Radical acceptance
by Tara Brach, Cassandra Campbell, Alejandro Pareja Rodríguez · first published 2003
71% recommend21% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
A practical guide to self-compassion and meditation for working with anxiety, anger, depression and chronic self-criticism. It reframes self-esteem and offers ways to work with difficult moods.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A book about self acceptance.
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…Start being accountable to yourself about it. 2 of 19 the books in the list are by female authors (both recommended by women). Looking for some good books from women? Check out these: Nonfiction: * Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach * The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs * Freedom Is a Constant Struggle, Angela Davis * Rising Strong, Brené Brown * Cleopatra, Stacy Shiff * The New Jim Crow, Michelle…
on “Summer Reading List” ↗Two books that really helped me were Nonviolent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg) and Radical Acceptance (Tara Brach). The specific techniques outlined in the books were helpful, but I benefited more from the mentality that you can communicate the same message in multiple tones and receive different results.…
on “Ask HN: Resources for introverted devs to learn workplace politics?” ↗…a fan it's worthwhile, otherwise skip it. Derek Sivers -- Anything You Want. You can blow through this in a day and you should. Worth highlighting, my most influential read this year: Tara Brach -- Radical Acceptance. I loved this. No: I _needed_ this. Rather than the many philosophy-influenced books you'll find in this thread that are really business books with new buzzwords, this is just about loving yourself and…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…little kid's world(universe?) view, told through his adventures. Non-fiction: 1. The subtle art of not giving a F*ck - Mark Manson Opened my eyes to what I was possibly doing wrong with my life. 2. Radical Acceptance - Tara Brach Still currently reading it, but I wish I'd found it earlier.
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗…bit difficult. Firstly, What kind of problems are you running away from? How do you describe your problems to yourself? For mood dysregulation stuff: If you're angry or depressed or anxious, I found "Radical Acceptance" by Tara Brach to be very helpful. Getting help from a therapist is also worth checking out. Good therapists are hard to find, don't settle for just any therapist. People problems? You don't get along…
on “Ask HN: How do you deal with or stop escapism?” ↗A related book that I found very helpful is Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. It introduced to me the idea of "self-compassion" which has been much more beneficial to me than self-esteem, and has also discusses meditation as a way to better understand one's self.
on “Ask HN: Courses/resources to improve my self-esteem and believe in myself more?” ↗…It feels like the energy I might otherwise direct at inward discontent is free instead for other things. Helplessness feels inert. I feel ok not striving for my [unachievable] goals. Consider reading Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. It’s written exactly for this.
on “I built an app to fix my depression” ↗…meditations to train your mind into different patterns. The final phase is the more woo-sounding stuff about ego death and no self, and I don’t pretend to have a handle on it. Some great introductory books: “Radical Acceptance” by Tara Brach, which is pretty much anti-self esteem. This was personally the most useful to me. “Peace is Every Step” by Thich Naht Hanh is a great intro, too, followed by “The Heart of the Buddha’s…
on “How the self-esteem craze took over America (2017)” ↗Tara Brach - Radical Acceptance was a game changer. Otherwise : trying to focus on having enough sleep (i.e. staying away from screen at night + enough exercise). Trying to put things into perspective (curiously reading history books…
on “Ask HN: What books, courses, practices helped your mental health last year?” ↗…procrastination, which lie in poor mood management and the lack of self-compassion. If you want to go deeper into self-compassion, I found this book[2] very helpful. [1] Procrastination - Fuschia M. Sirois PhD [2] Radical Acceptance - Tara Brach
on “Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough” ↗“What is my body trying to tell me with that tight stomach, sunken heart, clenched shoulders?” I have been reading Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach and this is one of the themes that keeps repeating in that book and in general in meditation. To understand one's mind and the root cause of an emotion one need to focus the attention on…
on “Practical Facts about the Human Brain” ↗Speaking of compassion for yourself, I also often feel lonely and depressed. Somebody once suggested that I read "Radical Acceptance", a book by Tara Brach. I've only managed to read part of it before putting it down. I couldn't really agree with some of the arguments in the book (e.g. people in the West having more self-acceptance…
on “How to be more productive without forcing yourself” ↗On Amazon, I'm seeing 'Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame' from 2003 and 'Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha' from 2004. Is the newer edition much different, apart from a presumably…
on “Practical Facts about the Human Brain” ↗…the universe can drag you right back down (negative). So long story short: acceptance is helpful. I haven't totally gotten there but it can alleviate the crisis symptoms. In fact I'm currently reading "Radical Acceptance" right now as a means of dealing with this and other issues.
on “Ask HN: Have you ever had an existential crisis?” ↗