.

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Oct 23, 2018Phong Vu rated it really liked it · review of another edition
This is a course consists of 24 lectures, teach about a specific kind of meditation, that help us practicing mindfulness. There are other kinds of meditation too, which are not subject of this course. Also, it is not a book about religion, although there are insights we can get from religious quotes and practices, introduced from time to time.
This course teach about the what, why, who, when, where and how to use meditation to practice mindfulness while sitting, walking, eating, to pay more attention to the present, to have more compassion toward oneself and others, to deal with pain, grief and death. Some lessons may need to be listened again and again, at the right time and place, to have the full effect.
There are also some interesting analogies, such as living a mindlessness life is like watching a movie while listening to a bunch of people keep commenting about everything, relevant or not. You just can't enjoy the movie that way. (less)
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Mar 16, 2022Howard rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I admit. I cheated once :-) I normally don't let unfinished audiobooks sit around, while I read others. This one is different. I stopped listening to it about halfway. It sat there for a long time. His lectures on grief/loss and death had to wait until after my wife passed away. It was to meaningful to hear this at this time in my life. Tears were running from my eyes while listening and waiting for software to build at work. I really like how he talked about practices in everything like eating, anger, pain & loss. Very well rounded practices that can help many people. (less)
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Jan 24, 2020Michelle rated it it was ok
Got stuck at
"It's probably no coincidence that individuals who choose to end their lives by gunshot almost always put the bullet through their heads."
(The implication being that because they have reached a "mind-driven point of despair" they want to shoot where the mind is)

This lecture series is not for me (less)
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Feb 19, 2017Carlissa rated it did not like it
Shelves: audible, audiobook, not-finished, nonfiction
I've heard some good things about The Great Courses audiobooks that are offered at Audible and mention in the Audiobook group here at Goodreads. When I saw this audio, I thought I would enjoy it, but I really didn't. It reminded me of some of the boring lectures I had in college. The professor narrating this course droned on and on saying what he's going to cover in this course, which really annoyed me; why not just say what you have to say, not what you're going to say in a future chapter! The canned clapping at the beginning and ending of each chapter also annoyed me. I got up to the middle of chapter 11 (44% of the audio) and I'm still not sure If I understand what "mindfulness" means; it sounded rather mindless to me. Anyway, I guess this just isn't for me. (less)
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Jan 05, 2020Kent rated it did not like it
Shelves: great-courses
The one persistent take-away for me that Dr. Muesse mentioned in these lectures is that some people find meditation to be boring. That suggestion is an apt summation of my feelings toward these lectures.
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Sep 10, 2019Himanshu Modi rated it really liked it
Shelves: non-fiction, self-help
Maybe I am getting old or something, but of late, it's been hard to handle all the clutter in my thought. It's not that the clutter did not exist before. It always did. It's just that my tolerance for it has steadily been decreasing. Or maybe the coping mechanisms - cigarettes, alcohol, general and endless media consumption - I used before are things I try to refrain from these days. I have been increasingly drawn to some of the meditative practices. It's not that I dedicate a chunk of my day towards them, but I have been actively seeking for an outlet that suits my psyche and outlook.

I have been dabbling in some spirituality/philosophy, and while these disciplines offer a great world view, they don't always reconcile with the fact that I am still a part of society that is getting increasingly Orwellian and I am expected to making a living and provide within the construct of a "normal" life.

Mindfulness is a short leap, once you are on that path then.

Besides, there's something innately Indian about mindfulness. We have the legends Rushi's of yore doing their "tapasya" and being rewarded by boons and wishes by our Hindu Gods. Gautam Buddha is always central to all concepts around meditation. Yoga practices have breathing, or pranayam, at its core. Still, I haven't really seen mindfulness, in the form it has absolutely exploded globally, very prevalent in India. We do have "Pravachans", where a spiritual leader/guide/guru holds these gatherings where he/she imparts wisdom and means and ways to conduct oneself in life. These, again, do not suit me. For one, they feel like doctrines, or at least instruction manuals, more than an approach to sorting out your thinking. Second, these are mass gatherings, a setting I am inherently not very fond of. And third, a lot of these end up having religious, or worst, mystical inclinations. Sure, religious pravachans serve the same purpose for a lot of folks that I am trying to achieve through meditations. But religion inherently has several trappings that I absolutely do not want to indulge in. Because of all this, mindfulness in India itself is not all that prevalent. Maybe because most people really don't have time to be mindful. Sadhguru put this very succinctly when he said, and I am paraphrasing here, that poor people in India (as compared to western way of life where people keep chasing stuff) do not worry, because they have nothing to worry about.

The background aside, meditation, mindfulness, was something I was keen on practicing. I just didn't quite know how. Then this course popped up on Audible. Nothing to lose, I thought and dove in.

Well, it didn't give insights that blew my mind away. But Mark Muesse did get me to sit and meditate for 5 minutes in a guided way. It helped. I have tried sitting still and meditating before. Sometimes I have been able to focus, and most times I have been distracted the way Muesse predicted I would be. But trying out meditation, perhaps in the middle of an audio book, when mentally I was fully committed to it, when there were a few "guided" exercises, really helped me commit to it. That little bit, made all the difference.

I have practiced even guided meditation before. I used go to a yoga center in my school days, when there was a guru who would guide the breathing exercises. But I was a young lad, and I used to challenge myself to holding my breath when instructions were given. So I would breathe in only every other time when the instruction to breathe-in was given. Then every third time. There is no mindfulness involved here. More of challenge accepted thing going on.

So there was definite value in this course. There's a fair amount of instruction as well, especially on how to be mindful in daily facets of life. There are anecdotes and stories to take the point home. That is distinctly "pravachan"-like. Without the wrapper of religion, thankfully. Depending on the mindset, some of these pointers might come across as inane, or illuminating, or as was the case with me, somewhere in between. I do acknowledge that I am not as "aware" of my thoughts as I ought to be. For e.g. just the other day, I was really fuming that my almost-4-year-old would not follow an instruction I had for her. It took an effort to step back and realize just how angry I was feeling. Something, which I might have realized maybe after two days, or not at all, if I hadn't been listening to this course in that period as well. Still, I can't imagine being mindful about every single thing we do in life. Sometimes you really do need to delegate your thinking to system 1, as Kahneman calls it.

I do wish the narration was a little faster. I generally listened to it at 1.25x the normal speed, except the exercise. Perhaps there's an insight about patience there... but really, the normal speed felt unnaturally slow, and, actually, uneven. Because Muesse would suddenly pick up speed for a couple of words and slow down again. Well, he is a professor, not an actor or something, so can't except narration to be flawless here.

In the end, after a couple of weeks of practicing breathing meditation, I certainly feel a lot more collected and calm. The trick is to keep doing it of course. Not take a break and wait for a tectonic upheaval to then meditate to try and magically remedy the ensuing anxiety. The idea is to be mindful, and prepare for that calamity, that eventually strikes everyone in some shape and form. (less)
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Dec 08, 2013Niptech rated it it was amazing
My personal favorite introduction to mindfulness. Although religion is mentioned in some chapters, it's not a religious book at all.

I know that the style of the author doesn't suit everyone. He's a university professor and therefore he might at times be perceived as pedantic. I'm still a big fan of his courses. I find them to be deep, yet simple to follow and very lively. (less)
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Sep 04, 2014John-Philip rated it it was amazing
Shelves: electronic-books-i-license, non-fiction, audiobook
I don't think I could ask for a better introduction to Mindfulness. The narrator is captivating and mixes theory with exercises (included guided meditation). I'm going to let this sink in and then listen to it again. (less)
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Sep 06, 2020Marcel rated it really liked it · review of another edition
A road to a different world, mindfulness reveals a way to balance your life through meditation and being aware of your surroundings. The author doesn't label himself with any religion because he wants to stay open. I agree with him when he says that once you take a religion and advocate for it, it's hard to switch sides. He does mention God and Budha but doesn't pressure the reader to believe in any of them, just to learn from their teachings.

I did mostly listen to this audio book while in the gym, calming me down after a day of work. It comes with a lot of life stories, which are sometimes pragmatic, sometimes exaggerated in order to show a truth. Most of the times, the stories are also funny. Two short stories follow, marked as spoilers.
1. (view spoiler)
2. (view spoiler)

I've learned about the 5 aspirations of Budha teachings, which I'd like to keep as a note for future:


1. I will endeavour not to harm sentient beings.
2. I will endeavour not to steal.
3. I will endeavour not to misuse sexuality.
4. I will endeavour not to use false speech.
5. I will endeavour not to consume toxins.


This book covers a lot of life topics, out of which I will mention two examples.
1. Freud's Pleasure Principle: people tend to grasp the things that they enjoy and evade the things that don't enjoy. It's only human, but avoiding pain all through our life sounds like we're running from life rather than living. It is important to also deal with things we don't enjoy, so we can enjoy life.
2. Perfectionism: Perfectionism can hurt, but it can also help you through life. Rather than trying to eliminate perfectionism, just embrace it and use it for your benefit. Thinking more about it, trying to eliminate perfectionism may be just another form of perfectionism. This is one more reason to just embrace your perfectionism.

The book does also touch sensitive topics and treats them with care: it is generally accepted that Earth is a sphere, but it's inaccurate to say "I know Earth is a sphere" unless you have verified that yourself. If you din't verify the proof, it's better to say "I believe Earth is a sphere" because you trust the work of other people and it makes sense to you. Not knowing is ok. And the author does encourage practicing "not knowing", not in the sense of being ignorant, but being aware of your limitations.

Overall, I believe it is a very good read. What I like most is that it does teach how to be a good and kind human, without advocating for any religion. (less)
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Nov 08, 2017Derek Peffer rated it liked it
Shelves: written-reviews-on-books, philosophy, philosophy-reference, philosophy-of-religion, nonfiction-books
I enjoy much of what I read here. Regarding the structure of the text you could say their was a lot of redundancy since before every transcribed lecture was all organized something like bullet points from much of the main ideas from the lecture and then afterwards was a transcription of the lecture which the bullet points were taken from. This could get annoying for readers but I found it helpful that it would recommit to memory the bullet points as you breeze through the transcription. Also, the transcribed lecture includes anecdotes and quotations from important religious texts that aren't included often under the bullet points before the lecture's transcription which I thought were very neat areas of the influences from the canon of Buddhism and similar other religious texts and anecdotes.

Philosophically, there's a lot that's similar to stoicism so if you're familiar with it you'll certainly see certain family resemblances. However this book is a much more a practical guide and should be look at not as a philosophical text, though their is an obvious nod to its philosophical background, but mainly as a guide to the practice of mindful meditation.

In regards to the meditation practice, what you gather are small techniques which help realize certain 'insights' about ourselves and the world around us. Using very basic techniques first; smaller tasks carry bigger significance as you begin thinking about the practice of these techniques and regard them mindfully as you think of their significance to larger aspects of our life.
For example, sitting and meditating for 45minutes under very conscious circumstances to be thinking about only the way your breath is done in and out without interrupting thoughts or discomfort, boredom, etc isn't very natural or easy to accomplish. This is something you can 'will' yourself to do, mentally prepare yourself. However much of 'you' wont enjoy this task or schedule for it every day. In fact 'you' will be the main reason 'you' wont be able to easily preform it. Doesn't this encourage the thought that our minds don't always lead our bodies to follow our decisions?
This small example leads to some of the small 'insights' that much of our conscious choices aren't choices we make easily without other influences shaping how we rationalize our decisions, and thereafter its consequences. Meditation in practice is to set you up for mild difficulties of choice and to challenge our effort to realize the difficulties of these simple tasks and to release its tension. By focusing on each particular difficulty, Processing them mindfully as part of ourselves, accepting it but also maintaining our habits to return to our simple task, we continue our cultivation of a certain behavior and habituates us to the practice making it far less difficult then before.
This leads to a couple insights that we learn about ourselves and how easily we fall away from our own choices and conscious decisions due to other factors. Hopefully later leading one to be more mindful of those affect, accepting them, and releasing there tendency to change our original conscious decision and remain steadfast and unaffected. But also leading someone to recognize something about yourself.

There are also other subjective feeling produced which relates to a serene, or pleasantness in disposition which people might enjoy from this practice of meditation.

Overall it's a good introduction and practical guide. The act of reading it leads one to mindfully regard much of the slog to continue reading it past the redundancy, but by releasing the tension, and finishing the book you'll stand more mindful...hopefully?

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Oct 28, 2017Jim Brown rated it it was amazing
Shelves: attitude, motivational, instructional
I have read a lot of books, attended a lot of courses, seen a lot of doctors and can say that a great many of the authors/instructors/doctors have said that practicing medication is a very good thing to create a sense of calmness and even promote good health. None of these people ever gave instructions on HOW to meditate. I tried teaching myself but frankly was not very good at it.

When I saw this 24 lesson course offered on The Great Course web site it was like providence sent me to the site and caused my eyes to see this course out of the hundreds being offered. Or in other words, it was meant to be.

I listened and watched all 24 lessons. When a course or book causes you to periodically pause and just think about what you have just heard/watched, that in my opinion is a GREAT COURSE/BOOK/VIDEO! This is a GREAT COURSE/VIDEO. It is so much more than I had anticipated receiving and that is another measure of a good course/book/video. I can say without a doubt that I now know how to meditate and it is not what I thought it was going to be. The course offers so much more than just how to meditate - it is about life in general.

I could not write anything that would truly embody my strong recommendation that everyone should take the course if for no other reason than it gets you to think about life like you may never have before. My test of value is very simple. Would I recommend others taking the course? ABSOLUTELY! Would I take the course again? DEFINITELY and will. Would I buy it as a gift for others? DEFINITELY and probably will. It is definitely a path towards a greater peace of mind! (less)
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Aug 30, 2020Matthew Kern rated it it was amazing
Shelves: non-fiction, audio
This is a phenomenal introductory course to mindfulness and meditative practice.

Muesse produces a potent mixture of theory, wisdom, and practice that is accessible for all levels of those looking into mindfulness. I was inspired by his passion for the practice as well.

Well worth your time if you are interested in finding some serenity in this life or are just interested in what this whole "mindfulness" thing is all about.

My Key Takeaways

* The most important thing about practicing mindfulness is: Just do it. It’s difficult to get started sometimes, and it’s difficult to continue, but the rewards are immeasurable.
* Boredom is a problem of awareness, not the lack of external stimulation.
* Only the complete acceptance of suffering leads to its end. To accept suffering, rather than flee from it, requires courage—the determination to look at difficulty straight in the eye. Courage is the fundamental attitude for facing problems
* Most of us seek happiness in two basic ways: the first is by acquisition, which is the preferred method in the modern world, and the second is by aversion, which is trying to avoid unpleasant situations.
* Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, said: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” (less)
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Mar 10, 2021Sheila rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I am so enjoying this book, learning a few things I didn't know or think about.
Meditation is helping.
I am between 4 and 5 stars on this book.
Will this book help all the time or everyone maybe not but it is helping me.
My meditation position is laying like a vampire.
I shower and have my comfy sleep clothes on
and I lay down breath in and sink into my bed and look at my bookshelves and then
I have this one book that I love love the cover and it's my focal point. (In case this may help you).
There's no wrong way to meditate just not meditating.
I felt lesson 8 really helped a lot being aware of the body and then the Tangerine
lesson that was great just helping me live in the moment and be aware of my being.
I also enjoyed learning the walking meditation this is really going to be helpful at work.
Lesson 17 Compassion and Wishing All People well. Good OUT Good In (obviously death is inevitable) but, we can strive for our best.
Fear of Death we all think thoughts and have fears of it. I have been struggling.
We can meditate on our death to become so familiar with
our death then we have less fear and can live. (Thankfulness for each breath).
1. I will age 2. I may have illness 3. I will die 4. I will be separated from all that I know and love. 5. Whatever I do for good or ill I will reap. (death is inevitable).
Meditation I find for me brings acceptance, peace, awareness and calm for me.
I do hope when I need the lessons in this book they will pop into my mind.
I will continue to meditate.
I believe I will have to purchase a copy of this book. (less)
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Jun 10, 2018Jamil Haddadin rated it it was amazing
This audible book (not available as a book or kindle) deserves 5 stars as per my view.
This book works for a beginner & intermediate meditation practicer, it builds up your knowledge about the meditation tradition after convincing you why you might need it & answers many questions around it.
The writer has touched upon an important psychological, ethical & philosophical topics that helps you in the practice & ensuring your success in the journey.
The book is extremely rich; Meditation, Eating, driving, walking, perfectness, grief, death, knowledge, dealing with people are all connected if you want to live a mindful life, that’s what this book teaches you.
You feel the influence of Buddhism on the writer although there are a real keen to keep an equal distance from all other believes.
This book is one of the few books that tells you WHAT the constructive & wholesome practice is; then -and most importantly- HOW to achieve it with the exact details of the practice and sometimes with a suggested timeline, which I personally like
Those quotes are my favorites from this book:
"Meditation is the essential instrument to reach mindfulness"
"The only thing that does not change is change it self"
"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, In the expert's mind there are few" (less)
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May 07, 2020ZeV rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: own, audio, psy-meditation
I have listened to the Audible version of this course. Unfortunately, I could not get into this at all. It reminds me too much of extremely boring lectures taught by well-meaning yet extremely mundane professors at college. I do not think it is the content that is the issue. The lectures are delivered in a very monotonic fashion as if they are read directly off scripts (I'm sure they are). On the good side, the accompanying PDF provides a useful, extensive summary of the overall content, which might be more useful and quicker than listening to the whole content.

I might revisit this course when I have ample time and have exhausted the other meditation resources that I'm meaning to use, but the college-style lectures don't seem very effective to me. They literally put me to sleep, not to the state of meditation. (less)
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Dec 30, 2020Robert rated it liked it
I wanted to learn a little about the catch-phrase of mindfulness. I did learn a little. In some ways, it makes sense and in other ways it does not make sense like many other religious ideas.

To start, non-falsifiability. The instructor alludes to certain benefits of meditation and mindfulness but also asserts that you have to let go of your expectations in order to realize them. Essentially, if you don't find a reduction in stress or whatever drew you to investigate mindfulness then it must be because you never let go of that expectation.

However, the instructor does go through at some length the philosophy of mindfulness and we must presume this is why people were interested in the course to begin with. In this way, it is informative and it must also be added that adopting some of these beliefs would probably be beneficial to people wishing to give it a go. (less)
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Jan 20, 2021Janne Albert rated it liked it
Disclaimer: Most of the course I listened at 2,5X speed.

To be honest - up until the very end I did not understand who was the target audience. It was definitely meant for middle or high class people grown up in the privileged west. However what was confusing was that it was meant as an introduction (and yes, the second part served more like an introduction), there were many parts where I felt it was more directed towards a person who's ready to become a monk.
What I did like about it was that there were examples from the religious texts but also of real life people and situations. It also did not try to push for one certain way of meditation but rather served different options of meditation. (less)
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Jan 22, 2019Jan Snyder rated it really liked it
This was a well written book on beginning a journey of mindfulness through meditation. While the author refernces the Buddist practice, he was resolute in recognizing that in our Western culture all faiths and belief systems may benefit from practicing mindfulness. A mindfulness practice can improve our health and well being by making us more aware of our physical environment, speech, eating habits, driving, grief, pain and impermanence. The author walks the reader through the basic tenets of meditation while providing some guided meditation practices. A nice read as I continue on my mindfulness journey. (less)
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Oct 31, 2018Bruce rated it really liked it · review of another edition
As it turns out, I'm far too cynical to start meditating at this point in my life. Someday, I hope that will change, but for now this was just a tad too thick for me. Not in terms of complexity. The course itself was easy to follow, simple, clear and even enjoyable. But I couldn't help shake the feeling that everything I really needed to know could have been condensed into an article. That's on me. I chose to keep reading.

This course is comprehensive, but easy. It's the sort of thing I will feel very comfortable returning to someday. When I'm more mature. Maybe. We'll see. I dunno. (less)
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Nov 29, 2018Lucia Bradley rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: self-help, health
It adds some detail to mindfulness, but isn't a breakout.

I have understood the importance of meditation, mindfulness and especially in the Buddhist outlook and this definitely helps underscore that tradition of thought.

I firmly believe this is a good resource to those new with mindfulness and might give explanations in a way that makes more sense and perhaps is more accessible.

That being said, if you are already comfortable with the idea of mindfulness, you probably don't need this book. (less)
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Feb 21, 2021Scott Larsen rated it liked it · review of another edition
First half or so was very valuable and good. Last half-ish he wandered philosophical and this portion was less valuable to me - though primarily because very little of that portion was new to me; some of that portion was (understandably) in error, but that's fine and expected, and there was some that was new, just the vast majority was not new to me. Other readers will get varying mileage of course :) (less)
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===


Publisher's Summary


Meditation - the technique of mental focusing for enhanced awareness and self-mastery - offers deep and lasting benefits for mental functioning and emotional health, as well as for physical health and well-being.

This practice is closely related to "mindfulness," which Professor Muesse defines as "a deliberate way of paying attention to what is occurring within oneself as it is happening. It is the process of attentively observing your experience as it unfolds, without judgment or evaluation."

"Meditation," he adds, "refers to certain exercises that can be used to enlarge and refine mindfulness." Meditation cultivates mindfulness by training you to develop deep attention to the present moment, allowing the mind to become settled and centered. These 24 detailed lectures teach you the principles and techniques of sitting meditation, the related practice of walking meditation, and the highly beneficial use of meditative awareness in many important activities, including eating and driving. You will also learn how to use the skills of meditation in working with thoughts and emotional states, in deepening sensory awareness of the body, and in becoming deeply attentive to the operation of your mind.

You'll come away with a solid basis for your own meditation practice and for bringing meditation's remarkable and empowering benefits to every aspect of your life.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses
MeditationStress Management




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What listeners say about Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to MeditationAverage Customer Ratings
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John
17-05-2016

Don't waste your time and money

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

no one, perhaps my dog in order to goto sleep ?

What could The Great Courses have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

A better lecturer. One who doesn't in the opening lines tell a story about his inability to use a DVD player. Does not inspire confidence in the content

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Professor Mark W. Muesse?

anyone - maybe Donald Trump. :) at least it would be comical.

What character would you cut from Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation?

Well, I'd not cut a character, but cut the religious references.

Any additional comments?

If I could get a refund on this I would. Sadly I appear to have missed a cutoff date between when I bought and when I first listened.



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Stephanie
04-04-2018

Absolutely life-changing

As a beginner to mindfulness practice, Mark is an incredible teacher. His acceptance and study of many cultures, practices and religions gives him this all-encompassing view that feels like a warm hug. He covers a broad range of techniques and the reasoning behind each skill, with very relatable examples.
I feel ready to begin a lifetime of daily practice and look forward to the journey it takes me on!


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Haydos585
11-03-2020

Great intro to mindfulness

Very good intro to mindfulness. As someone that has studied it for a few years I still found the content interesting and engaging. Personal anecdotes and the importance placed on practical, real world mindfulness was great. There was no silly spirituality or nonsense here. This is perfect if you're looking for a non-faith based course on mindfulness.


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Andrew
15-05-2019

Excellent

Excellent introduction to mindfulness. Highly recommended to help achieve peace of mind and a way of life


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