I read this book as part of a reading group at work. We had read Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, and we had mixed feelings about that book. We had enjoyed the ideas but were disappointed by a lack of practical suggestions for personal growth. Siegel's Mindsight only focuses on one of Goleman's domains of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, but that piece is the fundamental one on which all other skill of social and emotional intelligence are built.

Siegel's book describes many practical actions one can take to increase self-awareness. These techniques will sound familiar to anyone familiar with mindfulness traditions (observing the breath, the sensations of the senses, sensations within the body, thoughts, connections to others), but he brings a different perspective. Siegel is a practicing psychotherapist with an interest in understanding the neuroscience behind different techniques. Instead of presenting mindfulness practices from a religious/spiritual point of view, he presents these practices from a practical (e.g., case study oriented) and scientific point of view. For those who have studied mindfulness from a spiritual perspective, this book will broaden your perspective For those who see mindfulness as new age woo woo, this book shows the scientifically and practically grounded effects and benefits of mindfulness practices.

That said, this book was much more focused on the stories of the case studies than on the concepts or the science. This was interesting, but most of us in the reading group would have liked to see this coupled with a more conceptual presentation. Oddly enough, the author would have preferred that too. We had coordinated the reading of this book with a visit from Dr. Siegel. In addition to giving an interesting talk, Dr. Siegel was generous enough to have a more focused session with the members of the reading group. During that talk, he revealed to us that he wrote this book for a general audience, and most people learn best through stories. However, he did have another book which, as he put it, contains everything his editor would not let him put into Mindsight. That book is The Mindful Therapist, and I look forward to reading it! ( )

The author talks about integrating the different parts of your brain with each other and even your brain with the brains of others using mindfulness practices. He ends with a lovely discussion on how we are connected to others and the world around us and meditating on this can give us peace of mind. I found a lot of things to like about this book. The author is really doing an interesting job blending neuroscience and psychology with maybe a splash of spirituality thrown in. There were a couple of shortcomings in my mind. For one, the book is not really a how to, as his discussions of the actual techniques he uses are quite brief. Also, I'm a little weary of the psychology book that is really a string of case studies where the author has helped each person overcome some huge obstacle. I don't doubt the power of the personal antidote, but I find it to be a dry, slightly dull book format at this point to just string them together with each person's problem representing a new point in the author's thinking, even though I've read lots of helpful books that employ this strategy. Overall, I found it worth reading. ( )

I found the book rather disappointing because I wanted more of a how-to guide to explain the steps of the mindfulness and awareness approach he outlined ( )

An excellent inspiring book on the mind and how taking a introspective approach to your thoughts and feelings through simple mediation techniques. The author demonstrates through many stories of how he helped his clients, how to deal with psychological issues. I would have liked more practical guidelines, but I think his actual techniques are so simple that they should be achievable. The impact his ideas and techniques have on the people he's worked with were dramatic. The human mind, and how the brain and body control it, are very important concepts that I will need to revisit by reading this book again sometime. ( )

I take brain science / cognitive studies with a grain of salt. (To his credit, he does mention peptides, the heart, and other systems, with a sweep of his hand.) That said, Dr Danny Siegel's work is at the forefront of my attention, and this may be his most accessible for a mass audience. His illustration of the brain as your palm is worth a look, in and of itself. He finds the prefrontal cortex as regulating nine functions, and interesting what they are and how they interconnect; for instance positive "attachment" (as in Attachment Theory) and mindfulness. ( )