This Advance Reader Copy of the book is courtesy of NetGalley and the book’s publishers. I am not receiving any financial or additional benefit for posting this review other than the opportunity to read this book before it’s released publicly.
tl;dr Review:
If you loved 10% Happier, you need this guide.
Full Review:
I first read Dan Harris’ original book, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story (he enjoys long titles apparently), in 2015. It came into my life at a time when I was in desperate need to do all of those things: tame the voice in my head, manage my stress, and find self-help.
I tabbed the book and have re-read portions so many times that my original copy is starting to fall apart.
Needless to say, when I saw Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-to Book by Dan Harris, Jeffrey Warren, and Carlye Adler, I knew I HAD to read it.
Thankfully, it does not disappoint in the least. And part of the description is all you need to know if you’ve read 10% Happier:
“[Dan Harris and Jeffrey Warren] create a taxonomy of the most common issues [with meditation] (‘I suck at this,’ ‘I don’t have the time,’ etc.) and offer up science-based life hacks to help people overcome them. The book is filled with game-changing and deeply practical meditation instructions. . . Amid it all unspools the strange and hilarious story of what happens when a congenitally sarcastic, type-A journalist and a groovy Canadian mystic embark on an epic road trip into America’s neurotic underbelly, as well as their own.”
I own my neuroticness (umm hi, my main blog is called The Color Coded Life and this one is Color Coded Books. To say I’m a little Type A is like saying that Beyonce is a little famous), so to have a book that accepts that as well in the journey to understand meditation is exactly what I need.
I knew this book was perfect when in the first chapter, I’d already highlighted and bookmarked 3 different things.
I truly loved how each chapter broke down why any excuse we may have to not meditate is total bullshit and includes a step by step guide on how to overcome it.
If you’re like me and have been wanting to really give meditation a try but keep feeling like you can’t, then this book is for you.
Though you don’t need to, I’d highly recommend reading Dan Harris’ first book referenced above. It helps to give context to the entire process. However, if you don’t want to do that and just want a guide to mindfulness meditation that’s simple, straight-forward, and lacks the pretension of other mindfulness books, then this is the one for you!
I give this book 5 out of 5 thumbs up!
