We could all use a little bit more happiness in our lives. I found the book informative and the worksheets useful. This is a book you can go back to when you need a bit of a pick me up and need a bit of redirection back to mindfulness.

MINDFULNESS FOR CHOCOLATE LOVERS by Diane R. Gehart provides "A Lighthearted Way to Stress Less and Savor More Each Day." If you have not yet experimented with mindfulness, then it is not a bad idea to start with eating a piece of chocolate in a mindful manner. But Gehart's book is more than that as she says, "ultimately, this book invites you to play. To heal old heartbreaks. To overcome what was once impossible." She discusses shifting focus to the positive and outlines seven basic steps for her readers: beginning with demystifying happiness and then identifying barriers, plus befriending reality, shifting your relationship with your mind, learning to play, developing compassion, and living an ethical life. As the book progresses, there are frequent references to exercises and worksheets found at Gehart's website, but be aware that link is broken. There are references to positive psychology and the science of happiness and many relevant works are cited in the accompanying notes and bibliography. It's unfortunate that readers will not be able to access Gehart's website, but her tone is a motivating, hopeful one and she still provides many ideas to reinforce her message: "Whenever you are in doubt, give life a knowing smile."

This book is not just about chocolate, although I did learn some things I didn’t already know! The author has researched and given us a well-designed book for creating more happiness in our lives. The worksheets provided are super helpful in doing Inner exploratory work. Also good is that the worksheets are downloadable on the author’s website.

I love that she includes a mandala making exercise and this can be done by anyone, no matter how “artistic “ you think you are.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Going into this book I honestly though that this book was going to stray into the realm of being silly and cheesy, too farfetched to be taken seriously. But I stand corrected, this book was extremely well-written and reseached. Not at all silly, just really well-thought and informative. The author also has a website available (www.minfulnessforchocolate.com) where you can easily downlaod the worksheets during/after your read and find links to things that the references or draws from in her text.

I have to say that mini-meditation sessions with chocolate sound like the best kind of meditation sessions ever.

Throughout each chapter there are mini exercises for you to practice minfulness and determine things that may be problematic for you and that you need to look out for and work on moving forward.

I don't have an impule issue with chocolate, but I do sometimes with binge eating (which will occassionally include chocolate). I think this advice can work for binge eating as well. If you take the moment to stop and think about the food before you binge it and savor it while you do, then you will find yourself eating less. It's less of mindlessly putting food in your face and feeling guilty after. It feels like more of a small reward, instead of this big thing I will feel guilty about immediately after.

I will continue to use some of these exercises going forward and take another look at some of the ones I haven't tried yet.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Rowman & Littlefield via NetGalley, this is my honest review.

Being new to trying to introduce meditation into my daily life, I was excited to receive an ARC of Mindfulness for Chocolate Lovers. I already had one idea of the book down pact, I love chocolate. This was a different approach to using mindful meditation. The first exercise being taking a moment to enjoy everything about the chocolate from the look, feel and smell and how it made me feel. This book was well researched and very informative.

This is a great look at mindfulness and chocolate. It was an interesting read and I would recommend it.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This book is for the meditative chocoholic. The author gives a myriad of exercises to help make life more enjoyable and meaningful- the bonus is that chocolate is a key component! Highly recommended.

Mindfulness for Chocolate Lovers is a interesting and informative book. I found it well and and researched. I will use some of the advice.

Thank you #NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield for providing an ARC for Mindfullness for chocolate lovers.

What an interesting read. This is a mix of Psychology and case studies (or personal experiences) and of course, meditation!

It was much more in depth than I expected. It was a little to 'in the weeds' for my personal taste but It was interesting nonetheless.

The author also gives the reader many opportunities to practice along throughout the book.