These free mindfulness books in PDF start with a simple breathing exercise and go all the way to the eight-week course of Jon Kabat-Zinn. That course is called mindfulness-based stress reduction, or MBSR.
Every book here teaches something you can practice today. Many are workbooks from the NHS, universities and mental health clinics, with body scans and short daily exercises.
Pick a section, open a PDF and start with the first exercise. These free mindfulness ebooks need no sign-up and no payment.
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Exercises
Mindfulness Exercises and Workbooks
These mindfulness workbooks turn practice into a daily habit, from breathing exercises and body scans to mindful eating. Most exercises are short, so you can try one today.
Fifty short mindfulness exercises for groups and individuals, from body scans and mindful tasting to loving kindness meditation. Each activity fits on a page, so you can pick one and practice it right away.
A practical NHS workbook that explains what regular mindfulness does for stress, mood and concentration, then guides you through breathing, body and everyday awareness exercises you can repeat at home.
A clear introduction from the mental health charity Mind covering what mindfulness is, simple exercises and tips to start, where to learn it and whether it suits your situation.
Twenty printable handouts by psychologist Susan Albers to help you stop overeating, eat with attention and enjoy food without guilt. Useful on your own or with clients and groups.
A toolkit for youth workers that blends mindfulness with nature-based activities such as tree meditation, sensory walks and nature mandalas, with interviews with Richard Louv and Javier Garcia Campayo.
A colouring book from MacEwan University that turns colouring into a mindfulness practice, with short instructions and dozens of detailed designs ready to print.
MBSR and MBCT are the two best-known mindfulness programs used in health care. These handbooks guide you week by week, along with guides on self-compassion and addiction recovery.
The participant handbook for the eight-week MBSR program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, with session notes, home practice diaries and readings for each week of the course.
An eight-lesson MBSR guide from Dublin City University based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, with exercises to notice unhelpful mental habits and respond to stress with more awareness.
The handbook used in an eight-week MBCT course, combining mindfulness practice with cognitive therapy to prevent depression from coming back. Includes home practice sheets, reflections and poems for every session.
A seven-module self-help workbook on replacing self-criticism with self-compassion, with compassionate imagery, kinder thinking and behaviour exercises. Created by a public mental health clinic.
Twelve lessons that apply mindfulness to addiction recovery: cravings, anxiety, depression, anger, relapse triggers and relationships, written for people in rehab and after it.
Mindfulness can help children and teens handle worry and big emotions. These guides give teachers and parents simple activities for the classroom and for home.
A 28-day program of short mindfulness activities for the whole family, created by an NHS children and adolescent mental health team. One simple challenge a day for kids, teens and parents.
Illustrated classroom activities by a clinical psychologist, from mindful breathing and listening to body scans, each one ready to lead with a group of children in five minutes.
Easy calming and mindfulness activities for students, including a Mindful Box manual, ideas for a personal coping box and resources that encourage young people to ask for help.
A guide for preschool and childcare teachers on using mindfulness for stress reduction, self-regulation, co-regulation and smoother transitions, with activities for adults and young children.
An evidence-based guide for school leaders and teachers on bringing mindfulness into the classroom and the whole school, from staff training to choosing programs and measuring results.
Long before MBSR, mindfulness was a core teaching of the Buddha. These books explore the Satipatthana Sutta, the discourse that Thich Nhat Hanh and many other teachers built on.
A classic essay on bare attention, the simplest form of mindfulness, and the four ways it transforms the mind: tidying, naming, non-coercion and insight. By the author of The Heart of Buddhist Meditation.
The meditation teaching of Ajahn Sumedho, a Western monk in the Thai forest tradition, on developing mindfulness through posture, breath, walking and everyday life.
A close reading of what the Buddha meant by right mindfulness and the Satipatthana practice, showing how memory and ardency turn attention into a path toward the end of suffering.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu explores how the Buddha linked mindfulness with karma, showing that sati is not passive observation but an active skill for shaping your actions and their results.
The most thorough modern study of the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha's core discourse on mindfulness, combining early texts, scholarship and the advice of contemporary meditation teachers.
Want to know what the research on mindfulness really shows? These books and reports cover the evidence in health, universities, schools and the workplace.
The landmark report by a cross-party group of British MPs reviewing the evidence for mindfulness in health, education, the workplace and criminal justice, with policy recommendations for each.
A report on the research behind mindfulness at work, covering stress, wellbeing, performance and leadership, with practical advice for organisations that want to introduce it.
Ten years of the Munich Model, a program that brought mindfulness and meditation courses into university teaching, with research results and student experiences.
A collection of peer-reviewed studies on how mindfulness affects physical and mental health, from stress and sleep to depression and wellbeing across different populations.
