Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

The media could not be loaded. “Within each of us there is an internal mental world—what I have come to think of as the sea inside—that is a wonderfully rich place, filled with thoughts and feelings, memories and dreams, hopes and wishes. Of course it can also be a turbulent place, where we experience the dark side of all those wonderful feelings and thoughts—fears, sorrows, dreads, regrets, nightmares. When this inner sea seems to crash in on us, threatening to drag us down below to the dark depths, it can make us feel as if we are drowning. Who among us has not at one time or another felt overwhelmed by the sensations from within our own minds? Sometimes these feelings are just a passing thing—a bad day at work, a fight with someone we love, an attack of nerves about a test we have to take or a presentation we have to give, or just an inexplicable case of the blues for a day or two. But sometimes they seem to be something much more intractable, so much part of the very essence of who we are that it may not even occur to us that we can change them. This is where the skill that I have called “mindsight” comes in, for mindsight, once mastered, is a truly transformational tool. Mindsight has the potential to free us from patterns of mind that are getting in the way of living our lives to the fullest.”~ Dan Siegel from MindsightDan Siegel is one of the world’s leading neuroscientists and psychotherapists. A Harvard Medical School graduate and Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA Medical School, he founded the field of “Interpersonal Neurobiology.”He’s brilliant (!) and delivers his wisdom in a captivating, poetic style.He’s also an incredibly *good* human being. We connected for the first time years ago and I was immediately captured by his profound embodiment of the truths he teaches—a big heart and wonderful, loving presence matched with a deep sense of personal humility.This book is fantastic. The central theme is that we have the capacity to observe and shape our own minds—an ability Dan calls “mindsight.” In short, the quality of our lives is shaped by our ability to cultivate our mindsight.Let's jump in and explore some of my favorite Big Ideas:1. What Is Mindsight? - It's awesome. Seriously.2. Our Seventh Sense - 5 + 1 + 1.3. Well-Being - The three fundamentals principles.4. Integration - = Flexible + free.5. River of Integration - Two banks: Rigidity + chaos.Here’s to the diligent, patient, persistent effort required to push our consciousness up the hill so we can watch it roll down into the valley of coherence!More goodness— including PhilosophersNotes on 300+ books in our ​*OPTIMIZE*​ membership program. Find out more at b[...]

I found this book to be very interesting and helpful. The book was composed of a collection of stories from the author's work as a therapist. These stories captured my attention and pushed me to think deeply about the book's underlying message. This format was perfect, and the book was a much more enjoyable read than several other books I have read in the area. Personally, I find it much more interesting to hear about a client's life story and how they were able to work with their difficulties rather than to just be told directly different strategies for different problems. I've read several books in the area, and this was the first one which followed this format, which was very refreshing. The author has seemed to have tremendous success with his clients from using these techniques (though I wonder whether or not he has the successes he reports in this book with all of his clients).However, the book is not perfect. Siegel has invented several terms and ideas for very abstract concepts that he uses to understand the concept of a healthy mind. In particular, he uses the ideas of "integration," "differentiation," and "linkage" from systems theory and complexity theory. Although I don't know anything about these particular areas, I have some exposure to mathematics and am not sure how well these concepts really translate into the aspect of the brain. Usually before applying mathematical ideas, a very specific set of assumptions would need to be met. Even after reading the book, I did not understand how these concepts were at the core of what he was doing; it seemed like he really just had a specific set of treatment regimes for different types of emotional troubles, and found ways to fit these into his model of integration.Don't let this sway you from reading the book - the techniques and ideas he presents are practical regardless of this issue. It is definitely worth your time.One more thing: If you don't know anything about mindfulness already, you may want to pair this book with another book such as The Mindfulness Solution or the Mindful Way to Self Compassion. What Siegel calls mindsight is extremely similar to the concept mindfulness, and he doesn't delve into a systematic way to apply it to your life like those books do. I think this book is best suited for someone who already has exposure to the concept of mindfulness and would like a look at a scientific psychologist's point of view.

As described

I just finished this book and want to say it’s amazing, super enriching with great real examples from author’s own practice. I even think would read it again as much as enriching it is! A must read for psychology students in particular, might be a difficult one for a reader who has no notion of psychology at all.

Wonderful to see an approach based on neuro physiology helping people. I found this book fascinating and surprisingly educationally based

A wonderful book,with deep insights and knowledge of the mind. The narration opens to a common humanity we all share and how to find a way out of our problems

It is a good book for people interested in learning about themselves, personal growth and understanding others. It's easy to read including examples for each developing topic. Good starting point with next step guidance.