Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Not just naive, this is potentially dangerous, 22 Feb 2008
I was recommended this book by a friend and I'm struggling to see why (but maybe she meant "Taming The Tiger"?). The book shows how one idea (and not even an original one) can make a potential author think they've hit a literary and economic goldmine.

In this case the author proposes a third instinctual response to threat... fight, flight and, now, freeze. This is a very valid extension of what is commonly taught but is hardly original. The value any author brings to this third dimension is surely to examine how we can react to the 'freeze' response and, unfortunately, Peter Levine's theories give us nothing of value. Worse than this, it leads us towards a belief that any one of us can counsel someone in pain towards a recognition that their emotional freezing can be resolved by re-enacting the traumatic event and imagining a more healthy outcome, even if this imagining is patently false, ridiculous and potentially harmful.

But what is unforgivable is that he proposes that any one of us can help people who are suffering from 'freeze' and that an encouraged false memory is better than a real one because, in the false memory, we can become a hero. This is madness, and an unsustainable one at that. If he had any evidence to back his beliefs I might be persuaded to listen to his highly controversial views but, given that he stands separate from the scientific establishment, I can't even imagine that he is doing anything other than giving his extravagant imagination total free rein.

Save your money - this one is a total lemon.

Insightful Generalisations, 22 Jan 2008
This book focuses on `shock trauma'; - the result of an isolated event or series of events with no consistent history of previous trauma. It also is written from the perspective that there is a community of family and friends - or caregivers - to support the traumatised through the healing process. Whilst it may help individuals who suffered long term childhood assault at the hands of their primary caregivers - that is not its focus or intent although the self help exercise in this book may help many traumatised people get into bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts. And that's really great and a positive aspect of the book. But whilst undoubtedly contributing to an understanding of PTSD and trauma (not the same thing), this book's fundamental flaw seems to be that it is written by someone who has a limited personal understanding of the impacts of long term sustained trauma without a normal and caringly supportive context.

Levine switches from an apparently factual style of writing to use of "I" and "we" throughout - so the reader never really knows the extent to which his own personal experience(s) of trauma influences what he puts forward as fact and influences his own interpretation of his client's stories. For example he claims one patient must have been "in denial" because she claimed not to have been frightened during a kidnapping a few years ago. What if that patient had been persistently assaulted at a very young age and lived a life of emotional numbness as a consequence? She truly may not have felt fear at the time of kidnapping in adulthood - having lived her whole life dissociated and devoid of feelings. Yet to say she is `in denial' of her fear is intensely disrespectful - she maybe had no fear resource available to her to deny. Unsurprisingly that patient did not return to him.

Phrases such as "I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of trauma" ... "we will continually be on edge" etc raise alarm bells as attempts to get the reader to over-identify with him and accept what he says. And in truth the freeze reaction certainly does exist in humans - but not always as the `feign death' response Levine postulates. Many adult PTSD sufferers will have experienced the conflicting mental urge to run at the same time as to turn and fight. This may lie behind some peoples' `freeze' reaction - but again appears outside Levine's experience. Eg he draws analogies with the response of prey animals to threats and to trauma - and applies them to humans. And this may be appropriate for children and adults who find themselves in a `helpless' state at the time of trauma. But what of the fact that humans are potentially vulnerable whilst young and then grow up to be the ultimate predator of all ? What happens to tiger cubs and lions who are turned on by their own parents ? It does happen - and some end up dissociated and unable to relate to other big cats as a consequence. And this book may not be of much help to those who have been through such an experience.


Amazing wisdom, 02 Oct 2007
I first discovered this book in a Focusing Workshop earlier this year. In my work as a Therapist I recommend this book to traumatised clients and work with them to find their innate ability to heal. It is a useful guide to Therapists and invaluable as a self-help book for clients. The wisdom contained in its pages provides hope for so many people whose lives have been diminished by trauma; this helps them to use the body's natural ability to heal.

Amazed these are innate responses, not so crazy, 02 Jun 2007
This has to be more helpful then any dr, neorosurgeon, psychiatrist, because so little is understood about trauma when it reaches its most severe level. For three yrs i have been dibilitated to the point i can't walk or leave my flat, my body is breaking down, seizures, no immune system, i was begining to think i was imagining it. I was stunned when i read this, people who were paralysed by fear of their anger, thats me, oh leap yee lame for joy. if only people in the system were more educated. My gp is reading it now, then my parents, it gives me hopw that someone out there must be able to help me get my life back. This book should not be missed it is easy to read and so informative and tells you shocking truths that really happen to people, thank you so much cresida9

A redeeming message for trauma survivors, 08 Mar 2003
As a psychiatrist and author of "Lost in the Mirror: an Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder," I have dealt with many kinds of trauma and am always interested in new approaches to this difficult area. I found "Waking the Tiger" an engrossing approach to the problem of how trauma creates damaging and often enduring symptoms. Dr. Levine's concept of the "freeze response" in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain.

Even more important to trauma survivors and their therapists is the redeeming message that immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. The January 2003 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News reported that an overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault describe a moderate or high level of paralysis occurring during the assault, consistent with Dr. Levine's observations.

Dr. Levine also provides an astute portrayal of the nature of memory by acknowledging that memories are not literal recordings of events but a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Like a painting, memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Not just naive, this is potentially dangerous, 22 Feb 2008
I was recommended this book by a friend and I'm struggling to see why (but maybe she meant "Taming The Tiger"?). The book shows how one idea (and not even an original one) can make a potential author think they've hit a literary and economic goldmine.

In this case the author proposes a third instinctual response to threat... fight, flight and, now, freeze. This is a very valid extension of what is commonly taught but is hardly original. The value any author brings to this third dimension is surely to examine how we can react to the 'freeze' response and, unfortunately, Peter Levine's theories give us nothing of value. Worse than this, it leads us towards a belief that any one of us can counsel someone in pain towards a recognition that their emotional freezing can be resolved by re-enacting the traumatic event and imagining a more healthy outcome, even if this imagining is patently false, ridiculous and potentially harmful.

But what is unforgivable is that he proposes that any one of us can help people who are suffering from 'freeze' and that an encouraged false memory is better than a real one because, in the false memory, we can become a hero. This is madness, and an unsustainable one at that. If he had any evidence to back his beliefs I might be persuaded to listen to his highly controversial views but, given that he stands separate from the scientific establishment, I can't even imagine that he is doing anything other than giving his extravagant imagination total free rein.

Save your money - this one is a total lemon.

Insightful Generalisations, 22 Jan 2008
This book focuses on `shock trauma'; - the result of an isolated event or series of events with no consistent history of previous trauma. It also is written from the perspective that there is a community of family and friends - or caregivers - to support the traumatised through the healing process. Whilst it may help individuals who suffered long term childhood assault at the hands of their primary caregivers - that is not its focus or intent although the self help exercise in this book may help many traumatised people get into bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts. And that's really great and a positive aspect of the book. But whilst undoubtedly contributing to an understanding of PTSD and trauma (not the same thing), this book's fundamental flaw seems to be that it is written by someone who has a limited personal understanding of the impacts of long term sustained trauma without a normal and caringly supportive context.

Levine switches from an apparently factual style of writing to use of "I" and "we" throughout - so the reader never really knows the extent to which his own personal experience(s) of trauma influences what he puts forward as fact and influences his own interpretation of his client's stories. For example he claims one patient must have been "in denial" because she claimed not to have been frightened during a kidnapping a few years ago. What if that patient had been persistently assaulted at a very young age and lived a life of emotional numbness as a consequence? She truly may not have felt fear at the time of kidnapping in adulthood - having lived her whole life dissociated and devoid of feelings. Yet to say she is `in denial' of her fear is intensely disrespectful - she maybe had no fear resource available to her to deny. Unsurprisingly that patient did not return to him.

Phrases such as "I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of trauma" ... "we will continually be on edge" etc raise alarm bells as attempts to get the reader to over-identify with him and accept what he says. And in truth the freeze reaction certainly does exist in humans - but not always as the `feign death' response Levine postulates. Many adult PTSD sufferers will have experienced the conflicting mental urge to run at the same time as to turn and fight. This may lie behind some peoples' `freeze' reaction - but again appears outside Levine's experience. Eg he draws analogies with the response of prey animals to threats and to trauma - and applies them to humans. And this may be appropriate for children and adults who find themselves in a `helpless' state at the time of trauma. But what of the fact that humans are potentially vulnerable whilst young and then grow up to be the ultimate predator of all ? What happens to tiger cubs and lions who are turned on by their own parents ? It does happen - and some end up dissociated and unable to relate to other big cats as a consequence. And this book may not be of much help to those who have been through such an experience.


Amazing wisdom, 02 Oct 2007
I first discovered this book in a Focusing Workshop earlier this year. In my work as a Therapist I recommend this book to traumatised clients and work with them to find their innate ability to heal. It is a useful guide to Therapists and invaluable as a self-help book for clients. The wisdom contained in its pages provides hope for so many people whose lives have been diminished by trauma; this helps them to use the body's natural ability to heal.

Amazed these are innate responses, not so crazy, 02 Jun 2007
This has to be more helpful then any dr, neorosurgeon, psychiatrist, because so little is understood about trauma when it reaches its most severe level. For three yrs i have been dibilitated to the point i can't walk or leave my flat, my body is breaking down, seizures, no immune system, i was begining to think i was imagining it. I was stunned when i read this, people who were paralysed by fear of their anger, thats me, oh leap yee lame for joy. if only people in the system were more educated. My gp is reading it now, then my parents, it gives me hopw that someone out there must be able to help me get my life back. This book should not be missed it is easy to read and so informative and tells you shocking truths that really happen to people, thank you so much cresida9

A redeeming message for trauma survivors, 08 Mar 2003
As a psychiatrist and author of "Lost in the Mirror: an Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder," I have dealt with many kinds of trauma and am always interested in new approaches to this difficult area. I found "Waking the Tiger" an engrossing approach to the problem of how trauma creates damaging and often enduring symptoms. Dr. Levine's concept of the "freeze response" in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain.

Even more important to trauma survivors and their therapists is the redeeming message that immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. The January 2003 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News reported that an overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault describe a moderate or high level of paralysis occurring during the assault, consistent with Dr. Levine's observations.

Dr. Levine also provides an astute portrayal of the nature of memory by acknowledging that memories are not literal recordings of events but a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Like a painting, memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

My latest addition... excellent., 06 Jul 2008
This is my newest acquisition from the Meditainment range and as with all previous cds, it works beautifully.

The sound is crystal clear, of a very high quality and the guided meditations do relax you to a point, where I am actually nodding off. (Do not use whilst driving)

The 3 tracks on this cd are very well produced and it does exactly what it says on the tin - 'helps you in dealing with stress, tension and worry as you become deeply relaxed and enjoy feelings of total contentment and complete peace of mind'

I have over the years purchased many relaxation tapes and latterly cds, even ordering tapes and videos from America before there was any such thing as the Internet to try and find something that actually helped to relax and calm the mind and I can safely say that the Meditainment range are the best I have found to date and really do work for me.

Good idea, badly executed, 04 Jul 2008
Having used various meditation CDs over the last few years & having read the other review here on Amazon, I had high hopes for this guided meditation CD, but whilst the meditative suggestions are of a good overall quality, I found the background sound effects distracting in the extreme, especially on the 'Rainforest' track.

Despite the fact I am experienced in meditation both with and without the use of CDs, I'm afraid I was very disappointed with this purchase, and re-sold it very soon afterwards

Wonderful relaxing CD!! Highly Recommended!, 24 Apr 2008
Wonderful relaxing CD. I have several of the meditainment CD's and this, like the others, is wonderful. The first one is to do with the ocean, the second for the rainforest and the third is in an snowy plain. The first and third meditations are particularly relaxing, and I find myself not wanting to come back to reality!!

Highly recommended, very relaxing and well worth the money.

Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Not just naive, this is potentially dangerous, 22 Feb 2008
I was recommended this book by a friend and I'm struggling to see why (but maybe she meant "Taming The Tiger"?). The book shows how one idea (and not even an original one) can make a potential author think they've hit a literary and economic goldmine.

In this case the author proposes a third instinctual response to threat... fight, flight and, now, freeze. This is a very valid extension of what is commonly taught but is hardly original. The value any author brings to this third dimension is surely to examine how we can react to the 'freeze' response and, unfortunately, Peter Levine's theories give us nothing of value. Worse than this, it leads us towards a belief that any one of us can counsel someone in pain towards a recognition that their emotional freezing can be resolved by re-enacting the traumatic event and imagining a more healthy outcome, even if this imagining is patently false, ridiculous and potentially harmful.

But what is unforgivable is that he proposes that any one of us can help people who are suffering from 'freeze' and that an encouraged false memory is better than a real one because, in the false memory, we can become a hero. This is madness, and an unsustainable one at that. If he had any evidence to back his beliefs I might be persuaded to listen to his highly controversial views but, given that he stands separate from the scientific establishment, I can't even imagine that he is doing anything other than giving his extravagant imagination total free rein.

Save your money - this one is a total lemon.

Insightful Generalisations, 22 Jan 2008
This book focuses on `shock trauma'; - the result of an isolated event or series of events with no consistent history of previous trauma. It also is written from the perspective that there is a community of family and friends - or caregivers - to support the traumatised through the healing process. Whilst it may help individuals who suffered long term childhood assault at the hands of their primary caregivers - that is not its focus or intent although the self help exercise in this book may help many traumatised people get into bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts. And that's really great and a positive aspect of the book. But whilst undoubtedly contributing to an understanding of PTSD and trauma (not the same thing), this book's fundamental flaw seems to be that it is written by someone who has a limited personal understanding of the impacts of long term sustained trauma without a normal and caringly supportive context.

Levine switches from an apparently factual style of writing to use of "I" and "we" throughout - so the reader never really knows the extent to which his own personal experience(s) of trauma influences what he puts forward as fact and influences his own interpretation of his client's stories. For example he claims one patient must have been "in denial" because she claimed not to have been frightened during a kidnapping a few years ago. What if that patient had been persistently assaulted at a very young age and lived a life of emotional numbness as a consequence? She truly may not have felt fear at the time of kidnapping in adulthood - having lived her whole life dissociated and devoid of feelings. Yet to say she is `in denial' of her fear is intensely disrespectful - she maybe had no fear resource available to her to deny. Unsurprisingly that patient did not return to him.

Phrases such as "I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of trauma" ... "we will continually be on edge" etc raise alarm bells as attempts to get the reader to over-identify with him and accept what he says. And in truth the freeze reaction certainly does exist in humans - but not always as the `feign death' response Levine postulates. Many adult PTSD sufferers will have experienced the conflicting mental urge to run at the same time as to turn and fight. This may lie behind some peoples' `freeze' reaction - but again appears outside Levine's experience. Eg he draws analogies with the response of prey animals to threats and to trauma - and applies them to humans. And this may be appropriate for children and adults who find themselves in a `helpless' state at the time of trauma. But what of the fact that humans are potentially vulnerable whilst young and then grow up to be the ultimate predator of all ? What happens to tiger cubs and lions who are turned on by their own parents ? It does happen - and some end up dissociated and unable to relate to other big cats as a consequence. And this book may not be of much help to those who have been through such an experience.


Amazing wisdom, 02 Oct 2007
I first discovered this book in a Focusing Workshop earlier this year. In my work as a Therapist I recommend this book to traumatised clients and work with them to find their innate ability to heal. It is a useful guide to Therapists and invaluable as a self-help book for clients. The wisdom contained in its pages provides hope for so many people whose lives have been diminished by trauma; this helps them to use the body's natural ability to heal.

Amazed these are innate responses, not so crazy, 02 Jun 2007
This has to be more helpful then any dr, neorosurgeon, psychiatrist, because so little is understood about trauma when it reaches its most severe level. For three yrs i have been dibilitated to the point i can't walk or leave my flat, my body is breaking down, seizures, no immune system, i was begining to think i was imagining it. I was stunned when i read this, people who were paralysed by fear of their anger, thats me, oh leap yee lame for joy. if only people in the system were more educated. My gp is reading it now, then my parents, it gives me hopw that someone out there must be able to help me get my life back. This book should not be missed it is easy to read and so informative and tells you shocking truths that really happen to people, thank you so much cresida9

A redeeming message for trauma survivors, 08 Mar 2003
As a psychiatrist and author of "Lost in the Mirror: an Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder," I have dealt with many kinds of trauma and am always interested in new approaches to this difficult area. I found "Waking the Tiger" an engrossing approach to the problem of how trauma creates damaging and often enduring symptoms. Dr. Levine's concept of the "freeze response" in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain.

Even more important to trauma survivors and their therapists is the redeeming message that immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. The January 2003 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News reported that an overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault describe a moderate or high level of paralysis occurring during the assault, consistent with Dr. Levine's observations.

Dr. Levine also provides an astute portrayal of the nature of memory by acknowledging that memories are not literal recordings of events but a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Like a painting, memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

My latest addition... excellent., 06 Jul 2008
This is my newest acquisition from the Meditainment range and as with all previous cds, it works beautifully.

The sound is crystal clear, of a very high quality and the guided meditations do relax you to a point, where I am actually nodding off. (Do not use whilst driving)

The 3 tracks on this cd are very well produced and it does exactly what it says on the tin - 'helps you in dealing with stress, tension and worry as you become deeply relaxed and enjoy feelings of total contentment and complete peace of mind'

I have over the years purchased many relaxation tapes and latterly cds, even ordering tapes and videos from America before there was any such thing as the Internet to try and find something that actually helped to relax and calm the mind and I can safely say that the Meditainment range are the best I have found to date and really do work for me.

Good idea, badly executed, 04 Jul 2008
Having used various meditation CDs over the last few years & having read the other review here on Amazon, I had high hopes for this guided meditation CD, but whilst the meditative suggestions are of a good overall quality, I found the background sound effects distracting in the extreme, especially on the 'Rainforest' track.

Despite the fact I am experienced in meditation both with and without the use of CDs, I'm afraid I was very disappointed with this purchase, and re-sold it very soon afterwards

Wonderful relaxing CD!! Highly Recommended!, 24 Apr 2008
Wonderful relaxing CD. I have several of the meditainment CD's and this, like the others, is wonderful. The first one is to do with the ocean, the second for the rainforest and the third is in an snowy plain. The first and third meditations are particularly relaxing, and I find myself not wanting to come back to reality!!

Highly recommended, very relaxing and well worth the money.

Found wanting and not a good resolution for anger, 05 Feb 2008
I found that the definition was Ok, and then really from then on it was rather weak. i was found wanting of more. To techniques it taught to calm yourselve whilst in anger did not seem to work and quite hard to put into practice. this book is OK to view a small amount of theory, although i would not recommend it. Some sections were missing i suspect.

A friend of mine recommended to the author Potter- Efron, who is a strong specialist in the subject matter. i enjoyed this read as it was concise, well verse and logical.

Nothing New and i afraid not well written, 05 Feb 2008
the book did not have anything new to say after i had read a couple of anger books. the structure was a bit weak, the level of research was rather poor, some of the exercises was tiring as they didn't dynamicly change in shape or idea. he also omitted on mentioning couple of key aspects of anger.

Claire, 20 Sep 2007
This book has been such an eye opener, a great opportunity to learn more about anger, where it comes from and what triggers it. I feel I understand myself and my needs much better and beleive that by working on underlying issues I can feel different and make positive change.

Insightful & thought-provoking, 03 Aug 2007
Never having thought there was anything unusual about how I expressed my anger, my last boyfriend could not handle my occasional angry outburts when I'd felt I was at my wits end. He said it scared him as it seemed like my outburst was disproportionate to what I had felt he had done to upset me.

This book gave me better insight into how people cope with hurt and display their anger, and it's helped me think about things and realise what my "triggers" are. With this knowledge I can now understand that the things that people do these days to upset me aren't done to intentionally hurt me and can relate to events that have happened in the past which I've held onto.

Very interesting read, and I'm glad I bought the book.

Invaluable guide to managing one's everyday anger and stress, 01 Nov 2005
This book is totally life transforming.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the practicalities of dealing with one's own or a loved one's stress, anger or rage.

The author, Mike Fisher, does away with the patronising psychobabble and jargon, normally associated with US style 'self-improvement' books.

Instead, he delivers a reassuringly user-friendly step-by-step guide, in accessible everyday language, on how to manage - and harness positively - the every day issues that cause us to feel stressed / frustrated / powerless.

Mike starts from the refreshing premise that the only thing that makes us angry is our self! The rest of the book builds on this robust theory - and teaches us to take personal responsibility and ownership of our own feelings and emotions. He then suggests techniques how to communicate 'clean / healthy' anger to the world about us in a positive non-confrontational manner. Very empowering!

I hope this book helps you as much as it has done me.

Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Not just naive, this is potentially dangerous, 22 Feb 2008
I was recommended this book by a friend and I'm struggling to see why (but maybe she meant "Taming The Tiger"?). The book shows how one idea (and not even an original one) can make a potential author think they've hit a literary and economic goldmine.

In this case the author proposes a third instinctual response to threat... fight, flight and, now, freeze. This is a very valid extension of what is commonly taught but is hardly original. The value any author brings to this third dimension is surely to examine how we can react to the 'freeze' response and, unfortunately, Peter Levine's theories give us nothing of value. Worse than this, it leads us towards a belief that any one of us can counsel someone in pain towards a recognition that their emotional freezing can be resolved by re-enacting the traumatic event and imagining a more healthy outcome, even if this imagining is patently false, ridiculous and potentially harmful.

But what is unforgivable is that he proposes that any one of us can help people who are suffering from 'freeze' and that an encouraged false memory is better than a real one because, in the false memory, we can become a hero. This is madness, and an unsustainable one at that. If he had any evidence to back his beliefs I might be persuaded to listen to his highly controversial views but, given that he stands separate from the scientific establishment, I can't even imagine that he is doing anything other than giving his extravagant imagination total free rein.

Save your money - this one is a total lemon.

Insightful Generalisations, 22 Jan 2008
This book focuses on `shock trauma'; - the result of an isolated event or series of events with no consistent history of previous trauma. It also is written from the perspective that there is a community of family and friends - or caregivers - to support the traumatised through the healing process. Whilst it may help individuals who suffered long term childhood assault at the hands of their primary caregivers - that is not its focus or intent although the self help exercise in this book may help many traumatised people get into bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts. And that's really great and a positive aspect of the book. But whilst undoubtedly contributing to an understanding of PTSD and trauma (not the same thing), this book's fundamental flaw seems to be that it is written by someone who has a limited personal understanding of the impacts of long term sustained trauma without a normal and caringly supportive context.

Levine switches from an apparently factual style of writing to use of "I" and "we" throughout - so the reader never really knows the extent to which his own personal experience(s) of trauma influences what he puts forward as fact and influences his own interpretation of his client's stories. For example he claims one patient must have been "in denial" because she claimed not to have been frightened during a kidnapping a few years ago. What if that patient had been persistently assaulted at a very young age and lived a life of emotional numbness as a consequence? She truly may not have felt fear at the time of kidnapping in adulthood - having lived her whole life dissociated and devoid of feelings. Yet to say she is `in denial' of her fear is intensely disrespectful - she maybe had no fear resource available to her to deny. Unsurprisingly that patient did not return to him.

Phrases such as "I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of trauma" ... "we will continually be on edge" etc raise alarm bells as attempts to get the reader to over-identify with him and accept what he says. And in truth the freeze reaction certainly does exist in humans - but not always as the `feign death' response Levine postulates. Many adult PTSD sufferers will have experienced the conflicting mental urge to run at the same time as to turn and fight. This may lie behind some peoples' `freeze' reaction - but again appears outside Levine's experience. Eg he draws analogies with the response of prey animals to threats and to trauma - and applies them to humans. And this may be appropriate for children and adults who find themselves in a `helpless' state at the time of trauma. But what of the fact that humans are potentially vulnerable whilst young and then grow up to be the ultimate predator of all ? What happens to tiger cubs and lions who are turned on by their own parents ? It does happen - and some end up dissociated and unable to relate to other big cats as a consequence. And this book may not be of much help to those who have been through such an experience.


Amazing wisdom, 02 Oct 2007
I first discovered this book in a Focusing Workshop earlier this year. In my work as a Therapist I recommend this book to traumatised clients and work with them to find their innate ability to heal. It is a useful guide to Therapists and invaluable as a self-help book for clients. The wisdom contained in its pages provides hope for so many people whose lives have been diminished by trauma; this helps them to use the body's natural ability to heal.

Amazed these are innate responses, not so crazy, 02 Jun 2007
This has to be more helpful then any dr, neorosurgeon, psychiatrist, because so little is understood about trauma when it reaches its most severe level. For three yrs i have been dibilitated to the point i can't walk or leave my flat, my body is breaking down, seizures, no immune system, i was begining to think i was imagining it. I was stunned when i read this, people who were paralysed by fear of their anger, thats me, oh leap yee lame for joy. if only people in the system were more educated. My gp is reading it now, then my parents, it gives me hopw that someone out there must be able to help me get my life back. This book should not be missed it is easy to read and so informative and tells you shocking truths that really happen to people, thank you so much cresida9

A redeeming message for trauma survivors, 08 Mar 2003
As a psychiatrist and author of "Lost in the Mirror: an Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder," I have dealt with many kinds of trauma and am always interested in new approaches to this difficult area. I found "Waking the Tiger" an engrossing approach to the problem of how trauma creates damaging and often enduring symptoms. Dr. Levine's concept of the "freeze response" in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain.

Even more important to trauma survivors and their therapists is the redeeming message that immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. The January 2003 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News reported that an overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault describe a moderate or high level of paralysis occurring during the assault, consistent with Dr. Levine's observations.

Dr. Levine also provides an astute portrayal of the nature of memory by acknowledging that memories are not literal recordings of events but a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Like a painting, memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

My latest addition... excellent., 06 Jul 2008
This is my newest acquisition from the Meditainment range and as with all previous cds, it works beautifully.

The sound is crystal clear, of a very high quality and the guided meditations do relax you to a point, where I am actually nodding off. (Do not use whilst driving)

The 3 tracks on this cd are very well produced and it does exactly what it says on the tin - 'helps you in dealing with stress, tension and worry as you become deeply relaxed and enjoy feelings of total contentment and complete peace of mind'

I have over the years purchased many relaxation tapes and latterly cds, even ordering tapes and videos from America before there was any such thing as the Internet to try and find something that actually helped to relax and calm the mind and I can safely say that the Meditainment range are the best I have found to date and really do work for me.

Good idea, badly executed, 04 Jul 2008
Having used various meditation CDs over the last few years & having read the other review here on Amazon, I had high hopes for this guided meditation CD, but whilst the meditative suggestions are of a good overall quality, I found the background sound effects distracting in the extreme, especially on the 'Rainforest' track.

Despite the fact I am experienced in meditation both with and without the use of CDs, I'm afraid I was very disappointed with this purchase, and re-sold it very soon afterwards

Wonderful relaxing CD!! Highly Recommended!, 24 Apr 2008
Wonderful relaxing CD. I have several of the meditainment CD's and this, like the others, is wonderful. The first one is to do with the ocean, the second for the rainforest and the third is in an snowy plain. The first and third meditations are particularly relaxing, and I find myself not wanting to come back to reality!!

Highly recommended, very relaxing and well worth the money.

Found wanting and not a good resolution for anger, 05 Feb 2008
I found that the definition was Ok, and then really from then on it was rather weak. i was found wanting of more. To techniques it taught to calm yourselve whilst in anger did not seem to work and quite hard to put into practice. this book is OK to view a small amount of theory, although i would not recommend it. Some sections were missing i suspect.

A friend of mine recommended to the author Potter- Efron, who is a strong specialist in the subject matter. i enjoyed this read as it was concise, well verse and logical.

Nothing New and i afraid not well written, 05 Feb 2008
the book did not have anything new to say after i had read a couple of anger books. the structure was a bit weak, the level of research was rather poor, some of the exercises was tiring as they didn't dynamicly change in shape or idea. he also omitted on mentioning couple of key aspects of anger.

Claire, 20 Sep 2007
This book has been such an eye opener, a great opportunity to learn more about anger, where it comes from and what triggers it. I feel I understand myself and my needs much better and beleive that by working on underlying issues I can feel different and make positive change.

Insightful & thought-provoking, 03 Aug 2007
Never having thought there was anything unusual about how I expressed my anger, my last boyfriend could not handle my occasional angry outburts when I'd felt I was at my wits end. He said it scared him as it seemed like my outburst was disproportionate to what I had felt he had done to upset me.

This book gave me better insight into how people cope with hurt and display their anger, and it's helped me think about things and realise what my "triggers" are. With this knowledge I can now understand that the things that people do these days to upset me aren't done to intentionally hurt me and can relate to events that have happened in the past which I've held onto.

Very interesting read, and I'm glad I bought the book.

Invaluable guide to managing one's everyday anger and stress, 01 Nov 2005
This book is totally life transforming.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the practicalities of dealing with one's own or a loved one's stress, anger or rage.

The author, Mike Fisher, does away with the patronising psychobabble and jargon, normally associated with US style 'self-improvement' books.

Instead, he delivers a reassuringly user-friendly step-by-step guide, in accessible everyday language, on how to manage - and harness positively - the every day issues that cause us to feel stressed / frustrated / powerless.

Mike starts from the refreshing premise that the only thing that makes us angry is our self! The rest of the book builds on this robust theory - and teaches us to take personal responsibility and ownership of our own feelings and emotions. He then suggests techniques how to communicate 'clean / healthy' anger to the world about us in a positive non-confrontational manner. Very empowering!

I hope this book helps you as much as it has done me.

really helpful, 12 Jul 2006
I have suffered with panic attacks and anxiety for over 6 years, and as most sufferers, have developed many excuses as to why I cant do things in order to avoid an attack. I bought this book along with the Linden method and anything else which assured me I could be cured. What sets this book apart from the rest is that it is so easy to read, the reader can tackle things when they are ready and revisit things as necessary. This book helped me to realise that only I can change the way I react to situations and although it is really hard and sometimes I struggle and revert to my negative thoughts, I am slowly beginning to reclaim my life again. I am starting to do things that I used to enjoy but have stopped myself from enjoying due to the fear of an attack or something horrible happening to me. I wanted to write this review for all those people who are feeling like I did and sometimes still do and want something, anything to help them. This book really is the start of that much needed help.

Practical and Reassuring, 12 Jun 2003
A genuinely helpful and practical book. If you're a little tired of all the in-your-face self-help books with wacky titles and unlikely promises, then this - refreshingly - does what it says on the cover. The plan of action it offers does need a degree of commitment. But its worth reading anyway for the reassuring, calmly explained advice. It helped me to travel to Australia - an ambition that I had delayed for 10 years due to anxiety and panic attacks. (I used this book in conjunction with 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway' Susan Jeffers).

Why don't zebras get ulcers--or heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases--when people do? In a fascinating look at the science of stress, biologist Robert Sapolsky presents an intriguing case: that people develop such diseases partly because our bodies aren't designed for the constant stresses of a modern-day life--like sitting in daily traffic jams or growing up in poverty. Rather, they seem more built for the kind of short-term stress faced by a zebra--like outrunning a lion.

With wit, graceful writing and a sprinkling of Far Side cartoons, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers makes understanding the science of stress an adventure in discovery.

This book is a primer about stress, stress-related disease, and the mechanisms of coping with stress. How is it that our bodies can adapt to some stressful emergencies, while other ones make us sick? Why are some of us especially vulnerable to stress-related diseases, and what does that have to do with our personalities?

Sapolsky, a Stanford University neuroscientist, explores the role of stress in heart disease, diabetes, growth retardation, memory loss and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. He cites tantalising studies of hyenas, baboons and rodents, as well as of people of different cultures, to vividly make his points. And Sapolsky concludes with a hopeful chapter, titled "Managing Stress". Although he doesn't subscribe to the school of thought that hope cures all disease, Sapolsky highlights the studies that suggest we do have some control over stress-related ailments, based on how we perceive the stress and the kinds of social support we have. --Christine Buckland

Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Not just naive, this is potentially dangerous, 22 Feb 2008
I was recommended this book by a friend and I'm struggling to see why (but maybe she meant "Taming The Tiger"?). The book shows how one idea (and not even an original one) can make a potential author think they've hit a literary and economic goldmine.

In this case the author proposes a third instinctual response to threat... fight, flight and, now, freeze. This is a very valid extension of what is commonly taught but is hardly original. The value any author brings to this third dimension is surely to examine how we can react to the 'freeze' response and, unfortunately, Peter Levine's theories give us nothing of value. Worse than this, it leads us towards a belief that any one of us can counsel someone in pain towards a recognition that their emotional freezing can be resolved by re-enacting the traumatic event and imagining a more healthy outcome, even if this imagining is patently false, ridiculous and potentially harmful.

But what is unforgivable is that he proposes that any one of us can help people who are suffering from 'freeze' and that an encouraged false memory is better than a real one because, in the false memory, we can become a hero. This is madness, and an unsustainable one at that. If he had any evidence to back his beliefs I might be persuaded to listen to his highly controversial views but, given that he stands separate from the scientific establishment, I can't even imagine that he is doing anything other than giving his extravagant imagination total free rein.

Save your money - this one is a total lemon.

Insightful Generalisations, 22 Jan 2008
This book focuses on `shock trauma'; - the result of an isolated event or series of events with no consistent history of previous trauma. It also is written from the perspective that there is a community of family and friends - or caregivers - to support the traumatised through the healing process. Whilst it may help individuals who suffered long term childhood assault at the hands of their primary caregivers - that is not its focus or intent although the self help exercise in this book may help many traumatised people get into bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts. And that's really great and a positive aspect of the book. But whilst undoubtedly contributing to an understanding of PTSD and trauma (not the same thing), this book's fundamental flaw seems to be that it is written by someone who has a limited personal understanding of the impacts of long term sustained trauma without a normal and caringly supportive context.

Levine switches from an apparently factual style of writing to use of "I" and "we" throughout - so the reader never really knows the extent to which his own personal experience(s) of trauma influences what he puts forward as fact and influences his own interpretation of his client's stories. For example he claims one patient must have been "in denial" because she claimed not to have been frightened during a kidnapping a few years ago. What if that patient had been persistently assaulted at a very young age and lived a life of emotional numbness as a consequence? She truly may not have felt fear at the time of kidnapping in adulthood - having lived her whole life dissociated and devoid of feelings. Yet to say she is `in denial' of her fear is intensely disrespectful - she maybe had no fear resource available to her to deny. Unsurprisingly that patient did not return to him.

Phrases such as "I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of trauma" ... "we will continually be on edge" etc raise alarm bells as attempts to get the reader to over-identify with him and accept what he says. And in truth the freeze reaction certainly does exist in humans - but not always as the `feign death' response Levine postulates. Many adult PTSD sufferers will have experienced the conflicting mental urge to run at the same time as to turn and fight. This may lie behind some peoples' `freeze' reaction - but again appears outside Levine's experience. Eg he draws analogies with the response of prey animals to threats and to trauma - and applies them to humans. And this may be appropriate for children and adults who find themselves in a `helpless' state at the time of trauma. But what of the fact that humans are potentially vulnerable whilst young and then grow up to be the ultimate predator of all ? What happens to tiger cubs and lions who are turned on by their own parents ? It does happen - and some end up dissociated and unable to relate to other big cats as a consequence. And this book may not be of much help to those who have been through such an experience.


Amazing wisdom, 02 Oct 2007
I first discovered this book in a Focusing Workshop earlier this year. In my work as a Therapist I recommend this book to traumatised clients and work with them to find their innate ability to heal. It is a useful guide to Therapists and invaluable as a self-help book for clients. The wisdom contained in its pages provides hope for so many people whose lives have been diminished by trauma; this helps them to use the body's natural ability to heal.

Amazed these are innate responses, not so crazy, 02 Jun 2007
This has to be more helpful then any dr, neorosurgeon, psychiatrist, because so little is understood about trauma when it reaches its most severe level. For three yrs i have been dibilitated to the point i can't walk or leave my flat, my body is breaking down, seizures, no immune system, i was begining to think i was imagining it. I was stunned when i read this, people who were paralysed by fear of their anger, thats me, oh leap yee lame for joy. if only people in the system were more educated. My gp is reading it now, then my parents, it gives me hopw that someone out there must be able to help me get my life back. This book should not be missed it is easy to read and so informative and tells you shocking truths that really happen to people, thank you so much cresida9

A redeeming message for trauma survivors, 08 Mar 2003
As a psychiatrist and author of "Lost in the Mirror: an Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder," I have dealt with many kinds of trauma and am always interested in new approaches to this difficult area. I found "Waking the Tiger" an engrossing approach to the problem of how trauma creates damaging and often enduring symptoms. Dr. Levine's concept of the "freeze response" in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain.

Even more important to trauma survivors and their therapists is the redeeming message that immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. The January 2003 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News reported that an overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault describe a moderate or high level of paralysis occurring during the assault, consistent with Dr. Levine's observations.

Dr. Levine also provides an astute portrayal of the nature of memory by acknowledging that memories are not literal recordings of events but a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Like a painting, memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

My latest addition... excellent., 06 Jul 2008
This is my newest acquisition from the Meditainment range and as with all previous cds, it works beautifully.

The sound is crystal clear, of a very high quality and the guided meditations do relax you to a point, where I am actually nodding off. (Do not use whilst driving)

The 3 tracks on this cd are very well produced and it does exactly what it says on the tin - 'helps you in dealing with stress, tension and worry as you become deeply relaxed and enjoy feelings of total contentment and complete peace of mind'

I have over the years purchased many relaxation tapes and latterly cds, even ordering tapes and videos from America before there was any such thing as the Internet to try and find something that actually helped to relax and calm the mind and I can safely say that the Meditainment range are the best I have found to date and really do work for me.

Good idea, badly executed, 04 Jul 2008
Having used various meditation CDs over the last few years & having read the other review here on Amazon, I had high hopes for this guided meditation CD, but whilst the meditative suggestions are of a good overall quality, I found the background sound effects distracting in the extreme, especially on the 'Rainforest' track.

Despite the fact I am experienced in meditation both with and without the use of CDs, I'm afraid I was very disappointed with this purchase, and re-sold it very soon afterwards

Wonderful relaxing CD!! Highly Recommended!, 24 Apr 2008
Wonderful relaxing CD. I have several of the meditainment CD's and this, like the others, is wonderful. The first one is to do with the ocean, the second for the rainforest and the third is in an snowy plain. The first and third meditations are particularly relaxing, and I find myself not wanting to come back to reality!!

Highly recommended, very relaxing and well worth the money.

Found wanting and not a good resolution for anger, 05 Feb 2008
I found that the definition was Ok, and then really from then on it was rather weak. i was found wanting of more. To techniques it taught to calm yourselve whilst in anger did not seem to work and quite hard to put into practice. this book is OK to view a small amount of theory, although i would not recommend it. Some sections were missing i suspect.

A friend of mine recommended to the author Potter- Efron, who is a strong specialist in the subject matter. i enjoyed this read as it was concise, well verse and logical.

Nothing New and i afraid not well written, 05 Feb 2008
the book did not have anything new to say after i had read a couple of anger books. the structure was a bit weak, the level of research was rather poor, some of the exercises was tiring as they didn't dynamicly change in shape or idea. he also omitted on mentioning couple of key aspects of anger.

Claire, 20 Sep 2007
This book has been such an eye opener, a great opportunity to learn more about anger, where it comes from and what triggers it. I feel I understand myself and my needs much better and beleive that by working on underlying issues I can feel different and make positive change.

Insightful & thought-provoking, 03 Aug 2007
Never having thought there was anything unusual about how I expressed my anger, my last boyfriend could not handle my occasional angry outburts when I'd felt I was at my wits end. He said it scared him as it seemed like my outburst was disproportionate to what I had felt he had done to upset me.

This book gave me better insight into how people cope with hurt and display their anger, and it's helped me think about things and realise what my "triggers" are. With this knowledge I can now understand that the things that people do these days to upset me aren't done to intentionally hurt me and can relate to events that have happened in the past which I've held onto.

Very interesting read, and I'm glad I bought the book.

Invaluable guide to managing one's everyday anger and stress, 01 Nov 2005
This book is totally life transforming.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the practicalities of dealing with one's own or a loved one's stress, anger or rage.

The author, Mike Fisher, does away with the patronising psychobabble and jargon, normally associated with US style 'self-improvement' books.

Instead, he delivers a reassuringly user-friendly step-by-step guide, in accessible everyday language, on how to manage - and harness positively - the every day issues that cause us to feel stressed / frustrated / powerless.

Mike starts from the refreshing premise that the only thing that makes us angry is our self! The rest of the book builds on this robust theory - and teaches us to take personal responsibility and ownership of our own feelings and emotions. He then suggests techniques how to communicate 'clean / healthy' anger to the world about us in a positive non-confrontational manner. Very empowering!

I hope this book helps you as much as it has done me.

really helpful, 12 Jul 2006
I have suffered with panic attacks and anxiety for over 6 years, and as most sufferers, have developed many excuses as to why I cant do things in order to avoid an attack. I bought this book along with the Linden method and anything else which assured me I could be cured. What sets this book apart from the rest is that it is so easy to read, the reader can tackle things when they are ready and revisit things as necessary. This book helped me to realise that only I can change the way I react to situations and although it is really hard and sometimes I struggle and revert to my negative thoughts, I am slowly beginning to reclaim my life again. I am starting to do things that I used to enjoy but have stopped myself from enjoying due to the fear of an attack or something horrible happening to me. I wanted to write this review for all those people who are feeling like I did and sometimes still do and want something, anything to help them. This book really is the start of that much needed help.

Practical and Reassuring, 12 Jun 2003
A genuinely helpful and practical book. If you're a little tired of all the in-your-face self-help books with wacky titles and unlikely promises, then this - refreshingly - does what it says on the cover. The plan of action it offers does need a degree of commitment. But its worth reading anyway for the reassuring, calmly explained advice. It helped me to travel to Australia - an ambition that I had delayed for 10 years due to anxiety and panic attacks. (I used this book in conjunction with 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway' Susan Jeffers).

Ginormously stupendous!, 23 Jul 2008
You know, there are umpteen gazillions of reviews in and about through Amazon. All of which appear to be so very uptight to me. I read this book and found it to be SO very refreshing. Taking what is NORMALLY written in SUCH boring and monotonous writing, THIS guy is absolutely brilliant in his writing. SO creative, talented, funny - creates a VERY good and clear path for the reader to not only read or ingest but DIGEST the information as well.

I'm sitting here with a major cringe - retrospectively all the books I've read thus so far, Well no make that 'cringe' into a brisk shaking head side to side in disgust with previous authors for not having the BRILLIANCE that Robert Sapolsky has. HOW many times I've read something wanting to SNORE..

On a more sincere level, I couldn't put 6 or 10 stars on this and that's bloody annoying. Like it says on the cover, one of the most brilliant writers (Tho I beg to differ that he be restricted to purely a 'scientific writer' bleah..no no no - much more universal than that).

Robert Sapolsky is totally devoid of the DRY and DULL scientific norm that I seem to incessantly run into. In studying a great deal in stress management and counselling, all I can say is GET THIS BOOK :) You *must* have the patience and persistance however, if/when you run into those BIG WORDS :p (love this book, absolutely love it, maybe people think that the pavement doesn't go all the way out to the sidewalk with me on this one, but sincerely...very much so, read it...just...read it. Sit - read and absorb...*brilliant author*!! Footnotes are *equally* amazing an intense!)

A lively scientific report on stress, 27 May 2008
Your body is a sophisticated machine. If it were an automobile, it would be a top-of-the-line, luxury-class vehicle with all of the latest options. There's just one problem: Your body was designed for the savannas of Africa, not the streets and sidewalks of some urban metropolis. This is a major issue due to one of your body's great fail-safe systems: the stress-response mechanism, also called the "fight-or-flight syndrome." This mechanism provides your body with its best chance to get away safely from sudden peril, such as when a lion attacks you. It immediately floods your muscles with robust energy. Thus strengthened, you are far more able to evade the hungry predator. Unfortunately, this same stress-response also kicks in during psychological stress. In much of modern city life (even without stalking lions), such stress is often chronic, making your stress-response mechanism work dangerously overtime, and putting your body at risk of numerous stress-related disorders and diseases. Robert M. Sapolsky, a leading neuroendocrinologist, explains it all in this lively and entertaining, yet highly informative book. He writes with delightful, ironic verve and dry, irrepressible wit. He details how chronic stress can undermine your health, and explains what you can do about it, even in the urban jungle. getAbstract feels calmer just suggesting that anyone experiencing stress could benefit from reading this book.


Very useful information about stress, 10 Jul 2007
I really enjoyed this book and found that some difficult information could be interesting and fun. He writes in a very personal manner and at the same time scientific. As a psychologist I found that the information in this book could be applied to clients clinically and my own knowledge on the topic stress has expanded.

Wow, he made stress interesting!, 08 Jan 2005
As a Msc Health Psychology student, with a background in the 'psychology' but none in the the 'health' I've really struggled to understand all the terms thrown around in class. I had no idea how the immune system worked, and to be frank I didn't care.

But the author writes in a way that not only helps your understanding but also makes you laugh and want to learn at the same time.

An absolute must for anyone studying stress, coping and disease, an probably an entertaining read even if you're not.

Understanding the anatomy of stress... and life, 30 Mar 2001
I had the fortune of being introduced to Robert Sapolsky during a lecture he gave to a business course I was attending. Reading his book, I was pleased that his fabulous story telling skills had translated so well to print. His dry humour and alert eye for the unusual guides the reader through the anatomy of stress leaving the reader with a new understanding of what happens to us. I especially enjoy Sapolsky's comparisons between humans and baboons, whom he studies a quarter of the year as well as being professor in biology and neurology at Stanford University. An example of this is that people who work in badly paid jobs, under bullying seniors have a tendency to suffer ulcers.... just like a lowly baboon constantly being picked on.

After taking us through the results of stress - impotence, weight problems, reduced growth, heart trouble and much more - the book thankfully ends with some well researched tips on how to cope with stress... like a zebra.

This is a book that I would read again, just for the entertainment value, and never cease to recommend to friends and colleagues.

Life enhancing, 10 Oct 2008
The previous reviewer seems to be referring to another CD by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This CD set has 4 CD's, Bodyscan Meditation, Mindful Yoga, Sitting Meditation and Mindful Yoga 2. This CD forms the basis of the 8 week Mindfulness course developed by Jon Kabat Zinn and adapted by Mark Williams and others to run in the UK. The Bodyscan and the Sitting Meditation are the ones I use the most so far they form the bedrock for Mindfulness as put forward by Jon Kabat Zinn. I use them regularly and learn something about myself and Mindfulness every time I listen to the CD's. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the best teacher of Mindfulness I have found he talks total sense backed up by a scientific background and years of running courses on Mindfulness in hospitals and medical centres across America. If you want to considerably enhance your life get this CD and listen to it regularly for a month or so and see what affect it has. I am a counsellor and use Mindfulness in my work as it makes so much sense in helping us be more aware of our thoughts and skills to be able to come back into the present moment and be present with our experience whatever that may be.

A Very Good Beginners Guide., 26 Oct 2007
This audiobook consists of two CDs. The first is the author talking about meditation, and this CD is wonderful to listen to. He has a really nice voice to listen to and talks as if he is just talking to you alone. He makes if feel as if Meditation is available to everyone, and anyone can do this, which is true, but so helpful to a beginner to be reassured that it is within their reach. The second CD is a set of progressive meditations, quite short, but each one taking you a stage further on. I found them really helpful to work through, as it got me to a stage where I could continue alone. I am a beginner at this but have found this audiobook very helpful and I do actually find it works. If you want to begin Meditation and find the market is too flooded with all kinds of books and methods, then start here with this audiobook. It will guide you through a no-nonsense method, and you can then follow-up any other methods you choose afterwards, when you know what it is about and what it can do for you.

Not just naive, this is potentially dangerous, 22 Feb 2008
I was recommended this book by a friend and I'm struggling to see why (but maybe she meant "Taming The Tiger"?). The book shows how one idea (and not even an original one) can make a potential author think they've hit a literary and economic goldmine.

In this case the author proposes a third instinctual response to threat... fight, flight and, now, freeze. This is a very valid extension of what is commonly taught but is hardly original. The value any author brings to this third dimension is surely to examine how we can react to the 'freeze' response and, unfortunately, Peter Levine's theories give us nothing of value. Worse than this, it leads us towards a belief that any one of us can counsel someone in pain towards a recognition that their emotional freezing can be resolved by re-enacting the traumatic event and imagining a more healthy outcome, even if this imagining is patently false, ridiculous and potentially harmful.

But what is unforgivable is that he proposes that any one of us can help people who are suffering from 'freeze' and that an encouraged false memory is better than a real one because, in the false memory, we can become a hero. This is madness, and an unsustainable one at that. If he had any evidence to back his beliefs I might be persuaded to listen to his highly controversial views but, given that he stands separate from the scientific establishment, I can't even imagine that he is doing anything other than giving his extravagant imagination total free rein.

Save your money - this one is a total lemon.

Insightful Generalisations, 22 Jan 2008
This book focuses on `shock trauma'; - the result of an isolated event or series of events with no consistent history of previous trauma. It also is written from the perspective that there is a community of family and friends - or caregivers - to support the traumatised through the healing process. Whilst it may help individuals who suffered long term childhood assault at the hands of their primary caregivers - that is not its focus or intent although the self help exercise in this book may help many traumatised people get into bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts. And that's really great and a positive aspect of the book. But whilst undoubtedly contributing to an understanding of PTSD and trauma (not the same thing), this book's fundamental flaw seems to be that it is written by someone who has a limited personal understanding of the impacts of long term sustained trauma without a normal and caringly supportive context.

Levine switches from an apparently factual style of writing to use of "I" and "we" throughout - so the reader never really knows the extent to which his own personal experience(s) of trauma influences what he puts forward as fact and influences his own interpretation of his client's stories. For example he claims one patient must have been "in denial" because she claimed not to have been frightened during a kidnapping a few years ago. What if that patient had been persistently assaulted at a very young age and lived a life of emotional numbness as a consequence? She truly may not have felt fear at the time of kidnapping in adulthood - having lived her whole life dissociated and devoid of feelings. Yet to say she is `in denial' of her fear is intensely disrespectful - she maybe had no fear resource available to her to deny. Unsurprisingly that patient did not return to him.

Phrases such as "I am endlessly fascinated by the subject of trauma" ... "we will continually be on edge" etc raise alarm bells as attempts to get the reader to over-identify with him and accept what he says. And in truth the freeze reaction certainly does exist in humans - but not always as the `feign death' response Levine postulates. Many adult PTSD sufferers will have experienced the conflicting mental urge to run at the same time as to turn and fight. This may lie behind some peoples' `freeze' reaction - but again appears outside Levine's experience. Eg he draws analogies with the response of prey animals to threats and to trauma - and applies them to humans. And this may be appropriate for children and adults who find themselves in a `helpless' state at the time of trauma. But what of the fact that humans are potentially vulnerable whilst young and then grow up to be the ultimate predator of all ? What happens to tiger cubs and lions who are turned on by their own parents ? It does happen - and some end up dissociated and unable to relate to other big cats as a consequence. And this book may not be of much help to those who have been through such an experience.


Amazing wisdom, 02 Oct 2007
I first discovered this book in a Focusing Workshop earlier this year. In my work as a Therapist I recommend this book to traumatised clients and work with them to find their innate ability to heal. It is a useful guide to Therapists and invaluable as a self-help book for clients. The wisdom contained in its pages provides hope for so many people whose lives have been diminished by trauma; this helps them to use the body's natural ability to heal.

Amazed these are innate responses, not so crazy, 02 Jun 2007
This has to be more helpful then any dr, neorosurgeon, psychiatrist, because so little is understood about trauma when it reaches its most severe level. For three yrs i have been dibilitated to the point i can't walk or leave my flat, my body is breaking down, seizures, no immune system, i was begining to think i was imagining it. I was stunned when i read this, people who were paralysed by fear of their anger, thats me, oh leap yee lame for joy. if only people in the system were more educated. My gp is reading it now, then my parents, it gives me hopw that someone out there must be able to help me get my life back. This book should not be missed it is easy to read and so informative and tells you shocking truths that really happen to people, thank you so much cresida9

A redeeming message for trauma survivors, 08 Mar 2003
As a psychiatrist and author of "Lost in the Mirror: an Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder," I have dealt with many kinds of trauma and am always interested in new approaches to this difficult area. I found "Waking the Tiger" an engrossing approach to the problem of how trauma creates damaging and often enduring symptoms. Dr. Levine's concept of the "freeze response" in the face of overwhelming threat provides a missing link to symptoms such as dissociation that our old ideas of "fight or flight" fail to explain.

Even more important to trauma survivors and their therapists is the redeeming message that immobilization in the face of threat is an automatic biological response that is not voluntarily chosen by the victim. The January 2003 issue of Clinical Psychiatry News reported that an overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault describe a moderate or high level of paralysis occurring during the assault, consistent with Dr. Levine's observations.

Dr. Levine also provides an astute portrayal of the nature of memory by acknowledging that memories are not literal recordings of events but a complex of images that are influenced by arousal, emotional context, and prior experience. Like a painting, memories may even transform over time as new experiences add layers of meaning to the images. While remembering the past can be an important aspect of therapy, appreciating the subjective quality of memories is crucial to integrating them appropriately into the healing process.

My latest addition... excellent., 06 Jul 2008
This is my newest acquisition from the Meditainment range and as with all previous cds, it works beautifully.

The sound is crystal clear, of a very high quality and the guided meditations do relax you to a point, where I am actually nodding off. (Do not use whilst driving)

The 3 tracks on this cd are very well produced and it does exactly what it says on the tin - 'helps you in dealing with stress, tension and worry as you become deeply relaxed and enjoy feelings of total contentment and complete peace of mind'

I have over the years purchased many relaxation tapes and latterly cds, even ordering tapes and videos from America before there was any such thing as the Internet to try and find something that actually helped to relax and calm the mind and I can safely say that the Meditainment range are the best I have found to date and really do work for me.

Good idea, badly executed, 04 Jul 2008
Having used various meditation CDs over the last few years & having read the other review here on Amazon, I had high hopes for this guided meditation CD, but whilst the meditative suggestions are of a good overall quality, I found the background sound effects distracting in the extreme, especially on the 'Rainforest' track.

Despite the fact I am experienced in meditation both with and without the use of CDs, I'm afraid I was very disappointed with this purchase, and re-sold it very soon afterwards

Wonderful relaxing CD!! Highly Recommended!, 24 Apr 2008
Wonderful relaxing CD. I have several of the meditainment CD's and this, like the others, is wonderful. The first one is to do with the ocean, the second for the rainforest and the third is in an snowy plain. The first and third meditations are particularly relaxing, and I find myself not wanting to come back to reality!!

Highly recommended, very relaxing and well worth the money.

Found wanting and not a good resolution for anger, 05 Feb 2008
I found that the definition was Ok, and then really from then on it was rather weak. i was found wanting of more. To techniques it taught to calm yourselve whilst in anger did not seem to work and quite hard to put into practice. this book is OK to view a small amount of theory, although i would not recommend it. Some sections were missing i suspect.

A friend of mine recommended to the author Potter- Efron, who is a strong specialist in the subject matter. i enjoyed this read as it was concise, well verse and logical.

Nothing New and i afraid not well written, 05 Feb 2008
the book did not have anything new to say after i had read a couple of anger books. the structure was a bit weak, the level of research was rather poor, some of the exercises was tiring as they didn't dynamicly change in shape or idea. he also omitted on mentioning couple of key aspects of anger.

Claire, 20 Sep 2007
This book has been such an eye opener, a great opportunity to learn more about anger, where it comes from and what triggers it. I feel I understand myself and my needs much better and beleive that by working on underlying issues I can feel different and make positive change.

Insightful & thought-provoking, 03 Aug 2007
Never having thought there was anything unusual about how I expressed my anger, my last boyfriend could not handle my occasional angry outburts when I'd felt I was at my wits end. He said it scared him as it seemed like my outburst was disproportionate to what I had felt he had done to upset me.

This book gave me better insight into how people cope with hurt and display their anger, and it's helped me think about things and realise what my "triggers" are. With this knowledge I can now understand that the things that people do these days to upset me aren't done to intentionally hurt me and can relate to events that have happened in the past which I've held onto.

Very interesting read, and I'm glad I bought the book.

Invaluable guide to managing one's everyday anger and stress, 01 Nov 2005
This book is totally life transforming.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the practicalities of dealing with one's own or a loved one's stress, anger or rage.

The author, Mike Fisher, does away with the patronising psychobabble and jargon, normally associated with US style 'self-improvement' books.

Instead, he delivers a reassuringly user-friendly step-by-step guide, in accessible everyday language, on how to manage - and harness positively - the every day issues that cause us to feel stressed / frustrated / powerless.

Mike starts from the refreshing premise that the only thing that makes us angry is our self! The rest of the book builds on this robust theory - and teaches us to take personal responsibility and ownership of our own feelings and emotions. He then suggests techniques how to communicate 'clean / healthy' anger to the world about us in a positive non-confrontational manner. Very empowering!

I hope this book helps you as much as it has done me.

really helpful, 12 Jul 2006
I have suffered with panic attacks and anxiety for over 6 years, and as most sufferers, have developed many excuses as to why I cant do things in order to avoid an attack. I bought this book along with the Linden method and anything else which assured me I could be cured. What sets this book apart from the rest is that it is so easy to read, the reader can tackle things when they are ready and revisit things as necessary. This book helped me to realise that only I can change the way I react to situations and although it is really hard and sometimes I s