A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled

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A key area Ruby likes to explore in this book is the idea that modern life has caused us to become stressed, anxious and depressed. It’s written in a way that’s relatable and you’ll find yourself saying ‘ah, yes I totally get that!’ These days she promotes understanding of the brain and campaigns for greater mental health awareness and destigmatisation. Ruby] has turned her own experiences into a life-affirming message for others Sandi Toksvig on 'Sane New World'

So, she finally finished her master’s degree in mindfulness-based therapy at the University of California. Wax has warmed up now and is engaging and chatty. We talk a bit about the voices in our heads, and how they are mostly negative. “For us, taking a compliment is like taking a punch,” she says. “I’ve never had a thought in my head that says ‘what a wonderful thing you are doing and may I say how attractive you are looking today’. Stand in front of a mirror and tell yourself you’re amazing and you’ll be depressed before you know it.”

So witty, clever and accessible you'll be devouring every word... there's no better place to start than with this sparkling gem of a book Heat Ruby Wax is out of it. Her words, not mine. “Can he [the photographer] take pictures of me with my sunglasses on?” she asks, and for once, she isn’t joking. She is semi-slumped on the sofa in the living room of her Notting Hill home, eating kebabs that her housekeeper has made. “I’m really glazed. I’m out of it with the medication. They’ve added something new and I’m supposed to take it at night but I took it in the day.”

She proposes the notion that stress only exists by virtue of humankind’s advanced evolution (it doesn’t affect our cousin, the ape). But, while we’re capable of wonderful ingenuity and each in possession of a ratatouille of emotions, we’re still animals and thus prone to automatic, primal responses. Ruby Wax offers her own witty and accessible take on how mindfulness really can, in her view, change lives for the better * Choice Magazine * Well, as sceptical as I am (and, believe me, I am)from reading this book it seems to me that 'mindfulness' is just another way of saying 'be present in the moment, actually experience your life rather than sleepwalking through it on autopilot'. I can't actually see a downside to that.I know I'm definitely guilty of switching on the old autopilot and going through half my day only partially aware. It's partly a defence mechanism brought on by so much of my day (the work part, mostly) being so soul-destroyingly banal and repetitive. I think it's also a big swig of apathy, though, and that's something I think I need to be aware of and actively combat.

One of the things we often see (especially with comedians) is their funny outer persona and don’t learn about their internal battle with depression until after they’re gone and so I respect her openness.

The book includes numerous anecdotes from her personal life and a large sprinkle of sarcasm and hyperbole, but it is grounded in the science of mindfulness. It's right that Ruby should read this herself as she is so immersed in the subject, and she relates the struggle it was for her to complete the book during a very serious period of depression. Although known as a comedienne, this is Ruby as a real private woman and her voice can range from the high, fast zassy Personal Story narratives throughout, to soft, beaten down, struggling human being. I personally wanted to learn how to de-frazzle and, even more urgently, find a method to defuse my depression. After much research, I found out mindfulness and cognitive therapy (called MBCT) had the best results, as far as empirical evidence goes, in dealing with stress, depression and anxiety. The word mindfulness gives me the same vibes as dream-catchers and lentils, but Oxford University offers a master’s programme in MBCT so I thought there must be something to it. So I took the course, wrote my dissertation, spun it with comedy and boom, then got a book and show out of it. That’s killing multiple birds with one stone. An accessible guide to mindfulness from the comedian and cognitive therapist * S magazine, Sunday Express * Ways to Improve Your Relationship With Stress — We all experience stress but it doesn't need to be something we suffer, here are 4 ways to improve your relationship with stress.