From one of most prominent figures in the field of meditation comes a guidebook for how to use mindfulness to build our inner strength, find balance, and help create a better world
REAL CHANGE: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World
by Sharon Salzberg
Flatiron Books, June 2020
In today’s fractured world we’re constantly flooded with breaking news that causes anger, grief, and pain. People are feeling more stressed out than ever and in the face of this fear and anxiety they can feel so burnt out and overwhelmed that they end up frozen in their tracks and can’t do anything. In REAL CHANGE Sharon Salzberg, a leading expert in Lovingkindness meditation, shares sage advice and indispensable techniques to help free ourselves from these negative feelings and actions. She teaches us that meditation is not a replacement for action, but rather a way to practice generosity with ourselves and summon the courage to break through boundaries, reconnect to a movement that’s bigger than ourselves, and have the energy to stay active.
Consulting with veteran activists and social change agents in a variety of fields, Salzberg collects and shares their wisdom and offers the best practical advice to foster transformation in both ourselves and in society. To help tame our inner landscape or chaos, Salzberg offers mindfulness practices that will help readers cultivate a sense of agency and stay engaged in the long-term struggle for social change.
Whether you’re resolving conflicts with a neighbor or combating global warming, REAL CHANGE will help guide you with the fundamental principles and mindfulness practices that will lead to the clarity and confidence that lets us lift a foot and take our next step into a better world.
Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation and a world-renowned teacher and author. She is the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestseller Real Happiness. Acclaimed for her down-to-earth teaching style, Sharon offers a secular, modern approach to Buddhist teachings, making them instantly accessible.
Empathy is in short supply. Isolation and tribalism are rampant. We struggle to understand people who aren’t like us, but find it easy to hate them. Studies show that we are less caring than we were even thirty years ago. In 2006, Barack Obama said that the United States is suffering from an “empathy deficit.” Since then, things only seem to have gotten worse. It doesn’t have to be this way. In this groundbreaking book, Jamil Zaki argues that empathy is not a fixed trait—something we’re born with or not—but rather a skill that we can all strengthen through effort. Drawing on both classic and cutting-edge research, including experiments from his own lab, Zaki shows how we can harness this new mindset to overcome toxic cultural divisions. He also tells the stories of people who are living these principles—fighting for kindness in the most difficult of circumstances. We meet a former neo-Nazi who is now helping extract people from hate groups, ex-prisoners discussing novels with the judge who sentenced them, Washington police officers changing their culture to decrease violence among their ranks, and NICU nurses fine-tuning their empathy so that they don’t succumb to burnout. Written with clarity and passion, The War for Kindness is an inspiring call to action. The future may depend on whether we accept the challenge.
Angela C. Santomero, the creator, executive producer, and head w