Book Review: The Simple Truth: Meditation for the Modern World

Review:  I have been looking for ways to decrease daily stress and so I was attracted to The Simple Truth for reducing stress through meditation and mindfulness.  I am also often looking for sources on self improvement.

Jeff Cannon tells the story of his life, how he had been excelling in the modern corporate world, but had to take on several life changing events that began in 2003.  He realized what he had achieved was not what truly made him happy, not part of his own Simple Truth.  

He was dealt the news of having several brain tumors, needing to end his business, the loss of his father, multiple brain surgeries, knowing that he had one tumor that was practically in-operable, and then to focus on just needing to recover and heal his body.  He realized that stress was making his body less effective in keeping the tumors at bay.  When Jeff changed his diet and returned to practicing yoga and meditation, his seventh tumor stopped growing.  

The Simple Truth is to be a guide to personal evolution and professional transformation.  Jeff teaches us why we need to re-program our brains with the wiring we have today that our ancestors had in order for them to survive some 40,000 years ago.  Our ancestors had to rely on self doubt and a strong flight or fight response in order to stay alive and not be eaten by the likes of a T-Rex.  Our world is obviously much different and we do not need to rely on these responses and thoughts to survive in today’s world.

We also need to accept ourselves with the flaws we have and be responsible for our own actions.  The media of today has made us live in a society of want, want, and want it now.  It has led us to be impulsive buyers and now need to focus on the need to pause before saying “yes” and to analyze if we truly need something or if a “yes” will assist us on our journey for happiness.  Jeff also expresses how we are social creatures and need to remember simply having compassion for all.  Many other important subjects are mentioned in order to work on achieving our own Simple Truth.

With meditation and stress, Jeff speaks of the importance of going back to how we were as babies and to focus on belly breathing and of how even just 10 minutes of meditation daily can cause great improvement with handling stress and preserving our own well-being.  

The exercises provided in this book are great too.  One was very eye opening to me, like if you take a tape measure and say that the average person now lives to 80 years.  Each inch on the tape measure is equal to one year and 80 inches would be 80 years of age.  Marking out your current age, you can visualize how important each inch or year of living is and how we must live it to the fullest with no way of bringing time back.  

We must not dwell on the past.  We must take CaRE (Cause, Response, and Effect) to bring about changes we want to create in our own lives and to effectively follow our own Simple Truth, creating our own happiness.  I think The Simple Truth is a wonderful read and can see it appealing to a wide audience.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of The Simple Truth for this review.  The thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.  No other compensation was received for this review.