Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence--The Groundbreaking Meditation Practice

by Daniel Siegel M.D.

Overview

New York Times bestseller · This groundbreaking new book from New York Times bestselling author Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., introduces readers to his pioneering, science-based meditation practice.

Aware provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one's day-to-day life.

An in-depth look at the science that underlies meditation's effectiveness, this book teaches readers how to harness the power of the principle "Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows." Siegel reveals how developing a Wheel of Awareness practice to focus attention, open awareness, and cultivate kind intention can literally help you grow a healthier brain and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in your life.

Whether you have no experience with a reflective practice or are an experienced practitioner, Aware is a hands-on guide that will enable you to become more focused and present, as well as more energized and emotionally resilient in the face of stress and the everyday challenges life throws your way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101993040
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	367,489
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, founding codirector of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and executive director of the Mindsight Institute. He is also coauthor of Parenting from the Inside Out, The Whole-Brain Child, and Mindsight and the proud father of two children in their twenties.

Read an Excerpt

There are three learnable skills that have been shown in carefully conducted scientific studies to support the cultivation of well-being. When we develop focused atten­tion, open awareness, and kind intention, research reveals we:
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Copyright © 2018 Daniel Siegel.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
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Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Part I The Wheel of Awareness: Idea and Practice 1

An Invitation 3

Cultivating Well-Being by Developing Attention, Awareness, and Intention 4

A Practical Tool 6

A Travel Guide to the Mind 12

Stories of Using the Wheel of Awareness: Harnessing The Power of Presence 15

Billy and His Return to the Hub 16

Jonathan's Respite from His Emotional Roller Coaster 16

Mona and the Sanctuary of the Hub 17

Teresa, Trauma, and Healing with the Integration of the Wheel 18

Zachary: Finding Meaning, Connection, and Relief from Pain 22

Preparing Your Mind for the Wheel of Awareness: Focused Attention 25

Building the Regulatory Aspect of the Mind 25

Some Starting Tips 27

A Mindsight Lens 32

Breath Awareness to Stabilize Attention 34

What Is the Mind? 40

Three Pillars of Mind Training 46

Focal and Non-Focal Attention 50

Monitoring Attention and Awareness 53

The Basic Wheel of Awareness 59

Maps, Metaphors, and Mechanisms 59

The Basic and the Full Wheel of Awareness 61

A Map of the Basic Wheel of Awareness 65

Practicing the Basic Wheel of Awareness 68

Reflecting on Mind: Your Experience of the Basic Wheel 72

Kind Intention 78

Weaving Kindness, Empathy, and Compassion into Your Life 79

Integration, Spirituality, Health 91

Our Inner and Inter Selves 93

Building Compassion with Statements of Intention 95

Reflecting on Kind and Compassionate Intention 102

Deepening the Wheel Practice 105

Open Awareness 107

Exploring the Hub 107

Reflecting on Knowing 111

Energy Around the Wheel 112

Consolidated Wheel Practice 117

Part II The Wheel of Awareness and Mechanisms of Mind 121

Mind and the Energy Flow of the Body 123

Minding Your Brain 128

Your Head Brain in a Hand Model 130

The Default Mode Network 135

How to Integrate the DMN 138

Loosening the Grip of a Separate Self 143

Clinging Versus Attachment 146

The Fourth Segment of the Rim and the Relational Mind 151

Growing an Integrated Brain with Mind Training 156

Integration in the Brain and the Spoke of Focal Attention 160

How and Where Does Awareness Arise? 160

Awareness and the Integration of Information 166

Attention, Consciousness, and the Social Brain 169

The Hub of Knowing and Possible Mechanisms of the Brain Beneath Pure Awareness 174

The Nature of Energy, The Energy of Mind 183

Science, Energy, and Experience 183

The Energy of Nature 186

Energy as Probability 202

A 3-P Diagram of Energy Flow 214

Mapping the Mind as Peaks, Plateaus, and a Plane of Possibility 218

Awareness, The Hub, and a Plane of Possibility 231

Awareness and the Plane of Possibility 231

Brain Correlates of Pure Consciousness 234

Filters of Consciousness 238

Filters of Consciousness and the Organization of Experience 238

How Top-Down and Bottom-Up Shape Our Sense of Reality 243

Plateaus, "Self," and the Default Mode Network 248

One Personal Set of Filters 253

Pure Awareness and the Filters of Consciousness 256

The Oscillatory Sweep of Attention: A 3-P Loop, a Spoke of the Wheel 258

Sweep Ratios, States of Mind 264

Awe and Joy 274

A Table of Correlations Among Mental Experience, Metaphor, and Mechanism 276

Part III Stories of Transformation in Applying the Wheel: Harnessing The Hub and Living from the Plane of Possibility 279

Offering the Wheel as an Idea to Children: Billy and the Freedom of the Hub, the Spaciousness of the Plane 282

Teaching the Wheel to Adolescents: Jonathan and Calming the Roller Coaster of Plateaus and Peaks 288

The Wheel for Parents and Other Care Providers: Mona and the Freedom from Recurrent Plateaus and Peaks of Chaos and Rigidity 295

The Wheel in Healing Trauma: Teresa and the Transformation of Traumatic Filters of Consciousness 301

The Wheel, Professional Life, and an Awakened Mind: Zachary and Accessing the Plane 320

Part IV The Power of Presence 331

Challenges and Opportunities of Living with Presence and Being Aware 336

Freedom: Transforming into Possibility 344

Presence Beyond Methods 347

Mindful Awareness and Integration 350

Linking from the Plane 352

Laughing, Living, and Dying from the Plane 354

Leading and Loving from the Plane 359

Acknowledgments 363

Selected References and Reading 367

Index 369

Editorial Reviews

Daniel Siegel counts among the most aware people I know—and now he's shared with us all a brilliant, practical tool for us all to sharpen our awareness.”
—Daniel Goleman, author of Altered Traits and Emotional Intelligence

“An illuminating new view of the nature of the mind and the practices of awareness that lead us to profound wellbeing. Siegel's Wheel of Awareness is an elegant and groundbreaking synthesis of these practices, an accessible tool for inner integration and healing, as well as for realizing the loving awareness that links us to all beings. This brilliant book is poised to transform countless lives.”
—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge
 
“This is a Dan Siegel masterpiece. He integrates decades of science and wisdom about the nature of our mind and optimal well-being into an easy-to-read personal journey. At the cornerstone is “The Wheel of Awareness,” a simple yet profound visual map of the mind, which enables people, including children, to experience of presence, self knowledge, and compassion. Aware will awaken and enrich your life immeasurably!”
—Elissa Epel, University of California, San Francisco, professor, member of the National Academy of Medicine, coauthor of New York Times bestseller The Telomere Effect

“Dan Siegel, who gave us a succinct and clear definition of mind, now explores the awareness that knows that mind. Read this book if you want true freedom and spontaneous creativity.”
—Deepak Chopra, MD

“Dan Siegel brings us a precious gift that will transform your mind, life, and relationships in a most wonderful way, using an easy-to-learn and revolutionary new system for meditation—one that beginners and experts alike will cherish!”
-Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, coauthor, The Healing Self  

"Dan has produced a masterpiece containing invaluable knowledge in the fields of psychiatry, therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, meditation, and more. Very few people understand the intricacies of the human mind and how it can be channeled to achieve true well-being as Dan does. The Wheel of Awareness is a simple yet profound way for all to learn and advance in their practice of being aware."
—Menas C. Kafatos, Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics at Chapman University, coauthor with Deepak Chopra of The New York Times bestseller You Are the Universe

"A life-changing journey into the deep nature of our consciousness, what it means to be human, and how to truly thrive."
—Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global and founder of The Huffington Post

“Studies reveal what years of practice demonstrate: training our mind in specific ways brings health to our bodies, clarity to our minds, and connection in our relationships.  Dan Siegel provides an exciting new reflective  practice—the Wheel of Awareness—that offers these research proven ways of cultivating love, kindness, and meaning in our lives.”
—Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Love
 
“Dan is a brilliant integrator and Aware is a visionary blend of neuroscience, physics, and cutting-edge  psychology combined with creative approaches to mindfulness and compassion. The practice of the Wheel brings together many skillful and wise elements of meditation, all rolled into one.”
—Jack Kornfield author of The Wise Heart

From the Publisher

2018-05-28
A head-spinning guide to supercharged meditation.If life is like a box of chocolates, to quote the philosopher Forrest Gump, then, to quote Siegel (Clinical Psychiatry/UCLA; Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, 2016, etc.), "consciousness is like a container of water"—undrinkable if a tablespoon of salt is put into an espresso cup but just fine if the container is a bathtub. And why is it like a container of water? That's never quite explained, except to say that cultivating the mind to maximize awareness makes our experience of things different. That heightened experience can be a deeply positive thing, for, as the author points out, neural integration makes problem solving easier, and "open awareness" boosts the immune system. Siegel delivers a "Wheel of Awareness" to visualize the process, with attention as the spoke, knowing or awareness as the hub, and "knowns" on the rim. But those knowns can be awareness-inhibiting prejudices as well as hard-won knowledge of how the world works. Siegel favors a murky, circular style: "When we open awareness to sensation, such as that of the breath, we become a conduit directing the flow of something into our awareness." Well, yes, that's how breath works, but Siegel means something different—"enabling the sensation of the breath at the nostrils to flow into consciousness." Further along, the author complicates the picture: "And so both focal attention involving consciousness and nonfocal attention without consciousness involve an evaluative process that places meaning and significance on energy patterns and their informational value as they arise moment by moment." Can there be meaning without consciousness? That's a question for Heidegger, but suffice it to say that it's a clear if empty statement relative to the main, which is laden with jargon, neologisms ("plane-dominant sweep"; "SOCK: sensation, observation, conceptualization, and knowing") and lots of New Age cheerleading.If Charles Reich is your bag, then this may be your book. If you want your neuroscience qua science, then head over to where Damasio and Dennett are shelved.

Kirkus Reviews

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