Cover Image: You Are Not Your Thoughts

You Are Not Your Thoughts

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This book offers valuable insights into the power of mindfulness and its potential to transform our experiences of life. As someone who is seeking to overcome old beliefs and self-sabotage, I found it to be a helpful resource.

One of the key aspects discussed in the book is that we are not defined by our thoughts and we have the ability to step back from them. Trussell reminds us reminder that the negative and ugly thoughts that often fill our minds are not inherently true and we have the ability to change our thoughts if they are not serving us well.

The book shares the benefits of meditation and reasons for incorporating it into our lives. I found it challenging to practice meditations from a book, but it has encouraged me to return to a meditation app.

"You Are Not Your Thoughts" is a concise book with short chapters, which makes it easy to read and digest. It is an excellent tool for someone who is new to the concept of mindfulness and is seeking a practical self-help book without unnecessary waffle.

Was this review helpful?

Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

Was this review helpful?

This is quite a short book but it has plenty of advice. Lots of useful suggestions for mindfulness and I would recommend if you are looking for a easy to use self help book.

Was this review helpful?

The first 20 pages of this were really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot from it. However, I felt like it became very repetitive and a little too basic for me. I would have preferred if there were more depth to it, as I have a basic understanding of meditation already. I feel like this is a COMPLETE beginner's guide, so it is not that interesting if you are familiar with meditation concepts already.

I feel like it would be better to simply use a guided meditation app to learn the same concepts that this book taught, but it's easier to put into practice with the apps, honestly.

Was this review helpful?

You Are Not Your Thoughts by Frances Trussell
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

105 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing / O-Books
Release Date November 30, 2018

Meditation, Motivation, Self-Help

For a small book there are many messages inside. Last year I started meditating and found reading from different perspectives helpful. Her statement about finally getting mindfulness is how I felt about it. We need to know we are separate from our thoughts and the thoughts of others. This book gives us exercises and meditations to do that. We need to focus on what we are doing now and stop multi-tasking. We do better when we focus on one thing at a time, living in the now.

I read this book several times and got something different out of it with each read. This is definitely one of those books that should be on everyone’s night table, so they are reminded each morning and night to be more mindful.

Was this review helpful?

A quick read on mindfulness. It can be helpful and it's just a quick enough read that even if it doesn't change your life for the time you're reading it you won't focus on your worries.

Was this review helpful?

A short but helpful and useful mindfulness book to help eliminate or change negative emotions and mindsets.

Was this review helpful?

Helpful for someone trying to be more mindful in an effort to improve their MH.
It’s hard to know where to start sometimes, and this offers guidance and more information.

Was this review helpful?

This book is short and sweet. It has an interesting approach to mindfulness but it also feels a little repetitive when it comes to modern day views of mindfulness. Still, it didn't drone on and I enjoyed it.

Was this review helpful?

You Are Not Your Thoughts by Frances Trussell is about mindfulness and dealing with negative thoughts.

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have not done a lot of meditation in the last few months, but using this book was very easy to use and it gave me techinques to use. That makes things simpler.

Was this review helpful?

It's incredibly easy to get lost in your thoughts and insecurities, especially when outside forces brings you down and you can't help but maybe wondering if what people say about you is true. This was a testament and reminder that the voices in your head spouting negative and ugly things about yourself as well as the world around you is not inherently true and reminds you that you are not your thoughts, you are more than that. You are more than what you think, what you know, and what you do. Try not to get too lost in your thoughts and believe them.

Was this review helpful?

For a short book, it packs a punch. Plenty of useful suggestions for mindfulness if you are looking for a self help book.

Was this review helpful?

This is a very short book... and much of it could be argued is "common sense" and yet... I seem to have more clippings from the 100 pages here than from much larger books. It is stuffed full of perfect little axioms that are easy to remember/collect and are perfect to meditate on.

"Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them."

"If your mind is always rushing to be in the future and you hear yourself thinking 'when I do that I'll be happy, when I have achieved that I will be fulfilled' you could find yourself at the end of the road thinking 'what happened to my life?'

"If we know that most of our own thoughts are likely to be irrelevant then how can what anyone else thinks be any more relevant?"

This might not be life changing stuff (or it might!) but it is useful, it is easy to read, and it definitely stimulates thoughts and meanderings and that is to be applauded. If you know nothing about meditation and 'being in the now', this is a perfect place to start. If you know a lot already, it is a perfect place to gather bon mots for your commonplace book and then useful for contemplation.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I am training to be a counsellor and i would buy all of my clients this book as i really think it can help people.

It gives really good tips on how to achive mindfulness and nobody would regret reading it.

Was this review helpful?

4 <b> Just Breathe</b> Stars

this is a quick mindfulness book. it would work better if the sections were more defined and possibly making each point ion mindfulness its own page would be great. there are a lot of profound things mentioned in this book and I copied a few notes for later use. this book is mindfulness and you are able to find at least one thing in this book you can do to quiet the world around you

Was this review helpful?

Taming a runaway brain is a challenging task. A thought forms, then multiplies, and becomes distorted until it takes the form of one or more new lives – excessive worry, excruciating frustration, crippling anxiety, or debilitating depression, or all of the above. The runaway brain darts in and out of the past and the future and ignores the present moment. Learning to call time out on the runaway brain, to slow down, to pay attention to now, to take care of this moment, and to live mindfully is not a simple thing to learn. This short, easy-to-read guide compiles common tips and methods to help the reader begin a mindfulness practice, and stick with it.

Was this review helpful?

This book really teaches you how to truly live in the moment. We all need to learn how to slow our thoughts and how to correct them, and this book is an excellent tool for that!

Was this review helpful?

This is the perfect book for those looking to embrace mindfulness. If you are only going to read one book about mindfulness make it this one and save yourself a bunch of time!

Was this review helpful?

I’ve been meditating, to a certain extent, for several years now, but there’s always space for another refresher on some of the whys and wherefores. Step forward You Are Not Your Thoughts.

I don’t think there was anything ‘new’ for me in this book, but it was very well put together, reminding me why I meditate and some of the different approaches I could think about revisiting (my practice has probably fallen into a rut). For newcomers to mindfulness and meditation, everything is laid out very straightforwardly to get you started, and the quick introduction to different forms will let you figure out if one type of meditation suits you better.

I loved the tone of the writing. Mindfulness books can so often either go towards total ‘mystical’ airy-fairy-ness, or try too hard to go the other way and end up being almost insultingly dumbed down in a chatty, pop-culture “Oh, it’s just so cool, yah?”. YANYT straddles the line perfectly, leaning a little towards the more spiritual but in a very accessible, down to earth fashion.

This is definitely one of the better meditation books I’ve read. I used my bus journey home from work to read it, slowly, and I can genuinely tell you that I’ve never found traffic jams so relaxing!

Was this review helpful?