Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

This book helped me in so many ways as an angry young teenager. I highly recommend you give you time to these pages, I am sure you will learn to deal with life much more peacefully.

Peace is not external, so we do not need to chase it. Peace is already present but we have to get in touch with it. This is attained through mindfulness: living in the present moment, in the here and now. Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen master and spiritual leader teaches mindfulness through conscious breathing and smiling. Connecting the body and mind, to find peace and happiness even in the most unlikely situations. Breathing and smiling! Is that it? You may be as skeptical as I was before practicing this exercise: breathe in, while reciting " breathing in I calm my body" then breathe out while smiling and reciting "breathing out I smile" do this three times! This is a very easy yet very effective exercise, do this often enough, in any position at any time (sitting, lying, driving, walking, before you eat, before you wash the dishes, when you hear the phone ring....) and enjoy being calm, relaxed and peaceful. The author teaches us to be mindful of the people in our life, of the food we eat and of the environment around us.... Turn off the TV and instead walk in the park, visit a good friend, sit down for a meal with family or friends or even by yourself but before you dig in, breath smile, appreciate the food on the table, then eat mindfully, be aware of the taste, the smell, the texture, even if its only a bowl of rice, be happy, be thankful. He also teaches how to transform unpleasant feelings like anger for example into something more wholesome like understanding, using a 5-step method. By practicing understanding and loving speech instead of blaming and arguing we can help each other be happy. By knowing the true nature, the essence of the people around us we can enjoy each other. Mindfulness should lead to proactivity. We must be aware of the real problems of the world and of the suffering around us, and then with mindfulness we will know what to do to be of help. This book is written clearly and beautifully. Full of inspiring stories and parables, meditations and practices, reflecting the author's wisdom and experience. Terrific and extremely effective, will make you calm and happy just reading it, then breathe, smile and be peaceful!

How can you make a difference in this world? Reading PEACE IS EVERY STEP is definitely a step in the right direction. Thich Nhat Hanh illustrates in his beautifully simplistic way that peace is something that begins with the individual.One need not read the book from start to finish. Each chapter is a morsel of wisdom in and of itself. I use it as a daily meditation first thing in the morning. A gentle reminder as I start the day. This book radically changed the way that I look at the world. I have bought copies for so many of my friends and they have done the same after reading it. By passing this message of Peace along, we are in essence forming a Peace Movement. Please do yourself and your community a favor and read and savor this little volume of wisdom.A moment of peace is waiting for you...

I read this book twice once ten years ago and once recently. The last reading was the most powerful possibly because I had read both Converstaions with God and An Encounter With A Prophet. It was much easier for me to attain great peace after I had changed my concepts of God from reading these two books. try it you will like it

This book was written by a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk. But don't let that fool you, this book is for everyone. The author doesn't try to convert you to his religion, the only Buddhist principles in this book go hand in hand with many Christian beliefs. The author shows how easy it is to live a fulfilling life in harmony with yourself and the world around you.Read this book if you ever feel depressed or if you feel you are getting lost in the modern age. This book will not tell you who you are, but it will help to show you how you can discover what it is you really want and find happiness.Thich Nan Haht was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by none other than Martin Luther King Jr.Highly recommended.

Hanh's book is a wonderful exhortation for all of us to find deep sprirituality in the midst of what we are NOW, what we do NOW, and simply the moment we call NOW. I greatly admire this Buddhist author's humility. He does not say "follow in my footsteps," but rather invites us to walk alongside him, and discover our own paths to "mindfulness." This is a very welcome change of pace from all the "spiritual" books that attempt to sell the author's own beliefs about God, or worse yet, attempt to promote the financial well-being of the author. Hanh has the resume to prove his sincerity -- having taken great risks to urge reconciliation at a time when the U.S. and Vietnam were torn by violent conflict. He adheres to the Zen tradition of making no demands on what people choose to believe, or what religion they should practice. "Peace Is Every Step" is a well expressed invitation to join him in this sincere spiritual quest. A word of caution though -- you are not likely to benefit from the book unless you actually *practice* the techniques Hanh so eloquently describes. However, if you do, you will find peace, because it is already there inside of you. (And his other books are very much worth reading too!)