Best Mindfulness and Meditation Books

Jon Kabat-Zinn, who founded Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), explains what mindfulness is and how to bring it into ordinary moments as well as formal meditation. It opens the list because it is warm, plain and easy to dip into on any day.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen teacher who played a key role in introducing mindfulness to the West, shows how breathing, daily chores and simple tasks can each become a moment of full attention. It is the gentlest book here and a good companion to Kabat-Zinn's more modern voice.

Dan Harris, a longtime ABC News anchor, tells how a panic attack on live television led a self-described skeptic to try meditation, and what it did and did not change for him. It is the best fit if you doubt that meditation is for you.

Oxford professor Mark Williams, a co-developer of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Danny Penman lay out an eight-week course with daily practices for each week. Choose it if you want a clear program to follow rather than general advice.

Kabat-Zinn's full account of the MBSR program he started in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, using meditation and body awareness to face stress, pain and illness. It suits readers who want the most complete version of mindfulness for stress.

Neuroscientist Amishi Jha, a psychology professor at the University of Miami, explains how attention works and how a practice of 12 minutes a day can strengthen it. Pick it if your main problem is a scattered, distracted mind.

Psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, who directs brain research laboratories at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, review what research shows regular meditation does to the mind, brain and body, and which changes last beyond the session itself. Read it if you want evidence before you commit.

Chade-Meng Tan, one of Google's earliest engineers, brought together experts in 2007 to build this course for Google employees, combining mindfulness with emotional intelligence and leadership. It suits professionals who want mindfulness framed as a work skill.

Shunmyo Masuno, head priest of a Zen Buddhist temple in Japan and an award-winning garden designer, offers 100 small daily practices for a calmer life, from your morning routine to the way you eat. It suits readers who prefer small changes in daily habits to long sitting meditation.

William Hart's introduction to Vipassana meditation as taught by S. N. Goenka, prepared under Goenka's guidance, explains the technique taught at ten-day residential courses that charge nothing, with centers in Bangkok and across Thailand. Read it before you sign up so you know what the course involves.

Joseph Goldstein, a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society who has led meditation retreats since 1974, explains the traditional Buddhist roots of mindfulness in depth, with practical guidance at each stage. Choose it once you have a regular practice and want to go further.

Informal talks by Shunryu Suzuki, who established San Francisco Zen Center with his American students in 1962, on posture, breathing and keeping a beginner's open attitude in practice. It is best taken slowly, a few ideas at a time.

Psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach, founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, combines mindfulness with compassion to ease self-judgment and the feeling of not being good enough. It suits readers whose biggest obstacle is the critic in their own head.

Eckhart Tolle argues that much of our suffering comes from living in thoughts about the past and the future, and that peace comes from resting attention in the present. It is spiritual rather than scientific, so it closes the list for readers drawn to that side of mindfulness.