What do you think?
Rate this book
Until My Memory Fails Me: Mindfulness Practices for Cultivating Resilience and Self-Compassion in the Face of Cognitive Decline
A definitive guide for navigating cognitive decline using mindfulness and meditation practices that includes practical advice and poignant stories
The first mindfulness book written specifically for people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), from a Buddhist chaplain facing her own diagnosis
When Buddhist chaplain Sharon Lukert was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), she turned to spiritual practice and community to help her adjust to a new and ever-shifting reality. In Until My Memory Fails Me, she shares her hard-won wisdom as a guide for anyone standing at the gateway of cognitive decline.
Through poignant storytelling and practical wisdom, Lukert offers specific ways to build resilience against the emotional swings and existential fear inherent in cognitive decline. The book includes:
Instructions for more than a dozen mindfulness and meditation exercises, including The Handshake, Just Like Me, Open Awareness Meditation, and Tonglen (Lovingkindness) Meditation
Practical advice on topics like understanding your diagnosis, how to talk to your medical providers, testing, dealing with bias, how to maintain communication, and managing new symptoms
Stories, advice, and encouragement from her peers in the MCI community and her “dementia ancestors,” those she worked with in her decades as a Buddhist chaplain in healthcare settings
The first mindfulness book written specifically for people with MCI, the practices and lessons Lukert shares are also valuable for anyone experiencing cognitive decline caused by other disorders, as well as for loved ones and caregivers.
The first mindfulness book written specifically for people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), from a Buddhist chaplain facing her own diagnosis
When Buddhist chaplain Sharon Lukert was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), she turned to spiritual practice and community to help her adjust to a new and ever-shifting reality. In Until My Memory Fails Me, she shares her hard-won wisdom as a guide for anyone standing at the gateway of cognitive decline.
Through poignant storytelling and practical wisdom, Lukert offers specific ways to build resilience against the emotional swings and existential fear inherent in cognitive decline. The book includes:
Instructions for more than a dozen mindfulness and meditation exercises, including The Handshake, Just Like Me, Open Awareness Meditation, and Tonglen (Lovingkindness) Meditation
Practical advice on topics like understanding your diagnosis, how to talk to your medical providers, testing, dealing with bias, how to maintain communication, and managing new symptoms
Stories, advice, and encouragement from her peers in the MCI community and her “dementia ancestors,” those she worked with in her decades as a Buddhist chaplain in healthcare settings
The first mindfulness book written specifically for people with MCI, the practices and lessons Lukert shares are also valuable for anyone experiencing cognitive decline caused by other disorders, as well as for loved ones and caregivers.
216 pages, Paperback
Published June 3, 2025
23 people are currently reading
1854 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 29, 2025
Until My Memory Fails me is a book that covers new ground for all of us who are getting older. It will serve as a reference for me as I age. The personal stories of the author combined with her professional expertise in chaplaincy and the basic straightforward meditations create a caring, cogent argument that paying attention to one’s own cognitive processes is important as we age. I view it as another finger pointing the way.
I gave the book to a very good friend of mine who is in his 90’s. He wrote me a letter thanking me for the book. In part he wrote, “It truly was speaking sometimes directly to me and my slow moving failure of memory. The book is full of new material and insights. It raises issues I had not thought of before and left me with the feeling of calmness as I journey into what’s left of my future.”
Lee Zook
I gave the book to a very good friend of mine who is in his 90’s. He wrote me a letter thanking me for the book. In part he wrote, “It truly was speaking sometimes directly to me and my slow moving failure of memory. The book is full of new material and insights. It raises issues I had not thought of before and left me with the feeling of calmness as I journey into what’s left of my future.”
Lee Zook
Displaying 1 of 1 review