Christiane Wolf, MD, PhD, is a physician turned mindfulness and compassion teacher and a senior teacher at InsightLA ([...]) in Los Angeles, California. She trains teachers and teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindful Self-Compassion to groups and individuals in the US and across Europe. With her medical background, one of her specialties is working with people who suffer from chronic illness and pain. Dr. Wolf is a lead teacher and program developer for the nationwide mindfulness facilitator training for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Wolf is also a Buddhist teacher in the vipassana (insight) meditation tradition and has received teacher transmission from Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield. She is the coauthor, with Greg Serpa, of A Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness. Dr. Wolf lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their three children.

Foreword by Daniel J. Siegel, MD
Introduction: An Opportunity to change your brain

1. Part 1: Caring for Yourself
   
   1. You Are Not Your Pain
      
      1. Meditation: You are not your pain
   2. The Pain Story
      
      1. Practice: Writing reflection on the pain story
      2. Meditation: The pain story
   3. The Box We Call Pain
      
      1. Practice: Working with thoughts, sensations, and emotions
      2. Meditation: Opening the box of pain: exploring sensations, thoughts, and emotions
   4. Self-Compassion for Pain
      
      1. Meditation: Self-compassion for pain
   5. Part 2: Making Peace
      
      1. Ending the War with Your Body
         
         1. Meditation: Kindness body scan
      2. Finding Your Internal Support Group
         
         1. Meditation: Shared humanity: calling up the internal support group
      3. Collecting Pearls
         
         1. Practice: Collecting pearls
         2. Meditation: Yes, and...
      4. Part 3: Handling Big Emotions
         
         1. The Dark Clouds of Depression
            
            1. Meditation: Safe and pain free in the body
         2. The Fear of Making Grief Real
            
            1. Meditation: Being with grief
         3. Numbing Out
            
            1. Meditation: Urge surfing
         4. Anger is a Mixed Bag
            
            1. Meditation: Safely exploring anger
         5. Freeing Yourself from the Prison of Resentment
            
            1. Meditation: Forgiveness
         6. Part 4: The Pain of Connecting and Disconnecting
            
            1. Dealing with Ignorance
               
               1. Meditation: Dealing with hurtful remarks
            2. Loving Someone with Chronic Pain
               
               1. Meditation: Equanimity: every person is on their own life's journey
            3. Finding Your People
               
               1. Meditation: Finding strength and joy in connections with others
            4. Part 5: Shifting Perspective
               
               1. The Comparing Mind
                  
                  1. Meditation: Releasing your comparing mind
               2. Making Meaning
                  
                  1. Making meaning: silver lining backward and forward
               3. The Paradox of Doing Nothing
                  
                  1. Meditation: Doing nothing
               4. The Big Picture
                  
                  1. Meditation: The big picture
               5. Stop Trying to Get Better
                  
                  1. Meditation: OK as you are

                  Epilogue: Closing Thoughts
                  Resources
                  Acknowledgments
                  About the Author