Book Review: A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness

By Christiane Wolf, MD, PhD and J. Greg Serpa, PhD

As part of my coursework for Mindfulness Meditation certification, I read A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness. I felt like the authors were sitting next to me, teaching me. It’s an excellent guide that incorporates the fundamentals of mindfulness meditation as well as some Buddhist insight.

Like other books on teaching this subject, it starts with defining mindfulness as well as compassion. The authors show how the two are interrelated. While this is technically a clinician’s guide, I found it relatable. Each section succinctly breaks down what mindfulness is, how to recognize when we’re being mindful or not, and then the science behind it all. There is a lot of research out there, and it’s overwhelming, but the authors broke down the different types of research and how it related to mindfulness and compassion.

What I loved was how they took the science and then made it applicable. In the section titled Using Mindfulness Research as a Teaching Tool, the authors break down the research into categories such as they relate to improvement in symptoms (like mental and physical conditions) as well as improvements in biological markers (such as changes in cortisol during stressful situations). Finally, they delve into neuroplasticity (changes in the brain based on our experiences).

In the second section, Teaching Essentials, this book, like so many others, reinforces the need to have a personal practice. Chances are if you’re going to read this book, you already have a mindfulness practice of some kind. Through detailed insight, teaching tips, and practice tips, I find that I’m more prepared to share my mindfulness meditation journey with students.

In particular, I liked the way the author team answered common questions for new practitioners and teachers. There’s advice on how to keep a daily practice going through how to deal with should one attend retreats.

In one chapter, they go through a variety of skills that one needs to teach mindfulness, but can be related to so many other teaching areas.

In the final section, this dynamic duo explains how to start a class and what to teach each week. This approach helps to break down complex topics that are hard to explain – like how do you know if you’re mindful?

I will be using this book as a regular reference as I create my first workshops online.