Since its publication in 2011, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World has been hiding its light under a bushel. Well, that’s not strictly true – it has sold millions of copies and been translated into many languages – but it certainly hasn’t hit the mainstream like it should have.
The book is partly a compelling manifesto for happiness and partly a course in the practice of mindfulness. Its purpose is to popularise mindfulness meditation in clinical settings, workplaces and individual lives – and its message is addictive.
The two authors, clinical psychologist and Ordained Minister Professor Mark Williams, who brings the academic authority and insight, and Danny Penman, a mindfulness teacher with the personal touch, write with the warmth and clarity we crave but all that they say is grounded in science.
Williams, with his wise, encouraging, avuncular voice, narrates the audiobook (which will suit some people better than the physical one). A learned man with an interesting backstory, he is the hero of the piece. For a deep dive, listen to this interview with him on The Rest is Politics: Leading podcast.
By the end of the book’s four soothing but energising introductory chapters, you are convinced by the evidence that mindfulness is the route to mental wellbeing. You feel that the authors have seen you, they have heard you, they know your story.
With genuine empathy for the struggles of modern life, Williams and Penman acknowledge that mindfulness can feel awkward, frustrating or boring at times, especially at the beginning, and frame it as a skill that simply helps people meet life more honestly and kindly.
So, it is in a buoyant frame of mind that you get down to business. The business of discovering the benefits of mindfulness for yourself. The business, really, of self-compassion.
The rest of the book comprises a coherent programme of eight guided mindfulness meditations – one for you to do six days a week, each week, for two months – along with insightful commentary and explanations of why we humans feel what we feel.
It doesn’t require equipment or cash or even energy; it just requires your patience and persistence (but only mercifully in short bursts). Week one’s task is the raison meditation, in which you are asked to pay very close attention as you eat a raison. Trust the process, guys. Week two is a body scan; week three some stretching exercises. Week five is a fun one: it is a sounds and thoughts meditation that will blow your mind. Week seven is heaven – it’s called a befriending meditation and involves taking time to wish yourself well.
By the end, and only by the end, the idea is that you will have learned, through greater awareness of yourself and of the present, to catch negative thought patterns before they tip you into a downward spiral.
Williams and Penman reckon they have discovered ‘the secret to sustained happiness, the kind of happiness and peace that gets into your bones’. If you do nothing else for yourself in 2026, read this book, follow its guidance and get ready to confirm that they are right.
Three Ways To Get The Most Out Of The Method
- Clear eight weeks in your diary in which you’ll be able to carve out 30 minutes a day, six days a week, for your mindfulness meditation practice.
- Work out how you will manage half an hour a day in which you won’t be interrupted by your phone, family or friends.
- Decide upon your most comfortable position for meditation. This could be in a straight-backed chair, on a mat, on a meditation stool or even on your bed (if you promise not to fall asleep).
