“Change Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Meditation,” by Paramananda

Available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

This warmly compassionate and practical book introduces you to the same meditation practices that are taught on Wildmind’s site, gives advice on how to set up a meditation practice and how to deal with any difficulties that may arise.

As well as introducing the mindfulness of breathing and metta bhavana practices, Paramananda, who is a gifted teacher, outlines the traditional hindrances to meditation and how to deal with them.

However the main thing we can take away from this book is not so much a method — a set of techniques, although that is certainly present — but a feeling for meditation and a sense of the need for sensitivity and openness to one’s experience.

This accessible and thorough guide is ideal both for those beginning a meditation practice and for those seeking to deepen an existing practice.