Meditation is supposed to be a practice that's relaxing and beneficial...so why is it so hard to commit to?

While many people have taken workshops in meditation, a significant number don't maintain their practice for long after the class is finished. Mindfulness can help us relax and is great for coming to grips with thoughts that make us depressed or anxious, but it can also bring us into a more intimate relationship with ourselves--a prospect that can make some feel uncomfortable. Yes, lots of good things come out of meditation practice, but keeping it up is challenging. This is where Why Can't I Meditate? comes in. Full of practical ways to help our mindfulness practice flourish, it also features guidance from a wide spectrum of secular and Buddhist mindfulness teachers, and personal accounts by new meditators on what they find difficult and what helps them overcome those blocks. It takes what is boring, painful, or downright scary about meditating and shows how these struggles can become an invaluable part of our path. If you have been considering meditating but doubted your ability, if you are having a hard time continuing, or if you've reluctantly stopped, Why Can't I Meditate? will help you get your mindfulness practice back on track.

Why Can't I Meditate?: How to Get Your Mindfulness Practice on Track, Nigel Wellings, TarcherPerigee, Paperback, 355 pages, $16.00

Nigel Wellings is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author who works within a broadly contemplative perspective. He first attempted to practice mindfulness in his late teens and has been engaged with the relationship between psychotherapy and meditation for the last forty years. He lives in Bath and is a teacher on the Bath and Bristol Mindfulness Courses.

CONTENTS: Why Can't I Meditate?
Foreword by Rebecca Crane		xiii
Preface		xvii
Acknowledgments		xxi
Contributors		xxiii
Something on Buddhist Traditions		xxvii
Introduction		1
CHAPTER 1:	Why Do We Want to Meditate	29
CHAPTER 2:	Taking Our Seat	57
CHAPTER 3:	The Guardian at the Gate	83
CHAPTER 4:	Meeting Ourselves	115
CHAPTER 5:	Grabby, Grumpy. Sleepy, Jumpy, and Maybe	159
CHAPTER 6:	A Deeper Insight	199
CHAPTER 7:	The Damaged Heart	243
CHAPTER 8:	It's Not All Pain	279
CHAPTER 9:	Final Words	305
Quick-Fix Chart for the Struggling Meditator		331
On Mindfulness and Psychological Trauma		339
How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation		341
Further Reading		343
Index		345