Unlock the Power of Mindfulness: A Guide to Starting Your Meditation Journey

Bradley Miles: I just finished a retreat at one of Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village monasteries in New York so I am a bit biased but this is the #1 book I've ever read on mindfulness. As in, it is the simplest and most practical to understand and easiest to pass along to a lay-person or beginner.

The practical analogies of the mind as a castle that you must guard as thoughts come in is incredible

The practical advice of guiding each breath through careful narration ("When you breathe in, note 'I am breathing in'" etc.), especially directed at monks, is a wonderful way to start your practice as a lay-person.

Everything about this book is simple, direct and profound. I would highly recommend reading.

United States on Jul 30, 2023

Dennis M.: Becoming mindful of what you are doing. Didn't like all repetiveness. I did spend time in Viet Nam so I could relate some he talked about Buddhist Monks.

United States on Jun 08, 2023

Steven Leighton: I-m not a budhist or spiritual person but I read the first half of the book and started to do a breathing execise learnt from this book. Here it is>
Breathe in through your nose as slowly as you can, hold a moment then breathe out as slowly as you can.
Try to breathe in then out as slowly as you can becoming increasingly slower... taking longer to inhale and longer to exhale. After two weeks I realised I was reacting to "provocations" less and felt generally more calm. I did it for 10 minutes morning and 10 night time.. I stopped because I went away on a trip came back and I was "snappy" again and annoyed by slow traffic etc. Started slow breathing again and I'm calmer again. I have no idea how this works ... I listened toa Huberman Labs podcast on breathing and I still don't know how or why it works for me; but it does. I can't get into all the Godhead stuff...

Mexico on May 19, 2023

Brian Norwick: This book is a cornerstone to mindfulness, breathing and understanding the mind.

Written as a letter to a friend, the teachings are both concise and relatable.

There are a few stories added in that provide excellent vessels to demonstrate the ideas.

This book has the power to change your life.

Highly recommend

Canada on Apr 24, 2023

Joey Godin: Great book! Uses deep Buddhist wisdom and puts it in a concise and accessible language. It’s a quick read too.

Canada on Apr 05, 2023

Kristy Willow: We search for God and wonder about our creation. We befuddled our minds.
The truth is simplicity.
Breath.

Canada on Dec 15, 2022

Amazon Customer: Maybe it is because I have been exposed to mindfulness in books more oriented toward specific issues like anxiety and I am new to the more zen oriented approach, but I found the book interesting, but at times repetitive, not always on subject, and not offering particularly in-depth mindfulness techniques. Much of the discussion is oriented to the philosophical aspects of mindfulness and then how to apply mindfulness on a daily basis. While some may have the time and discipline to practice mindfulness throughout each day as suggested by the author, I think this approach may be difficult for many. The mindful techniques are basic, but appear sound. There is definitely a bend toward Buddhism as to be expected, but if a reader is not conversant in Buddhist philosophy some chapters may be difficult to understand and they may seem unrelated to the primary subject. Other chapters were loosely related to the main subject, but offered good insight and advice. The author was a well respected Zen master and no doubt his books have much to offer, but for me this book seemed to ramble a bit and may have not been the best choice personally.

United States on Oct 21, 2022

keohke: If you're well-versed in books about mindfulness and meditation, this book won't contain much you haven't heard before. However, Thich Nhat Hanh delivers his message with clear, concise language that takes you right to the heart of the practices you are trying to learn more about. The book itself is a practice in mindfulness - a small dose of it to carry with you and top you up. If it doesn't inform your practice or feel revolutionary, at the very least it is wonderfully complementary and reaffirming. I would recommend it to long-time practicers of mindfulness and those who are new or looking to enhance their understanding alike. For what it's worth, I've often read in reviews that Thich Nhat Hanh is repetitive in his writing (across his many books), but I don't find this to be a deterrent. After all, the practice is all about opening our minds to that which we already know, but which is so easily forgotten.

Canada on Mar 11, 2017

John E. Butler: This is a book that describes an ideal state of consciousness. But I'm so very far apart from that ideal state that I wish I had a book -- an instruction manual, really, that would give me specific exercises and directions that would provide a more solid beginning to my journey into mindfulness. The book might be useful to describe what one's objective should be and the wonderful benefits to be derived from attaining those objectives. It tells you what to do, but for someone like myself, I get a little restless trying to meditate. It reminds you about breathing throughout and that's important but hard for me to achieve a state where breathing properly is a habit. It talks about observation. A negative thought comes into your mind and you observe it. I'm trying like hell to get a handle on that one. The book has a "revealed truth" flavor but the author -- a man of good will -- seems to want to help readers cope, not only with the bad things in life but with the every day things. For example, it will say when you eat, that's all you do. You don't read. You don't watch TV. You just eat. For decades of my life, eating and reading has been what I do. When I tried just eating, I notice...

United States on Jul 12, 2012