Aware

The Science and Practice of Presence - A Complete Guide to the Groundbreaking Wheel of Awareness Meditation Practice

By: Daniel Siegel M.D.

Narrated by: Daniel Siegel M.D.

Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

This groundbreaking new book from New York Times best-selling author Daniel J. Siegel, MD, introduces listeners to his pioneering, science-based meditation practice.

Aware provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one's day-to-day life.

An in-depth look at the science that underlies meditation's effectiveness, this audiobook teaches listeners how to harness the power of the principle "Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows". Siegel reveals how developing a Wheel of Awareness practice to focus attention, open awareness, and cultivate kind intention can literally help you grow a healthier brain and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in your life.

Whether you have no experience with a reflective practice or are an experienced practitioner, Aware is a hands-on guide that will enable you to become more focused and present, as well as more energized and emotionally resilient in the face of stress and the everyday challenges life throws your way.

©2018 Dr. Daniel Siegel (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Daniel Siegel counts among the most aware people I know - and now he's shared with us all a brilliant, practical tool for us all to sharpen our awareness.” (Daniel Goleman, author of Altered Traits and Emotional Intelligence)

“An illuminating new view of the nature of the mind and the practices of awareness that lead us to profound wellbeing. Siegel's Wheel of Awareness is an elegant and groundbreaking synthesis of these practices, an accessible tool for inner integration and healing, as well as for realizing the loving awareness that links us to all beings. This brilliant book is poised to transform countless lives.” (Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge)

"Dan Siegel who gave us a succinct and clear definition of mind now explores the awareness that knows that mind. Read this book if you want true freedom and spontaneous creativity." (Deepak Chopra, MD)

Incredible exploration of consciousness. Must-read

'Aware' is an incredible exploration of consciousness, mindfulness, and meditation, in the most tangible and scientific way possible. It is an absolutely required reading for those on a spiritual journey toward fulfillment and peace. I am so grateful for this book.

A Graduate Course

This is not simply entertainment but a deep dive into awareness in a scientific point of view. Dr. Siegel provides simple practices as tools to bring awareness into daily life. This book explains the integration of body and mind consciousness through a scientific process regulating energy and information flow to create presence.

Remarkably insightful book!

This is the best book on awareness and it’s broader implications on Life. The balance between science and spirituality is refreshing.

Very scientific/racional approach to meditation

The first part of the book depicting Wheel of Awareness practice kind of disapointed me, because I dont really think its somewhat groundbreaking practice, its tought with some minor differencies by many meditation teachers (for example at Headspace). Yet the second part depicting the science and philosophy behind meditation and its states of mind was really interesting and there the book caught me. Also Daniel Siegel gives credit to every of his sources including ancient teachings. I would probably switch the first part with the second, but overall I enjoyed listening this book.

Next time

For the people who gave this book low reviews only shows you have no clue what you choose to read. Next time buy another book.

This book explains it all

Being someone who researches and treats Trauma and emotional and mental issues, this book explains the mechanism of it all. Buy it not only to learn practical tools to heal but to fully understand yourself, brain and body.

Life Changing

What a fascinating book. I personally love reading about how the brain works and have been doing the Wheel Of Awareness meditation practice since I bought this book and the changes in my life have been huge. I’m a happier person who feels more connected and present in life. Thank you Dr. Dan Siegel for your incredible work.

For Neurobiology Geeks

I loved this book. It's heavy on brain anatomy and explaining why each section of this particular meditation - and those like it by extension - work to create different neutral pathways leading to behavioral change.

That being said, this is in no context a "spiritual" book, although a prospective reader may initially make that conclusion from the cover. Read this if you like to know the reasoning behind scientific findings, particularly if you're interested in the mental & physical benefits of meditation.

Bonus: The author quotes "The Telomere Effect" several times when discussing research about the relationship of longevity and meditation.

A tale of two books

A tale of two books - I really enjoyed the first part, but found the second part worthless.

The first half was practical and discussed the pragmatic benefits of meditation, and a walkthrough of the "wheel of awareness" exercise. It also introduced me to the concept that what many refer to as spirituality or the connectedness of living beings that's referred to by Buddhism and other religions may actually be an emergent phenomena that can't be understood with reductionist thinking. Perhaps our interactions with each other have the holistic effect of uniting us in a system, much as my cells are holisticay united to make me. One can reason about this system and make falsifiable predictions about it, so it's real in some sense, and thus there's a way in which we're differentiated, and yet integrated.

However, in part two, the author ventures beyond his field of expertise into unscientific conjecture. The ideas he suggests are untestable and have nothing to do with the scientific method. They use concepts from quantum physics (probability distributions and wavefunctions), but these are misused and (admittedly) beyond what is knowable. I should also mention that my graduate research background is quantum physics, but I suspect that anyone who took an undergraduate course in quantum mechanics would see this material as specious. If I were to haphazardly toss together some very well engineered steel beams, that doesn't make a structurally sound house. For the same reason, you can't conjecture on the foundation of rigorously tested scientific results, and claim that the results have anything to do with science. As a result, the second half of this book is basically pure conjecture, which is disappointing for a book with science featured prominently in the subtitle.

As the author suggests early on, a better book for understanding the science behind meditation is likely Altered Traits or The Telomere Effect. If you want a pragmatic, yet reasoned, intro to meditation, read the first part of this book and skip the rest.

Great book but you have to stick it out.

Great book to explain not just what awareness is but why it matters. He does go into a lot of neuroscience so if that does interest you you’ll have to stick it out but it worth it. The book is long and not all of it is interesting but it worth listening all the way so you don’t miss the gold nuggets because there are many.