A no-nonsense guide to establishing a personal meditation practice, changing your life, and taking hold of your dreams. CONFESSION: This is not really a meditation book. Yes, you’re going to learn everything you need to know about meditation, but if you came looking for a typical guide to mindfulness, you’re in the wrong place. We are modern people in a high-tech world. We have first world … world. We have first world problems and long to-do lists. And if you grew up in struggle—overcoming homophobia, sexism, trauma, shame, depression, poverty, toxic masculinity, racism, or social injustice—you need a different type of meditation … one that doesn’t pretend the struggle doesn’t exist.
Here you will discover:
● How to actually find stillness when your mind is going crazy
● Why most guided meditations get boring after a while
● What nobody tells you about “setting intentions” and the scientific process to manifesting
● Four hidden habits that sabotage your growth—and how to move past them
● Proven techniques to overcome anxiety, stress, and trouble sleeping
● Daily rituals that cement and enrich your practice
● How to use mindfulness to take action toward the causes you believe in and get sh!t done
Whether you’ve tried meditation but it never sticks, or you’ve heard about it but never gave it a shot, Justin Michael Williams guides you step by step in creating a custom meditation ritual that fits in with your busy (and sometimes messy!) modern life. With free downloadable audio meditations every step of the way, Stay Woke gives people of all genders, identities, colors, religions, ages, and economic backgrounds the tools to stop wasting time, overcome self-doubt, and wake up to the lives we were really born to live.
more
A great book for taking some of the mystery out of ‘meditation’ so that you realise that meditation is something anyone can and should do. Lots of practical meditation practices throughout.
If you make disparaging jokes about SJWs, this is probably not the book for you. For the rest of us, in Stay Woke, Justin Michael Williams teaches his Freedom Meditation method (based on the teachings of Lorin Roche). Justin is a kind, compassionate, and encouraging teacher, and I appreciated his honesty, inclusiveness, and sense of humor.
I love how Justin framed his teachings with stories about learning to cook from his Baca (grandmother). More than any of the other books I’ve read on meditation, this book really does help you develop a recipe for a personalized practice that works for you. You’ll read some easy to understand discussion of the science regarding meditation and citations to some of the research. You’ll also find discussion of energy balls, healing touch, crystals, sage, and bibliomancy. Explore with an open mind, but know that substitutions are encouraged.
I loved Justin’s guidance for choosing and using a mantra. I never really resonated with using a mantra before, but I now have a mantra that inspires me. And I appreciated the section on meditations for social justice. One of my favorite exercises was the Privilege Walk. What a great way to learn about the different forms of privilege!
The author’s website features a free community portal offering more than 50 guided meditations, videos, a song playlist, and other resources. It’s a lovely collection, although it does require a login to access, which will add you to the author’s email list.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who doesn’t yet have a personal meditation practice. If you’ve been hesitant to try meditation or you’ve had trouble maintaining a meditation practice, Justin’s suggestions may be just what you need.
Be aware that the book does contain some profanity and discussion of adult topics. This is the first meditation book I’ve read that offers suggestions for working with unhealthy habits regarding sex, drugs, and porn.
Thanks to Sounds True for providing me with an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.
Stay Woke is not a typical book about meditation and mindfulness. The author relates well to the impact of personal history, the stresses of our daily schedules and the many other things life throws our way to keep us from taking (not having, but taking!) the time to look inward, center ourselves, and discover/rediscover our passions and our best path. He’s well aware of the many roadblocks in our way (or that we put in our way) of taking a “time-out” to connect with ourselves and he addresses how to handle them.
Williams speaks a lot regarding intention and also of framing our personal goals and actions not only on what we would like to see more of in our lives, but also on how they can be of service to others. I like that. I like that a lot!
His outlook is a positive one and he conveys his message well.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sounds True for giving me the opportunity to read a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions given here are my own.