The Mindful Way Through Depression has been a wonderfully helpful book for me. I found it in the new book section of my local library, including a meditation CD. The book is very clearly written, and outlines a program for covering the material. The main message of the book is that meditation is a tool that one can learn and use to combat the bad habit of ruminative thinking, where we try to think our way out of depression by regretting the past and worrying about the future and end up even more depressed. In the past two weeks, I have put what I’ve learned to the test in order to get through a bout with shingles, a disease involving the nerves that seems almost like a stress barometer. The more stressed I feel, the more I hurt. So, the disease has given me the opportunity to practice the meditation techniques I’ve learned, and then has given me instantaneous feedback as to whether I’m doing it right or not. It’s not that pain goes away entirely; it’s that I learn not to add anything extra to the pain by worrying and fretting and panicking. I’m thankful to have read this book and hope to keep practicing its principles.