50 short and simple mindfulness practices for cultivating happiness—anytime, anywhere—from world-renowned spiritual teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.You don’t need to “formally” meditate in order to bring mindfulness into your daily life! Whether you’re new to Buddhist teaching or you’re a more experienced practitioner, this quintessential resource of Thich Nhat Hanh’s most essential teachings will show you how to walk, sit, work, eat, and even drive with full awareness.
In one accessible and easy-to-use volume, you’ll find many kinds of meditations, including:
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Daily Practices: walking meditation, taking refuge, telephone meditation
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Eating Practices: kitchen meditation, mindful eating, tea meditation
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Physical Practices: resting and stopping, deep relaxation, mindful movements
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Relationship & Community Practices: deep listening and loving speech, peace treaty, hugging meditation
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Extended Practices: touching the earth, lazy day, traveling and returning home
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Practices With Children: helping children with anger, the cake in the refrigerator, pebble meditation
The only way to truly develop peace both in oneself and in the world is to learn to live in the present moment instead of the past or the future. Integrating these practices into daily life will allow you to cultivate peace and joy within yourself, leading to freedom from fear, misunderstanding, and suffering.
Thich Nhat Hanh's central teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live in the present moment instead of in the past and in the future. It's only way to truly develop peace, both in one's self and in the world. Now, for the first time, all of Thich Nhat Hanh's key practices are collected in one accessible and easy-to-use volume. Happiness is structured to introduce those new to Buddhist teachings as well as for more experienced practitioners, Happiness is the quintessential resource of mindfulness practices. Integrating these practices into daily life allows the reader to begin to cultivate peace and joy within him/herself, leading to solidity and freedom from fear, misunderstanding, and suffering.
With the practices offered in Happiness Thich Nhat Hanh encourages the reader to learn to do all the things they do in daily life with mindfulness; to walk, sit, work, eat, and drive, with full awareness of what they are doing. It can bring about a shift towards one of the principles of engaged Buddhism, a shift towards practicing mindfulness in every moment of the day and not just while 'formally' meditating.
Thich Nhat Hanh encourages his readers to "try to be intelligent and skillful in their practice, approaching every aspect of the practice with curiosity and a sense of search. It's important to practice with understanding and not just for the form and appearance. Enjoy your practice with a relaxed and gentle attitude, with an open mind and receptive heart."
