Beyond mindfulness - finding your real life

Mindfulness is a buzzword that is everywhere. But what does it really mean and why would the world be a better place if we all lived with a little more heartfulness?

As the mindfulness mega-trend has become more mainstream it has moved away from its roots, becoming more of a ‘technique’ and losing touch with its deeper meaning.

In Asia, the idea of mindfulness was traditionally connected with another, richer concept — heartfulness (In fact, the ancient Pali word Sati, meaning mind, can also be translated as heart).
 
Yet the modern understanding of mindfulness has come to be quite self-focused, losing touch with its ancient origins.

In Heartfulness, Dr Stephen McKenzie, a leading mindfulness author and teacher, pushes through the boundaries so often imposed by a misinterpreted idea of mindfulness and dives into the vast, deep waters of heartfulness to help you live a fuller, more rewarding life.


Photo courtesy of Exisle Publishing

With warmth and compassion, this insightful book takes mindfulness back to its roots, exploring the paths to being fully connected — with ourselves and with other people — and therefore fully alive, happy, without stress and at peace.

Stephen looks at the lived examples of some of the world’s most inspirational leading-lights, from Nelson Mandela to Oprah Winfrey, illustrating what it is to live with heartfulness in our secular and sometimes self-absorbed world.

There are exercises for the reader and chapters include adversity, humour, knowledge, kindness, love and hope, among others. With anecdotes, things to do and think about and lots to gently read and enjoy, this is a warm book that seeks to bring the reader home to a happy state.

As a researcher, lecturer and writer with years of clinical and teaching experience in many areas of psychology, Dr Stephen McKenzie has written several books including Exisle’s Mindfulness at Work and with Craig Hassed, Mindfulness for Life. Dr McKenzie lectures in psychology at Melbourne’s Monash University.

Exisle RRP $29.99