Books

Practical guides for living with clarity, compassion, and courage—at work, at home, and in the world.

Books that Bridge Mindfulness and Real Life

Return to Mindfulness

Return to Mindfulness

dr. shalini bahl

Disrupting Default Habits for Personal Fulfillment, Effective Leadership, and Global Impact

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Stress Free PhD

Stress Free PhD

dr. shalini bahl, Dr. george r. milne, dr. andrew rohm

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Return to Mindfulness

dr. Shalini b. Bahl

Disrupting Default Habits for Personal Fulfillment, Effective Leadership, and Global Impact

Return to Mindfulness

After a decade of daily meditation, award-winning research, and teaching mindfulness to thousands, I still struggled to be mindful in difficult conversations, complex decisions, and new habits. This struggle became crystal clear when I entered politics as an elected town councilor.

Return to Mindfulness goes beyond the meditation cushion to give you 8 systematic skills for disrupting default habits and living with clarity and purpose in the messy, beautiful complexity of real life.

What Makes This Different

Unlike traditional mindfulness books focused on individual stress reduction, Return to Mindfulness bridges personal practice with collective wellbeing and ethical action in the world.

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Real-World Focus

Parenting, work stress, difficult conversations, leadership

Science-Backed Ancient Wisdom

2,500-year-old teachings through a modern lens

50+ Practices

Systematic, playful micro-practices for daily life

8 Essential Skills

Awareness, Compassion, Curiosity, Energy, Appreciative Joy, Inner Calm, Focus, Equanimity

Real-World Focus

Parenting, work stress, difficult conversations, leadership

Science-Backed Ancient Wisdom

2,500-year-old teachings through a modern lens

50+ Practices

Systematic, playful micro-practices for daily life

8 Essential Skills

Awareness, Compassion, Curiosity, Energy, Appreciative Joy, Inner Calm, Focus, Equanimity

Perfect for

Meditators who still struggle with real-world challenges

Leaders seeking to integrate mindfulness into their work

Anyone feeling disconnected from their purpose

People ready to move from "me" to "we" consciousness

praise for return to mindfulness

Your Complete Transformation System

50+ practices and daily reminders

Take the free mindfulness assessment

Download the Companion App with all 48 exercises

Download the Companion App with all 48 exercises

Physical skill cards with QR codes to guided practices

Join 8-week programs and live classes

Physical skill cards with QR codes to guided practices

Stress Free PhD

Dr. Shalini B Bahl, Dr. George R. Milne, and Dr. Andrew Rohm

A Mindfulness Guide to Survive and Thrive in Academia

Stress Free PhD

Navigating the demands of doctoral work requires more than grit—it requires sustainable practices for clarity, resilience, and wellbeing.


Drawing on decades of combined experience mentoring PhD students and our own journeys through academia, Stress Free PhD offers practical tools for managing research stress, advisor relationships, imposter syndrome, and the unique pressures of academic life.

Perfect for

PhD students and candidates

Graduate advisors and mentors

Academic departments seeking to support student wellbeing

Professors, researchers, and early career academics

About the Authors

Shalini Bahl, the founder of Sama Life and the author of the best-selling book Return to Mindfulness, is an award-winning author, researcher, public speaker, and certified mindfulness teacher.

Shalini holds a BCom-honors in commercefrom Lady Sri Ram College in Delhi India, a Chartered Accountant certification, and a PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a mindfulness practitioner with over 25 years’ experience, she holds mindfulness certifications in Mindful Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Google’s Search inside yourself (SIY) program. She consulted with multiple Fortune 500 companies and served as Amherst Town Councilor for 5 years.

Shalini’s research hasbeen published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Affairs. Her pioneering mindfulness research in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing was awarded the American Marketing Association’s Kinnear Award. A noted speaker with several TedX talks, Shalini was recognized by Mindful Magazine as one of the ten most powerful women in the mindfulness movement in 2025.

Shalini enjoys meditating, yoga in nature, cooking, running, creative projects, and practicing mindfulness in the real world.

dr. george r. milne

George R. Milne is the Edward D. Shirley endowed professor of marketing at the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst. George holds a BS and MA in economics from the University of Utah and a PhD from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He has served as Dean of Research and Director of the Isenberg Doctoral Program and has chaired over 20 dissertation committees.

George’s research has been widely published in leading journals, including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing and Journal of Consumer Affairs. His research on mindfulness and mindful consumption has been award-winning and highly cited.

An active runner and skier, and a practitioner of yoga and tai chi, George has had dedicated mindfulness practice for over 20 years.

DR. ANDREW ROHM

Andrew (Andy) Rohm is Professor of Marketing within the College of Business Administration at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He earned his B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Andy has published in scholarly and managerial publications such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Journal of Marketing Education, and MIT’s Sloan Management Review (among others) and has co-authored books on social media marketing strategy and international market entry. He is also co-founder and co-director of LMU’s M-School program.

Yoga, swimming and walking his dog Scout are ways Andy keeps his stress in check.