Book review, Mindfulness For the Wandering Mind, by Pandit Dasa

Written by a monk-turned-leadership-guru, Mindfulness For the Wandering Mind offers unique insight on how you can focus your mind, become more resilient, respond better to conflict, and build stronger professional and personal relationships. It’s all possible when you begin to understand how your mind works and take control of this complicated mechanism. This book will show you how to identify and close the “apps” that are constantly running in your own mind so you can eliminate distractions and find greater peace and productivity in your daily life.   

This book offers insight on self-awareness, returning to the present moment, mindful communication, and how to embark on the journey of meditative practice. Dasa writes with a comforting tone and reassures the reader, guiding them on the path of trying to better oneself.

The author lays down a nice structure for the reader to easily follow, breaking down every chapter with a summary and bullet point arranged tips. This is especially good for someone who finds reading a more difficult habit to keep up because they can easily take away the key points.

Also, in relation to the structure of the book, Dasa goes through every area where a person may be looking for advice, starting off with creating boundaries and good routines/habits, building strong and sustainable relationships, overthinking, sustaining your practice, and discovering gratitude.

I liked what Dasa had to say here to do with letting go of attachments from your past and appreciating yourself. “The only reason we should look back is to see how far we’ve come from where we were.” Dasa deems patience not only a valuable asset but an essential piece of personal development. He has devised a flower chart(which I thought was quite a nice and engaging surprise)of all the traits needed for personal growth (and I could not agree with him more):

Forgiveness, Avoiding comparison, Selflessness, Compassion, Avoiding being judgemental, and Patience.

Overall, I think the book has a very comforting and encouraging message. The author is a likeable and non-judgemental narrator.

In this book, you’ll find specific meditation processes and actions you can take to help you succeed as you begin or continue your journey. Through presentations and talks across the country, author Pandit Dasa has offered his wisdom on applying mindfulness in the workplace.

In this book, he shares his wisdom with you, revealing that, no matter what your external circumstances or environment, you can find the time and space to reflect and unlock the benefits of mindfulness.

• Reduce stress and anxiety by eliminating unnecessary distractions and closing unused “apps” in your mind
• Harness the principles of forgiveness, patience, compassion, and selflessness to improve work-life balance and mental health for yourself and your employees
• Break through the stigma surrounding mental health concerns and identify the obstacles that are keeping you from happiness and fulfilment
• Complete reflection questions and exercises to develop a deeper awareness of how your mind works?and what you can do to improve it

Mindfulness For the Wandering Mind is for anyone who is looking for a solution to the constant feelings of overwhelm, distraction, and anxiety that plague us in today’s fast-paced, media-saturated world. Teach your brain how to block out the noise and find focus, and observe the radical transformation that mindfulness can make in your life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

PANDIT DASA is an internationally renowned speaker, lecturer, and author. As a former monk, he began speaking and teaching about mindfulness, work-life balance, and managing stress at Columbia and New York Universities. He has since delivered over 700 speeches and workshops to organizations of all sizes, including Kellogg, Citi, and Kantar.

Reviewed by Alexandra Cocking

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