When we break free from the habits that limit us, a new world of possibilities opens up. In Let Go, Martine Batchelor leads the way there.

Negative patterns of mind may manifest as fear, avoidance, depression, addiction, judgment of self or other-and any of a host of other physical, mental, or psychological forms. Let Go aims at understanding what really lies at the root of these behaviors so we can reclaim their control. Each chapter concludes with an exercise or guided meditation as a tool for the reader to work with negative habits in a new and creative way. You don't have to be a Buddhist for them to work. You just need to want to move on.

Helpful exercises and guided meditations designed to build understanding of our negative habits, as well as the confidence and skill needed to instead embrace our greatest qualities appear throughout the book.

Batchelor also looks at Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for depression, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz's use of meditation to deal with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), successful combinations of meditation and Twelve-Step programs, and offers her own innovations.

Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits , Martine Batchelor, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 2007, 190 Pages, $15.95

Martine Batchelor (born 1953), a former Jogye Buddhist nun, is the author of several books on Buddhism currently residing in France. She and her husband, Stephen Batchelor, work mostly in the United Kingdom and occasionally in the United States. In addition to writing books, she leads meditation groups with her husband that incorporate aspects of Zen, vipassana, and Tibetan Buddhism. Batchelor also blogs frequently for the U.S.-based Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. She studied Jogye Zen Buddhism for ten years at Songgwangsa with her former teacher Master Kusan Sunim, being ordained as a nun in 1975. Batchelor served as Kusan's interpreter on speaking tours of the United States and Europe from 1981 to 1985, the year she left monastic life, married Stephen Batchelor, and returned to Europe. There she became a member of Sharpham North Community and served as a guiding teacher at Gaia House, both of which are based in Devon, England.[1] She has also led a Buddhist studies program at Sharpham College in Totnes, Devon.[2] MB speaks English, Korean, and French and can read Chinese characters.[3]