How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind

Pema Chödrön, an American Buddhist nun, gives a clear introduction to the basic meditation practice in the Tibetan tradition: sitting with a straight back, resting attention on the breath, and noticing when thoughts take over, then labelling them gently as thinking and coming back. She stresses kindness toward oneself and treating the mind as a friend, not an opponent, and she covers common problems like boredom, restlessness and the sense that you're doing it wrong.

It is for beginners and for people returning to a practice they have dropped. You come away with simple instructions and a gentler attitude toward your own wandering mind.

Inward-looking and contemplative; an easy read.

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