A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled

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It's right that Ruby should read this herself as she is so immersed in the subject, and she relates the struggle it was for her to complete the book during a very serious period of depression. Although known as a comedienne, this is Ruby as a real private woman and her voice can range from the high, fast zassy Personal Story narratives throughout, to soft, beaten down, struggling human being. Her eldest daughter Marina, who is 27 (Maddy and Max are 22 and 24), helped her get better this time. It was only after Wax had Marina that she realised the thing she occasionally felt, or didn’t feel, was not a virus but depression. hour ago 6 Unhelpful Comments That Gaslight People in Conversations About Social Justice It can take courage to talk about how social injustice has affected you – and that makes it all the worse when you open up about it and people try to shut you down.

I personally wanted to learn how to de-frazzle and, even more urgently, find a method to defuse my depression. After much research, I found out mindfulness and cognitive therapy (called MBCT) had the best results, as far as empirical evidence goes, in dealing with stress, depression and anxiety. The word mindfulness gives me the same vibes as dream-catchers and lentils, but Oxford University offers a master’s programme in MBCT so I thought there must be something to it. So I took the course, wrote my dissertation, spun it with comedy and boom, then got a book and show out of it. That’s killing multiple birds with one stone. My six-week course focuses on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). I know it works and so do the scientists. I studied this at Oxford University to try to lasso my wild mind. I also wanted to take some action after a bout of depression.With depression alone, for those who've had three or more episodes, MBCT yields a 60% chance of preventing relapse. I know I'm definitely guilty of switching on the old autopilot and going through half my day only partially aware. It's partly a defence mechanism brought on by so much of my day (the work part, mostly) being so soul-destroyingly banal and repetitive. I think it's also a big swig of apathy, though, and that's something I think I need to be aware of and actively combat. Ruby discovered comedy at the age of 16 as an unsuccessful way to get boys; she studied psychology at Berkeley but dropped out and moved to the UK, where she could escape her parents and train with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

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This frank, hilarious guide will make you laugh AND offers useful advice for everyone. Win-win * Look Magazine * An accessible guide to mindfulness from the comedian and cognitive therapist S magazine, Sunday Express This course puts you in charge. After six weeks you can practice what you learned – not just for Christmas, for life. There’s no running to someone and asking them to patch up your broken psyche. You’re your own PT for your brain. So if you’re not familiar with the practice of mindfulness, this book is going to be a good introduction for you. It’s a light-hearted approach to the practice of letting life happen around you.

Many of the mindfulness books out there have no personality ( I know because I’ve read a lot of them) whereas this title has you almost hooked from the outset. Being so relatable and humorous, this book is well worth a read if you just want a simple yet detailed beginners guide to mindfulness that doesn’t beat around the bush. What exactly is in the book? A wonderful book full of passion and verve. Ruby Wax gives her unique take on the science and practice of mindfulness. She shows how to meet - face to face - all that life throws at us, and gives her own step by step guide to finding deep stillness in the midst of the chaos -- Prof. Mark WilliamsEssentially, with a good mindfulness routine, you’ll learn how to become grounded, how to re-connect with the world around you, how to let your negative thoughts exist without making you feel down and how to not pass judgment on those thoughts. Ruby has a real human ability to tell it how it is and connect with the reader on a base level. Giving that she herself has gone through ups and downs in her life, she is able to create not just an informative book on the science of mindfulness but also an entertaining one. The problem – or one of them, anyway – is that it’s clearly much too easy for this good and useful mindset to be co-opted for dubious ends, such as passivity and resignation, or distracting people from things they ought to be upset about. (From the brilliant Ladybird Book of Mindfulness, part of the new satirical series aimed at nostalgic grown-ups: “Mindfulness has taught Leanne to accept things as they are: rubbish, expensive, unfair and out-of-date every six months.”) Or, alternatively, self-absorption. (“Clive likes to practise loving-kindness meditation … Clive finds this easier than bothering to meet his friends or lending them money.”) In fact, as the psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach points out, the “radical acceptance” of mindfulness needn’t entail resignation or narcissism; on the contrary, it embodies a refusal to dwell in comforting illusions, and may thus be an essential precondition for positive change. Ruby Wax has an extraordinary mind, and she has brought it to bear with trademark wit and searing honesty... A ruby beyond price -- Stephen Fry on 'Sane New World'

Through humor and unbridled truth, Ruby Wax shares her journey to mindfulness, illuminating how it can improve our state of mind and change our brain for a healthier, happier life -- Goldie Hawn on 'Sane New World'

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Ruby Wax has written a guide to mindfulness that's as hilarious as it is useful. Drawing on the latest science, she offers insightful, irreverent advice on how to improve every aspect of our lives, from our health and happiness to our relationships and careers. Arianna Huffington Ruby Wax is out of it. Her words, not mine. “Can he [the photographer] take pictures of me with my sunglasses on?” she asks, and for once, she isn’t joking. She is semi-slumped on the sofa in the living room of her Notting Hill home, eating kebabs that her housekeeper has made. “I’m really glazed. I’m out of it with the medication. They’ve added something new and I’m supposed to take it at night but I took it in the day.” The Calming, Remedial Influence of Mindfulness — Mindfulness is a wonderful life skill. This blog gives a brief introduction to mindfulness.

Ruby Wax has written a guide to mindfulness that's as hilarious as it is useful. Drawing on the latest science, she offers insightful, irreverent advice on how to improve every aspect of our lives, from our health and happiness to our relationships and careers. -- Arianna Huffington An accessible guide to mindfulness from the comedian and cognitive therapist * S magazine, Sunday Express * A key area Ruby likes to explore in this book is the idea that modern life has caused us to become stressed, anxious and depressed. It’s written in a way that’s relatable and you’ll find yourself saying ‘ah, yes I totally get that!’That said, the humour is effective in underlining Wax’s erstwhile scepticism towards mindfulness and associated activities such as silent retreats and day-long meditation sessions. And although she comes across as self-absorbed at times, she speaks with sympathy and concedes that a lot of her psychological recommendations are easier said than done. If you’re somewhat dubious about Ruby Wax’s suitability to educate the masses on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), consider this: in 2013, the actor and TV personality gained a Master’s degree in MBCT from Oxford University; she’s spent much of her latter career raising mental health awareness; and A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled follows her earlier mental health novel, Sane New World.