10% Happier: How I Tamed The Voice In My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, And Found Self-Help That Actually Works – A True Story by Dan Harris.

I never had a desire to meditate or develop mindfulness. This may be because in my work as a psychiatrist, I am always exploring the past to understand the present. I also seem to be attuned to capturing the present moment for future reflections rather than be intensely into the present. Frequently, I am moved to take photographs to hold on to a special moment. However, that does not mean that I am not curious to understand why many people whom I respect are into some form of achieving mindfulness. I was not quite moved to go to a retreat or read some esoteric books about Buddhism, meditation, or the like. However, when someone recommended this New York Times bestselling book by Dan Harris, a TV news reporter and anchorman, I thought I would give it a try.

This is a down to earth, humorous at times but a genuine journey by a guy who is bothered by the voices in his head (no real hallucinations), racing thoughts (no apparent manic problem) which he felt made him anxious  a good deal of the time. He had tried what appeared to be a reasonable run at psychotherapy, which may have helped somewhat, but his curiosity about exploring mindfulness persisted.

Mr. Harris met some serious practitioners of various forms of mindfulness and meditation, which he describes in a very readable style. He tried very hard (and I believe he succeeded) in explaining his journey and his personal experience. He gives a blow by blow (or should I say breath by breath account) as he learned to look inward to his breathing and his inner thoughts. He carefully describes the various steps, which he has tried as he learned to meditate and tells how it has been meaningful to him. In a humorous and at times self-deprecating manner, he seems to be quite sincere as he shows and discusses his various attempts and experiences. It appears to have worked for him. Not only has it worked for him, but also I believe he has written a very readable and successful book.

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The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH by Shawn Green with Gordon McAlpine – About 10 days ago this book arrived in the mail from Amazon addressed to me but without any information who sent to me. Perhaps my benefactor thought I would enjoy it because it is written by an outstanding baseball player who happened to be Jewish (and at one point compared himself to Sandy Koufax) or because the author has written about his own psychology of baseball and living. In any case I read the book and thought it was somewhat interesting although quite repetitive. It is a relatively small book about 5×8 inches  a little more than 200 pages. I did learn something from the author’s experience and philosophy but it might been more efficiently packaged in magazine article or a ½ hour interview of the author  by Charlie Rose or maybe even better by Bob Costas. When Green hit the big leagues as a young man and ran into a batting slump, he figured out the secret to being a successful hitter and according to him this approach was also the secret to living life. He found out how to “ bring stillness into the flow of life” He mastered the ability to focus on the moment and allow all other thoughts especially those involved with his “ ego “, competitiveness, narcissism etc to fade into the background and ultimately disappear. Any one who has dabbled in or has mastered meditation or the  art of Zen will know very well what this is about. Green started with just hitting balls on a batting tee over and over again with no concern about his usual opponent – that major league pitcher who would be  facing him down. He often would do this exercise to near exhaustion with hitting the ball off the tee or what he would call just “chopping wood. ” He then would take this mind set to the real game and deemphasize the dual of out guessing this opponent on the mound but only concentrate on hitting the ball. Obviously, he had great skill and coordination to start with but he claimed that when he was able to put himself in this zone, he was clearly at his best. Conversely when he allowed himself to be caught up with what was expected of him because of his mulit million dollar contract, how many homeruns he hit that day or week, whether his batting average was trending up or down,  how badly he was hitting that month, what the press said or didn’t say about him,  his chances of making the All Star team etc. etc, he never was at his best and at times he would be at his worst. The ability to concentrate on the moment whether you are working out or enjoying your children’s or grandchildren’s school play may be a skill that has to be cultivated.  That certainly is the lesson of this book. As a bonus in addition to his advice about how to approach baseball and life, Green also shares a few of his inside baseball stories such as when he met Ted Williams, memorable things that his coaches said to him, life traveling on the plane with the team etc. There was nothing very revealing as this was certainly not a “ tell all book “ but rather it told us how to find stillness when facing speeding baseballs coming at you or just about anything else that life might throw at you.