Start Here Now: An Open-Hearted Guide to the Path and Practice of Meditation

Description

The concise, jargon-free guide to learning what Buddhist meditation is-and isn't-with advice on how to start a meditation practice. If you want to meditate but have no idea where to start, this book by best-selling author and Buddhist teacher Susan Piver will help you- it contains everything you need to know to start a meditation practice and, even more importantly, to continue one. It defines what meditation is (and what it is not), offers tips for making the practice a part of your life, dispels the most common misconceptions, describes the obstacles we all face and how to navigate them, and addresses the most frequently asked questions. Piver gives a concise overview of the various popular styles of Buddhist meditation and offers suggestions on how to explore them further. Most important, this book contains specific, concrete steps for beginning your own meditation practice in a stress-free, dogma-free, jargon-free way.

SUSAN PIVER is an author and meditation instructor whose books include the New York Times best seller The Hard Questions, How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life, and The Wisdom of a Broken Heart. She has appeared on Oprah,The Today Show, the CBS Early Show, The Tyra Banks Show, and other national television programs in connection with her books. She leads workshops and retreats around the country on living an awakened life.

"Living a 'Good Life' happens not by hiding from uncertainty and risk, but by embracing them. The problem is, we're badly equipped to play in a place of uncertainty long enough to see the deeper possibility that always rides alongside it. Meditation helps us do just that, and Start Here Now is a fantastic guide to the practice. This beautiful book meets you where you are, and then walks you, step-by-step, into starting your own practice. Nearly every question you could think to ask is answered-from how to set up your room, to what meditation actually is and does-leaving you with but one thing to do: Begin. I can't recommend this book strongly enough both to new meditators, and to experienced ones who might benefit from revisiting the essentials."-Jonathan Fields, author of Uncertainty, and creator of The Good Life Project "I know you don't have time to read this magical little book. That's precisely why you need it-right now and forever. (When in doubt, see page 99)." -Seth Godin, author of Your Turn "Reading this book is like sitting down with your most brilliant, clever, fun friend and having them explain the vast world of meditation to you in a way that you can clearly understand. This isn't just a how-to book; this is a how to apply meditation to your life book. If you think you are the one person who could never meditate, read this book and it will prove you wrong."-Lodro Rinzler, author of The Buddha Walks into a Bar "Susan Piver knows the pitfalls that come with meditation, which makes her perfectly poised to help us through them with grace and self-kindness. Start Here Now is a truthful and real account of how to meditate and, more importantly, how to meditate now-when times are tough, life is busy, and our thoughts run a mile a minute. She gives us the proper tools and shows us how to use them. Her own warriorship, insight, and strength reveal how meditation has changed her life-and how it can change ours too."-Ishita Gupta, entrepreneur and speaker, Ishitagupta.com "Start Here Now is a uniquely powerful and engaging introduction to the practice of meditation. Susan Piver's guidance is deeply practical, down-to-earth, and frequently hilarious-without once compromising the radicalism of her message. If, like me, you've fallen off the meditation wagon before-or if you'd always vaguely wondered about meditating, but didn't know where to begin, this warm-spirited but also resolutely bullshit-free book is what you need."- Oliver Burkeman, Guardian columnist, author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking "Susan Piver is the best meditation teacher I have ever heard. No kidding. All that meditation has made her mind crisp and clear and Start Here Now is far more than a transmission of great information; it is a transmission of clarity and love."-Jennifer Louden, author, teacher, and founder of "Savor and Serve"