The Little Book of Being

Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness

By: Diana Winston

Narrated by: Norah Tocci

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Do you recall, as a child, being enthralled by a drifting cloud, the babbling of a stream, the wandering of a ladybug? If so, then you've already had a taste of natural awareness.

Known and revered in many contemplative traditions, natural awareness transcends even these wondrous childhood moments. It has been described as a profound "awareness of awareness" - an effortless and panoramic state of fully being at our deepest levels.

Created for those new to meditation and long-time meditators alike, The Little Book of Being shows us how to discover this free-flowing and expansive side of mindfulness - no formal sitting practice required.

This concise and friendly guide takes us through 73 "mini-chapters" that explain natural awareness and help us experience it via simple and enjoyable explorations to bring welcome moments of peace, connection, and spaciousness to our often distracted and stressful lives.

©2019 Diana Winston (P)2019 Tantor

Critic reviews

"In a clear and encouraging voice, Diana Winston points out how the shift from noting what is happening to the more spacious awareness that it is happening relaxes the mind and body into a state of okay-ness, bringing natural compassion and deep well-being." (Sylvia Boorstein, PhD, author of Happiness Is an Inside Job)

Robot reader ruins this book

I read this book and loved it and really like Diana's meditations on Sam Harris's waking up app, but this robot/AI reading of this text is absolutely terrible and completely ruins this good book. What a shame the author can't invest the time to read her own book + really put out a quality product.

Great book, narration does not do it justice

The book itself was a wonderful introduction to the author's way of thinking about meditation practices. The narration was highly distracting and provided an unwelcome opportunity to practice patience. The narrator paused and emphasised at awkward places, betraying an almost complete lack of awareness of the subject material.

Buy the book. Skip the audio book unless they get a new narrator.

Natural awareness with unnatural narration

The content is great but the experience could have been better with a less robotic narration.

Great book, terrible narration. Worth it!

Like many reviews state this is a significantly awful narration to a book filled with excellent, practical information. I got a lot out of it, despite the narrator's cheesy tone and poor ability to deliver the content. This book would greatly benefit from an update with a new narrator, preferably the author. If you can get past that, I highly recommend it.

Good introduction to meditation

A good and easy to follow introduction into everyday mindfulness that is more functional and less esoteric than other mindfulness books I’ve read or listened to

Good Material

The wealth of knowledge Diana has to offer is excellent. I would agree that the voice of the narrator is highly distracting and robs the reader of the experience.

GREAT CONTENT, UNFORTUNATE NARRATOR

This is such a gem of a book. The author, Diana Winston, would have been a far better narrator. The voice of this narrator does not lend itself to the depth of the material. What a shame. Better to read this than to listen to it.

Don’t. Do. It.

The narration is such a miss on this. I literally had to stop listening at 2.49 minutes. Thank god I could return it. I’ll get the hard copy, thank you.

Good Content, Unfortunate Publishing

The information and meditation techniques presented in this book are excellent. They way the publisher has presented it, as a fluffy self help manual aimed at yoga moms, is unfortunate and unnecessarily alienates a potentially broader audience for this great information. The narrators voice was so soft and agitating to me, I had to listen to it on fast forward to get through the book.