This book's subtitle is "Free Your Mind From Worry and Anxiety." The author explains how mindfulness can help you accomplish that. It's not that you won't ever have worry and anxiety; rather, that you can be free of them: in other words, you can have them but not be taken over, knocked down, and beat up by them. Mr. Carr explains how to live in the moment, and provides exercises to help you experience what it's like.

Mr. Carr's background is in smoking cessation, and I first heard of him from a friend of mine who used his book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking to quit cigarettes. My friend said, "It was easy. I'd always thought smoking relaxed me. Allen Carr made me realize smoking actually caused me stress." I could trust this testimonial since it came from a friend, and I decided to look into the author. For years, I've considered Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now the gold standard of mindfulness books, and still do. However, The Easy Way to Mindfulness is a great contribution to the field and may be more accessible to some readers.

(Books I am currently reading. --Alex Chapunoff)

*  The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle)
Every now (pun intended) and again, I like to read from this book. Just a few pages can do a lot to refresh me.

*  Against the Day (Thomas Pynchon)
Epic 1,100-page novel about the cutting edge of science and politics in the Belle Epoque. Funny, brilliant, poetic. Reveals how every time period is “modern” to those living in it.

*  Using Your Brain—For a Change (Richard Bandler)
Lectures, by one of the founders of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), on submodalities (the different ways you see, hear, and feel mentally) and how you can work with them to improve your psychological patterns.

*  From Power to Exile: How I Was Overthrown and By Whom (Juan Perón)
Reprint of a rivetting and articulate magazine article written in 1956 by the then-recently-deposed president of Argentina (yes, Evita's husband).

By Dana Baduna, PhD, LMFT

​This book proposes seven steps to self-transformation through which a person can acquire new habits and let go of the “chronically nice” persona that hinders their growth. It is an easy read and offers practical suggestions toward effective habit-changing behaviors, encouraging the reader to face their anxiety and attachment difficulties, making it easier to uncover a new sense of confidence and self.