Peace of Mind: Becoming Fully Present

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Overview

We can’t heal with our minds alone. Thinking can be something productive and creative, but without integrating body and mind, much of our thinking is useless and unproductive. In Peace of Mind, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that integrating body and mind is the only way to be fully alive in each moment, without getting lost in our thoughts while walking, cooking, driving, and going about our everyday lives. Only by cultivating a mindful body and an embodied mind can we be fully alive. Bringing together ancient wisdom and contemporary thinking, Thich Nhat Hanh says it's like hardware and software—if you don't have both, you can't do anything.

Peace of Mind provides a foundation for beginning mindfulness practices and understanding the principles of mind/body awareness. By learning how our physical body and mind are inseparable in creating our own perceptions and experiences we can begin to trust and nourish our ability to create well-being.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937006440
Publisher:	Parallax Press
Publication date:	08/16/2013
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	734,487
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned spiritual teacher and peace activist. Born in Vietnam in 1926, he became a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of sixteen. Over seven decades of teaching, he published more than 100 books, which have sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for promoting peace, his teachings on Buddhism as a path to social and political transformation are responsible for bringing the mindfulness movement to Western culture. He established the international Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism in France, now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and the heart of a growing community of mindfulness practice centers around the world. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 95 at his root temple, Tu Hieu, in Hue, Vietnam.

Table of Contents

1 Mind and Body Are One 10

Practice: Coming Home to Your Body 13

2 The Four Qualities of Happiness 20

Practice: Four Steps to Ending Alienation 23

3 Full-Body Meditation 30

Practice: Deep Relaxation 39

4 Finding Peace 46

Practice: The Sixteen Exercises of Mindful Breathing 54

5 Reconnecting with the Body 80

Practice: Body Scan 87

6 Generating Mindfulness, Concentration, and Insight 92

Practice: Taking Refuge 105

7 Steady in the Storm 110

Practice: Belly Breathing 115

8 Taking Care of Body and Mind 120

Practice: Touching the Earth 131

9 Practicing Mindfulness in Daily Life 140

Practice: Walking Meditation 150

Editorial Reviews

"Like all the great teachers, Thich Nhat Hanh transmits profound insights through simple heart-opening words. His voice is so intimate and open, reading this book is like sitting with him, in his transforming presence. Offering powerful experiential practices and an inspiring vision of what a human life can be, this book shows you how to bring mind and body together to illuminate and heal each one. You could spend the rest of your life reading and rereading this deceptively simple book, it is that deep."—Rick Hanson, Ph. D., author of Buddha's Brain

"Practice the gentle exercises in this graceful book to achieve the peace and happiness that mindful awareness of the fundamental union of body and mind can bring to oneself and to others."—Richard Shusterman, author of
Body Consciousness

From the Publisher