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Ellen J. Langer
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Mindfulness (25th anniversary edition) (A Merloyd Lawrence Book) Paperback – Special Edition, October 14, 2014

by Ellen J. Langer (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 527 ratings
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The revolutionary book that showed how mindfulness can be applied to every aspect of our lives

The highly innovative findings of social psychologist Dr. Ellen J. Langer and her team of researchers at Harvard introduced a unique concept of mindfulness, adapted to contemporary life in the West. Langer's theory has been applied to a wide number of fields, including health, business, aging, social justice, and learning. There is now a new psychological assessment based on her work (called the Langer Mindfulness Scale). In her introduction to this 25th anniversary edition, Dr. Langer (now known as "the Mother of Mindfulness") outlines some of these exciting applications and suggests those still to come.
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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    A Merloyd Lawrence Book
  2. Print length
    272 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Da Capo Lifelong Books
  5. Publication date
    October 14, 2014
  6. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780738217994
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0738217994
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A landmark work of social psychology."
―Booklist

"[Langer] has shown us the power of mindfulness."
―Psychology Today

"Mindfulness is the book which changed it all."
―Female First

"More relevant now than ever before."
―Blogging on Business

About the Author

Ellen J. Langer, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Harvard University, is the author of Personal Politics (with Carol Dweck), The Psychology of Control, and Mindfulness, which has been published in ten countries. She is also coeditor of Higher Stages of Development and Beliefs, Attitudes and Decision Making. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and numerous awards including the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest of the American Psychological Association.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0738217999
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Lifelong Books; Special Edition (October 14, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780738217994
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0738217994
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 527 ratings

About the author

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Ellen J. Langer

Ellen J. Langer

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Ellen Jane Langer (born March 25, 1947) is a professor of psychology at Harvard University, having in 1981 become the first woman ever to be tenured in psychology at Harvard. Langer studies the illusion of control, decision-making, aging, and mindfulness theory. Her most influential work is Counterclockwise, published in 2009, which answers the questions of aging from her extensive research, and increased interest in the ins and outs of aging across the nation.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Robert Scoble from Half Moon Bay, USA (Ellen Langer) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
527 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mary R. Kolk
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! Lifts your mind to reveal another, amazing dimension of thought
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
I like the clear explanations and examples of the difference between mindlessness and mindfulness. It helped me to better understand the actions taken by important people in my life.

I got a bit bogged down in the experiments however, I quickly realized and appreciated the impotance of sharing them as they added a fuller understanding of the each of the topics being considered in each particular chapter.

Dr. Ellen Langer will greatly expand your understanding of the mind-body connection, when-why-how you go through life on auto-pilot using the directions that were programmed into you during your formative years.

It explained for me why I see things differently than others as I typically and deeply see, hear and feel things around me that others do not even notice. Often, especially in the past, I was told, that because others do not see things mindfully, I must be imagining things or that I am too sensitive only to discover a short time later that I was right all along. This book has helped me understand that often I operate in a mindfullness mode.

I loved the chapter on health. It confirmed what I have been teaching for years. You "Question Everything" when you go to the doctor. You do not go to the doctor and relinquish your responsibility for your own health.

My goal in teaching my classes on How We Beat Diabetes is to share what my husband and I did in 2003 to literally beat the type 2 diabetes that he suffered with for over 25 years. Even more impotant I want to help people understand what is going on in their bodies, how positive thinking can change the course of their condition, and how they can and must become empowered patients and a proactive partner with their doctor in their own healthcare! It amazes me how many people place their lives into the hands of another person without ever knowing that the course you are given is truly the right one for you. Research your condition and ask, ask, ask questions.

Dr. Langer and I speak the same language and I truly appreciate her wisdom in this book.
7 people found this helpful
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Bill Dahl
4.0 out of 5 stars Superb
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2010
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This is a superbly crafted work detailing the research conducted by Ellen Langer and her colleagues over the past fifteen years, at Yale, City University of New York, and, for the past twelve years, in the Department of Psychology at Harvard.

The nature of the studies, methodology and focus of the research endeavors are incredibly interesting. For those interested in epistemology, this book is essential reading. The following are some excerpts that I found particularly poignant:

"We experience the world by creating categories and making distinctions among them." p.11.

The creation of new categories, as we will see throughout this book, is a mindful activity. Mindlessness sets in when we rely too rigidly on categories and distinctions created in the past Once distinctions are created, they take on a life of their own." P. 11

"The rhythm of the familiar lulls us into mindlessness." P.21

"The way we first take in information ( that is, mindfully or mindlessly) determines how we will use it later." P.25

"The future may be as capable of "causing" the present as is the past." P. 32

"When children start a new activity with an outcome orientation, questions of "Can I?" or "What if I can't do it?" are likely to predominate, creating an anxious preoccupation with success or failure rather than drawing on the child's natural, exuberant desire to explore. Instead of enjoying the color of the crayon, the designs on the paper, and a variety of possible shapes along the way, the child sets about writing a "correct" letter A. Throughout our lives, an outcome orientation in social situations can cause mindlessness." P.34

"Those who can free themselves of old mindsets, who can open themselves to new information and surprise, play with perspective and context, and focus on process rather than outcome are likely to be creative, whether they are scientists, artists, or cooks." P. 115

"People create uses for objects. A use is not inherent in an object, independent of the people using it. The successful use of an object depends on the context of its use." P.122

"Will children taught "it depends" grow up to be insecure adults? Or will they be more confident in a world of change than those of us brought up with absolutes?" p.124.

"We pick up rules before we have a chance to question them." p.125

"The early signs of change are warnings and, to the mindful, opportunities."

Required reading for the mindful.
14 people found this helpful
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Peter A
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on mindfulness I've read
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2023
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I can only speak for myself, but I find meditation to be a difficult practice to adhere to regularly, and quite time-consuming. Mindfulness as defined by Langer (Harvard psychologist and multi-decade theoretical and empirical mindfulness scientist) is the resulting mental state of meditation, but meditation is not the only path to becoming more mindful. Simple principles about how we pay attention to, and make sense of, experience can similarly increase our level of mindfulness. She gives many examples throughout the book that are easy to implement in my daily life. For example, she argues that behavior always makes sense from the actor's perspective, otherwise they wouldn't do it. Thinking in those terms has fundamentally improved my relationships with the people in my life, particularly family members I've often found it difficult to get along with. A nice extra benefit has been, by seeing others' perspectives compassionately like that, they tend to reciprocate and try harder to do the same with me. I think the greatest value of the book is not the advice itself -- most good advice about living well/mindfully has been known for centuries if not millennia (e.g. seeing things from others perspective) -- but rather it's the research she cites; the sayings she uses to convey core principles (e.g., "Most people worry about making the right decision, when they should just focus on making their decisions right."); and the novel perspective she provides on how to think about what it means to live well. I still would (one day) like to establish a regular meditation practice, but I have become much more mindful simply by applying principles I learned from reading this.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Keith McL
5.0 out of 5 stars Mindfulness From a Different Angle
Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
Most mindfulness books are about meditation and mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR). These are important, but not the only way to learn to be mindful.

Ellen J. Langer's "Mindfulness" comes from an experimental psychology point of view. Langer uses examples of how caring for a plant adds purpose to life and can add years to one's life. This book is chalk full of all sorts of thoughtful insights.

Another benefit of reading "Mindfulness" is it doesn't turn mindfulness into work. Just reading the book caused my mind to relax and smile at the things I do. It's also the kind of book that needs to be read a little bit a time and to come back to it of often.

It's about just being aware of what we are doing without turning it into an obsession that takes years to bear fruit.

I use Langer's books and there are three, to balance out my Zen practice. Highly recommended.
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AncBedran
5.0 out of 5 stars A necessary book
Reviewed in Brazil on June 22, 2022
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Livro extraordinário. Contribuição imensa para um mundo melhor: TUDO começa na mente…
A 25ª Edição IMPLORA para ser traduzida para o Português. De preferência contemplando.
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TCVISION123
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
Langers version of mindfulness is it's own thing and not to get confused with No thought meditation or budhism etc. Instead it is more of an approach to positive psychology and critical thinking. My stress has greatly decreased as a result by not thinking in absolute terms. There is no absoloute answer, there never is, just multiple perspectives. Once you have made a gut decision based on the information available, no matter what that decision is there will be positives to take from the resulting outcome. So you can Play each decision as the right decision.
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Ricardo
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book with a lot of practice cases.
Reviewed in Mexico on July 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
It is different approach of mindfulness, in moments obvious an in others surprising. The author looks professionally and deeply involved in the topic.
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Nikhil T
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Reviewed in India on February 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book totally surprised me. It has a totally different take on mindfulness. The approach is based on reason.

This book also helped me draw better insights from other books like Thinking Fast and Slow, Decisive, Predictably Irrational, An organized mind, and Blink.
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