MINDFUL FRAMING

This debut work of self-improvement uses imagination and illustrative thinking to help readers “transform” their anxiety into confidence.

Segurado, a medical doctor, offers a lively, colorfully illustrated guide to meditations that serve to reimagine stress and anxiety, rather than just calm it, which sets it apart from similar meditation and self-help titles. Rather than delving deeply into the psyche, the author suggests “mindful framing,” which he asserts could transform one’s life while only taking up 15 minutes of one’s morning. Reframing stressful and anxious thoughts into calm, positive visions is the key to “a balanced and healthy life,” he says. He provides full-color illustrations to help with visualizations, and his website provides videos and audio to supplement the book’s material, with the goal of “training” the reader to become a master at positive meditation. Specifically, Segurado suggests that readers learn to use their imagination, or “mind’s eye,” in order to figure out what’s causing frustrations and what needs to be done to overcome them. Then he offers a visualization in which the reader imagines boarding an “anxiety bus,” in which all the passengers represent sources of anxiety. Knowing these sources, the author explains, helps a person understand and deflate his or her difficulties. At the end of the visualization, the reader steps off the bus and watches it drive away—symbolizing that stresses are external and don’t have to rule one’s mind. This and other tools, which help one engage the five senses and develop various rituals, may make this book a useful resource for people who struggle with anxious thinking. Overall, it’s an engaging and creative unique approach to meditation and wellness that could be taught to children and adults alike.

A successful, enriching work about anxiety, mindfulness, and positive perspective.