Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World

Three of the ideas you’ll keep

The Clif summary of Mindfulness pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.

1. It's not your mood that does the damage, but how you react to it. Learning to observe a passing feeling of sadness or anxiety without fighting it stops a small dip from spiraling into a lasting slump.
2. Your mind runs in two gears. 'Doing mode' problem-solves by comparing where you are to where you think you should be, which works for tasks but breeds rumination with emotions. 'Being mode' lets you experience the present directly, and mindfulness is how you switch.
3. Treat thoughts as mental events, not facts. Noticing 'I'm having the thought that I'm a failure' instead of 'I am a failure' creates a gap between you and the thought, and in that gap you regain choice.

The other 4 — and the full 10-minute summary — are in the app.

What’s inside: 8 chapters

The whole summary runs about 10 minutes, read or listened to.

1. Why a Frantic World Needs Mindfulness
2. Doing Mode vs. Being Mode
3. Weeks 1-2: Waking Up and Coming Home to the Body
4. Week 3: The Mouse in the Maze and Mindful Movement
5. Week 4: Moving Beyond the Rumor Mill
6. Week 5: Turning Toward Difficulties
7. Weeks 6-7: Staying Present and Reclaiming What Nourishes You
8. Week 8 and Beyond: Weaving Mindfulness Into a Life