I Wanna Be Well

January 29, 2018
In this inspiring memoir, Chen, bassist of the punk band Teenage Bottlerocket, explains how mindfulness and yoga practice helped him find peace. Suffering from depression, anxiety, and the loss of his mother, Chen found temporary comfort in drugs and alcohol and largely withdrew from life. Then, after discovering mindfulness and yoga practice, Chen fought back against his desperation, gradually began to reconnect with himself and others, and reengaged with the fullness of life that, he realized, he’d been taking for granted while under the influence. Chen emphasizes the power of spiritual practices like meditation to accept the vagaries of life and encourages readers to let go of behaviors that do not foster a positive mental attitude. For Chen, one must open oneself to facing and feeling “complete, absolute heartbreak.” His story is familiar, but he defends its value on the grounds that familiarity does not preclude power or profundity of experience. The notion that “one does not have to be their own worst enemy” may sound cliché, but there are important lessons to be gained from Chen’s experience. Those who find Noah Levine’s punk rock approach to East Asian practices valuable will be comfortable here.