Healing the Heart and Mind with Mindfulness: Ancient Path, Present Moment

237 Pages·2016·17.06 MB·English

by  Malcolm Huxter

“This is a wonderful book with many treasures. Written by a clinical
psychologist, who has been deeply engaged with Buddhist practice for
many years, his wisdom and experience of both Eastern and Western
practices clearly shines through. Huxter not only has an extraordin-
ary depth of knowledge but is a wonderful writer and makes complex
things clear. I learnt a lot from this very accessible and wise book and
will be returning to it many times; it is an illuminating gift to all those
interested in this area and a must read.”
– Professor Paul Gilbert, PhD, FBPsS, OBE,
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
“It has become very popular nowadays to ‘secularize’ Buddhism in
such a way that it is stripped of the depth and richness of the practices
and theories that are based on the Buddha’s teachings and the wisdom
that has grown from the Buddhist tradition. In a refreshing depart-
ure from this reductionist tendency, Malcolm Huxter has brought into
dialogue many core themes of Buddhism with the practical concerns
and insights of modern psychology. Authentic Buddhist practices and
ideas have much to contribute to alleviating psychological distress and
to cultivating exceptional states of mental health and balance, and this
book has much to offer in this regard.”
– B. Alan Wallace, President,
Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
“This is a deeply sincere and touching integration of the core of
Buddhist wisdom and modern psychology. It’s immediately practical,
bringing the power of mindfulness and compassion to everyday life,
and it also contains many guided meditations. Filled with the author’s
own depth of practice, this is a life-changing book.”
– Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Buddha’s
Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
“For therapists and others who wish to understand the roots of mindful-
ness, look no further. This book beautifully encapsulates the traditional
literature on mindfulness and is written with the sensibility of a real-
world psychotherapist and lifelong meditation practitioner. Importantly,
the author unpacks how mindfulness is inextricably related to wisdom,
compassion, and ethical behavior. As mindfulness goes mainstream, this
book will surely be a valuable resource for curious minds.”
– Chris Germer, Clinical Instructor, Harvard
Medical School, author of The Mindful Path to
Self-Compassion, Co-editor, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy
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Healing the Heart and Mind

with Mindfulness
Healing the Heart and Mind with Mindfulness is a practical book
that provides strategies using mindfulness to manage stress, anxiety
and depression, as well as ways to cultivate psychological wellbeing.
Uniquely, it combines a traditional Buddhist approach to mindfulness
with contemporary psychology and current perspectives. Drawing on
the author’s many years of clinical experience as a psychologist as well
as his personal experience in Buddhist meditation practices, it out-
lines how the Buddha’s four applications of mindfulness can provide a
pathway to psychological wellbeing, and how this can be used person-
ally or with clinical populations.
This accessible, user-friendly book provides strategies for healing
the heart and mind. Malcolm Huxter introduces mindfulness as it is
presented in Buddhist psychology and guides the reader through medi-
tations in a systematic way. The practices are clearly explained and
supported by relevant real-life stories. Being aware that mindfulness
and meditation are simple but not easy, Huxter guides the reader from
the basics of mindfulness and meditation through to the more refined
aspects. He provides a variety of different exercises and guided medita-
tions so that individuals are able to access what suits them. The guided
meditations can be streamed or accessed as free audio downloads.
Healing the Heart and Mind with Mindfulness is aimed at anyone
who wishes to use mindfulness practices for psychological freedom.
This book provides insight and clarity into the clinical and general
applications of Buddhist mindfulness and will be of interest to mental
health practitioners, students of mindfulness, professional mindfulness
coaches and trainers, researchers and academics wishing to under-
stand Buddhist mindfulness and the general public.
Malcolm Huxter has extensive personal experience in Buddhist medi-
tation practices and is also a clinical psychologist. He currently works
as a clinical psychologist and teaches Buddhist meditation practices
such as mindfulness and the cultivation of heart qualities (loving kind-
ness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity) between his home
in Northern NSW Australia and the UK.
Healing the Heart and Mind

with Mindfulness
Ancient path, present moment
Malcolm Huxter
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Malcolm Huxter
The right of Malcolm Huxter to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Names: Huxter, Malcolm, author.
Title: Healing the heart and mind with mindfulness :
ancient path, present moment / authored by Malcolm Huxter.
Description: First Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015027195 | ISBN 9781138851344 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138851351 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315715902 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Mind and body. | Mindfulness (Psychology) |
Meditation. | Buddhism–Psychology.
Classification: LCC BF161.H89 2016 | DDC 158.1–dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015027195
ISBN: 978-1-138-85134-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85135-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71590-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Out of House Publishing
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammabuddhasa
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Fully
Self-Awakened One
Buddham Saranam To the Buddha I go for refuge
Gacchami
Dharmam Saranam To the Dharma I go for refuge
Gacchami
Sangham Saranam To the Sangha I go for refuge
Gacchami
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Contents

List of illustrations x
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
1 Four realities: a starting point and a final destination 7
2 Having purpose and choosing direction: steps on a
path of freedom 42
3 Meditation: cultivating the heart-mind 67
4 Mindfulness of thoughts and the freedom to
choose to engage or not engage 96
5 Emotions: taming the destructive and cultivating balance 130
6 Reactive cyclic patterns and freedom from the bind 164
7 Presence, ongoing practice and aspirations for the future 201
Appendix A 213
Appendix B 214
Appendix C 218
Index 220