Have you ever started eating a packet of chips, and then suddenly noticed all you had left in your hands was an empty packet? Or driven your car somewhere and arrived at your destination, only to realise you remember nothing about your journey?

These states of being on autopilot are classic examples of “mindlessness”, and prove just how much you aren’t always present in your own life.

That’s because to take control of the wheel and steer through this journey called life, paying attention actually takes plenty of mindful practice.

So what do you do? Buy a few books on how to change, obviously.

Below is a selection of books that will provide a good introduction to the practice of being mindful, and you can find them all on Takealot.com:

Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World

The book is based on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). MBCT revolves around a straightforward form of mindfulness meditation which takes just a few minutes a day for the full benefits to be revealed. MBCT has been clinically proven to be at least as effective as drugs for depression and it is recommended by the UK’s National Institute of Clinical Excellence – in other words, it works.

In A Mind at Home with Itself, Byron Katie illuminates one of the most profound ancient Buddhist texts, The Diamond Sutra (newly translated in these pages by Stephen Mitchell) to reveal the nature of the mind and to liberate us from painful thoughts, using her revolutionary system of self-inquiry called “The Work.” Byron Katie doesn’t merely describe the awakened mind; she empowers us to see it and feel it in action. At once startlingly fresh and powerfully enlightening, A Mind at Home with Itself offers us a transformative new perspective on life and death.

Little Book of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the easy way to gently let go of stress and be in the moment. It has fast become the slow way to manage the modern world – without chanting mantras or finding hours of special time to meditate.

Bring these simple 5- and 10-minute practices into your day to find freedom from stress and ultimately, more peace in your life.

Women Food & God

Geneen Roth’s masterwork, Women, Food and God explores the relationship between how we eat and how we see ourselves in the world.

Millions of us are locked into an unwinnable weight game, as our self-worth is shredded with every diet failure. Combine the utter inefficacy of dieting with the lack of spiritual nourishment and we have generations of mad, ravenous self-loathing women. So says Geneen Roth, in her life-changing new book, Women, Food and God.

The Craving Mind

A leading neuroscientist and pioneer in the study of mindfulness explains why addictions are so tenacious and how we can learn to conquer them We are all vulnerable to addiction. Whether it’s a compulsion to constantly check social media, binge eating, smoking, excessive drinking, or any other behaviors, we may find ourselves uncontrollably repeating. Why are bad habits so hard to overcome? Is there a key to conquering the cravings we know are unhealthy for us? This book provides groundbreaking answers to the most important questions about addiction.

Here’s to a stress-free life.

Maybe someone should buy a few of these for David Warner?