Introduction

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.

-Gail Sheehy

We all share a fundamental yearning for long-lasting well-being. Everything we do, we usually do with the belief that it will either relieve us of unhappiness or increase our happiness. But happiness is more than the mere absence of unhappiness. By picking up this book, the chances are that this is already clear to you.

When we feel a moment of joy, how long does it last? We may ask ourselves, "Now that I have a job and a partner I love, why do I feel more frustrated than before?" We may reflect, "I have everything I thought I needed to be happy, yet I feel stressed, and my sleep is so restless." Or, "I have many caring friends, but I can't really be honest with them about what's going on for me-I feel so alone." These questions often become more pressing when life feels uncertain or when our sense of purpose is shaken, for example, after losing someone we love.

Happiness leads to suffering when it relies on particular conditions being present. Conditions inevitably change, sooner or later. They are impermanent. Consequently, what we generally define as "feeling happy" is also fleeting. So is it possible to find an enduring, authentic happiness? One that lasts, that we can rely on, and that we are certain will be here tomorrow? The answer is yes, but it requires outgrowing unhelpful patterns of thinking and behavior that contribute to our dissatisfaction.

The process and need for growth and learning are lifelong. It is woven into the fabric of our lives and is part of our evolution. Choosing to grow reflects a deep commitment to benefiting both ourselves and others. As such, it's an act of compassion, generosity, and kindness. Have you ever thought, "I want to be a better person"? Often, this longing translates to wanting to grow, to become wiser, and to enjoy life more fully. If this resonates with you, then you are one of the people for whom this book was written. It aims to share the best of our knowledge, practice, and experience to support your growth and, in turn, empower you to benefit others.

This book, along with the accompanying audio instructions, provides the tools to develop invaluable mental, emotional, and behavioral skills-skills that are not innate, no matter how fortunate we may have been to have kind and mindful parents and grandparents. A key part of developing these skills is comprehensive mindfulness training. Through this, you'll learn to be fully present and aware of your internal experiences, with objectivity and acceptance, rather than avoiding or clinging to them.

This step-by-step experiential approach will deepen your understanding of your own experience and that of others, and will enable you to witness change, day by day, within a few weeks. Across countries and cultures, people of all ages (from about age seven), even those facing severe and chronic challenges, have reported remarkable benefits from this practice. The program can benefit anyone, whether or not they adhere to a religious faith. What you will learn here is universally applicable and complements, rather than conflicts with, religious beliefs. In fact, many clients have said they gained a better understanding of their faith after developing the skills taught in this book.

During his final therapy session yesterday, a client, Tom, who had a long history of trauma, expressed his deepest gratitude:

"I still have intrusive thoughts, but I let them go straight away, and I no longer like the effect that alcohol has on me. I am enjoying the company of my wife so much more and I spend more time with her, and I can now see the suffering of my parents. I am equanimous and relaxed, and at peace with the world, so your course has done a lot of good for me."

After completing the program presented in this book, Tom finally found the internal peace and well-being he had been seeking.

Whether or not we might benefit from therapy, the practice of mindfulness has the potential to help us feel peaceful and more present with our experience. Accordingly, it is increasingly included in well-being and personal growth programs [1]. You may already have practiced mindfulness yourself. To be mindful is to be attuned to our experience of events in the present moment, with as little judgment and as much objectivity as possible. With mindfulness, we become attuned to our internal experiences, enabling us to understand them and respond skillfully, in ways that best support our well-being [2]. Research shows that people can learn mindfulness skills and benefit from them through self-help programs [3], such as the one described in this book.

Mindfulness training has found its place both in community [4] and mental health [5, 6] settings as an effective way to both improve well-being and address psychological distress. Research shows that even for people who are neither depressed nor anxious, regular mindfulness practice for 8 weeks increases well-being [7]. Mindfulness-based programs help healthcare professionals cope better with stress [8] and improve their therapeutic efficacy [9]. Mindfulness training has also been shown to improve staff quality of life in diverse organizations such as Google [10] and the US military [11].

This book will guide you on a journey of personal growth using a unique, evidence-based approach called Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behavior Therapy (MiCBT). MiCBT (pronounced M-I-C-B-T) is a sophisticated integration of mindfulness training from a well-documented Burmese Vipassana tradition [12] with novel techniques from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), some of which have been further refined to improve their effectiveness.

MiCBT is a four-stage program that has its origins in Dr. Bruno Cayoun's own transformative experiences during his practice of mindfulness meditation in the Burmese Vipassana tradition of his teacher, S.N. Goenka, which he began in March 1989. Years of study and theoretical conceptualization led him to develop a program integrating mindfulness and CBT-two significant Eastern and Western psychological systems for reducing emotional and mental suffering. Clinical trials of this approach began in 2001, initially with groups of people experiencing difficulties managing anger or anxiety. After three more years of testing and refining, every skill taught in this program was made universally understandable and applicable to a wide range of individuals and emotional challenges.

Since its introduction in 2001, the program has been successfully implemented in both clinical and nonclinical settings. The effectiveness of MiCBT has been shaped by over a decade of refinement, informed by feedback from participants, supervision of psychology interns and experienced therapists, and insights from scientific studies [13]. One key reason for its success is its focus on helping individuals achieve meaningful personal growth. This includes not only addressing the underlying causes of emotional challenges but also supporting participants in moving forward to lead more fulfilling lives [14].

In this program, you will practice mindfulness meditation as it has been taught for the past 2,500 years, while integrating Western psychological skills to change unhelpful mental habits and emotional reactivity. You'll investigate and understand the deeper reality underlying your experiences in order to cultivate inner calm, enhance self-confidence, and improve relationships. The program is structured in four distinct stages and typically takes between 9 and 12 weeks to complete, though it can be extended to suit your own pace. This flexibility allows you to focus on specific mindfulness or behavioral methods for as long as needed to fully benefit from the training.

The Four Stages of the MiCBT Program

The MiCBT program introduces you to several sets of skills, as outlined in Figure 1. The first set focuses on paying attention to your inner experiences in a specific way to enhance attention regulation, increase awareness of thoughts and feelings, and develop equanimity for better emotional regulation. Subsequent stages emphasize applying these skills in daily situations to improve self-confidence and reduce avoidant behaviors, particularly in areas where these tendencies may have previously held you back. Let's have a brief look at them.

In Stage 1, the personal stage, you'll learn mindfulness methods to manage your attention and emotions through four modes of experience: bodily activities, body sensations, mental states, and mental contents (such as thoughts and images). In the first week, you focus on your body's posture and movements in the present moment while discerning the difference between tension and relaxation. This helps reduce muscle tension in daily life. Then you'll learn techniques to interrupt and prevent unhelpful ways of thinking, such as rumination or catastrophic thinking. In the third week, you begin body-scanning practices, which will build skills to reduce unhelpful habits of reacting emotionally. By the end of Stage 1, you'll find it easier to let go of unhelpful thoughts and emotional reactions, setting the foundation for the next three stages.

Stage 2 focuses on overcoming anxiety that may...