Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life: Practical Solutions for Improving Your Health and Performance

This book accomplishes what very few "self-help" books ever can: it brings practical, useful and actionable ideas together in a clearly-written, engaging and well organized format. There's almost zero filler. The chapters are laid out clearly, with the first half of the book comprising chapters on different techniques, and the second half of the book focusing on individual life aspects that one could apply those techniques.I've found myself actually reading it in a bit of a "backwards" fashion: by opening a chapter relevant to what's troubling me, and reading about that specific condition or issue, and then following the links to earlier chapters to practice specific recommended techniques. For reference, here are the chapters dedicated to human conditions:SleepStress and PerformanceAnxiety and FearAngerInterpersonal CommunicationPainSadness and DepressionShame and GuiltAs you can see, anyone can find something useful and applicable to them -- whether it's to help with some of the things many of us are struggling in everyday life, or to simply improve our performance, both at work and at home.What I find particularly useful, is Dr. Khazan's voice and the way she suggests reframing issues. In the past, I've read a ton of books that boil down to "don't think those kind of thoughts" or "don't do that." But, as Dr. Khazan says, "If your intention is to get rid of certain thoughts or emotions, or to change the way you feel right at that moment, you are likely to continue getting stuck. Any skill you employ has to be used with the intention of choosing a healthy and helpful response to the difficult experience, with the focus on what is most important in that moment and which response is in your best interest."That above quote was an "aha" moment for me, and the book is filled with such moments and very useful suggestions. For example, instead of trying to get rid of unwanted emotions, the book recommends certain techniques, including "labeling".What's especially wonderful about this book is that it's incredibly well researched. Every technique, every suggestion, is supported by a foundation of studies, but is laid out in such a way that a layperson can use them.For example, on labeling, Dr. Khazan says:"This skill [of labeling] accomplishes two very important goals. First, naming your unpleasant experience gives you some emotional distance from the experience -- you and your experience are not the same. You are a person who is having an unpleasant experience, not unpleasantness itself..... Second, giving a name to your emotional experience actually changes the neurological pathways within your brain at work at that moment. Typically, strong emotions are associated with activation of the amygdala, the fight-or-flight center of the brain, triggering a cascade of physiological and emotional reactions, which often lead you to feel overwhelmed and unable to respond in a helpful way. Imaging studies have shown that giving a name to your emotional experience, a skilled called "affect labeling," significantly reduces activation of the amygdala and increases activation of the areas of the brain that are important in choosing most helpful response to difficult emotion."I hope the above excerpts also give you an idea of the kind of clear author's voice throughout the book.I got an advanced copy of the book, and I've learned quite a lot about the human physiology from it. As I continue reading and re-reading and making notes for myself, I continue discovering just how applicable and wonderful this book is. Totally recommend!

A well written and easy to understand guide to incorporate Biofeedback and Mindfulness into your daily routine. Most importantly it makes the science something the every day person can digest. Highly recommended!!

The book is excellent and exactly what I wanted. Thank you!

This book is for everyone, experts or not. It explains and delivers practical solutions to tackle health challenges.

Review of “Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life”This book is a unique blend of biofeedback lore (using electronics to monitor and display several important body functions affected by stress) and mindfulness (learning to control attention and maintain control over impulses and reflexes). It is unique in making the case for relating one to the other. The first 100 or so pages describe biofeedback instruments and modalities in detail (GSR, hand temperature, breathing, heart rate variability, and muscle tension, no EEG), and the rest of the book is devoted to explaining and teaching mindfulness.If you’re a biofeedback practitioner, you need this book because it speaks to the needs of people seeking help from biofeedback. It answers common questions about biofeedback and explains psychophysiology and the effects of stress very well. You may be doing this already, but Inna Khazan has enormous experience with biofeedback, and in workshops teaches others to do the same. Her metaphors are memorable (for instance, maximizing heart rate variability shares a principle with pushing a child on a swing).If you’re already a biofeedback client/patient or considering it, this book will inform you well about biofeedback, the theory behind it, and the psychophysiological details of each biofeedback modality. The book goes into detail about how biofeedback can normalize and improve cardiac function, muscle tension, chronic pain, breathing, anxiety, and several problems stemming from a dysregulated autonomic nervous system. The author backs up her claims with recent, pertinent research; the book has a fairly informal tone, but cites 157 references that lead to a broader understanding of the topics.This book also gives a high-quality introduction to meditation and mindfulness, linked at many points with physiology and brain function. The mindfulness parts could stand alone as a separate book, but I’m now convinced that the two belong together. The author shows how mindfulness-informed biofeedback can improve sleep, stress, performance, anxiety, anger, pain, depression, and guilt. Most disorders made worse by stress can be diminished using biofeedback, mindfulness, or a combination of the two.There is a link to a website where you can access 18 audio files of the author’ voice leading you through many experiences in line with the book’s goals (the scripts are also printed). There’s also a brief chapter on inexpensive biofeedback devices for home practice. However, learning biofeedback on your own is not simple; apart from the equipment needed, there’s the technical understanding of the physiology involved, and knowing how to practice. Starting with a biofeedback therapist is better.Learning both biofeedback and mindfulness skills teaches the learner to step back from a symptom, identify what’s out of line, and both cope with it and adjust it (changing muscle tension, breathing, etc.) rather than being at the mercy of life’s stressors. At the root of this, I think, is that we’re civilized only on the surface: underneath, we still have stone-age bodies that transform worries and risks into physical changes.You may have ridden on a bored rent-by-the-hour horse that pretty much ignores its amateur riders and goes its own way, except when it’s carrying a person who really knows how to ride and can convey directions to the horse. Now consider the metaphor that you are the rider, and your body is the horse. You learn to control the horse’s actions by movements of the reins, your body, and your voice, but awareness and thinking precedes the action. Biofeedback develops your control, but mindfulness sharpens the thinking behind it.Dr. Khazan’s first book, The Clinical Handbook of Biofeedback: A Step-by-Step Guide for Training and Practice with Mindfulness (2013) covered biofeedback in extensive detail, with mindfulness given less emphasis. Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life reverses that ratio, giving mindfulness more attention. Yet the book offers unmatched guidance for using biofeedback in a way that incorporates the mindfulness perspective.For best understanding of this enlightened synthesis, get both books. I’m glad I did.

Paying attention to your body signals can help keep you safe from bad habits or lack of self awareness. The author explains the meaning of those signals and how to deal with them.

Ich würde mir sehr wünschen, wenn dieses Buch auch seinen Weg in die Deutsche Sprache findet. Es ist ein wirklich gelungenes Praxisbuch für Einsteiger und Laien, wie Biofeedback und Achtsamkeit im Alltag eingesetzt werden können. Der Schwerpunkt liegt hier wirklich in der Praxis und nicht in langen, theoretischen Abhandlungen.Inna Khazan gelingt es mit anschaulichen Beispielen und ohne große Umschweife die verschiedenen Biofeedback Parameter (Atmung, Herzratenvariabilität, Muskelspannung, Temperatur und Hautwiderstand) zu erklären und deren praktischen Nutzen bei den häufigsten Problemen unserer modernen Welt. Im zweiten Teil widmet sie sich der Achtsamkeit und verschiedenen (Meditations-) Techniken, wie diese mit und ohne Biofeedback sinnvoll eingesetzt werden können.Nicht nur zum Enstpannen, wie sie korrekt betont, sondern für eine bessere Selbstregulation, um allen Herausforderungen des Alltags gewachsen zu sein.Ein wirklich sehr empfehlenswertes Buch mit lockerem Schreibstil und verständlichem Englisch. Eine Deutsche Version wäre natürlich großartig.

This great book helped to rethink my methodology, integrate breathing as a source of modulation for my relaxing sound installation research. It also amazingly changed the way i use my own breathing biking, swimming, training, relaxing and in bed, before i dive into dreaming.Thanks Dr. Inna Khazan for your rich book, and its contribution to my life, my art, and my research.Martin L.PhDSound ArtistPostdoc researcher