Book: Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
By: Thich Nhat Hanh
Reviewed by: Shelby Brown
The Premise: This book, Peace is Every Step, came on my radar at the start of January as I was looking to head into another year of the pandemic with a more open – and more peaceful – mindset. Thich Nhat Hanh was a lifelong activist, and recently passed away at the age of 95 on January 22, 2022, leaving behind a legacy and message that can help us manage the rush of the modern world. Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life essentially shares just that – steps to make positive of the situations around us. The book really focuses on steps and exercises to help us find “peace that is available in each moment.” Right from the start, as I read through this book, I did feel a sense of calm start to come over me. What’s interesting is that this book is 30 years old, yet the issues we are trying to solve and remedy for ourselves three decades later are still the same.
The Bottomline: Thich Nhat Hanh was a world renowned Zen master; in this book, he really illustrated how to make use out of situations that stress us out or cause burden. He uses real life examples, and simple examples, to show just how easily we can bring peace and calm to situations that do cause stress. He uses examples of a dirty kitchen, phones ringing, and crazy traffic and shows how you can find opportunities for meditation in each.
Thich Nhat Hanh is really a beautiful writer. Although Peace is Every Step is simple, it is powerful. Perhaps that is where much of the effectiveness of the book lies, in its simplicity. What I found really helpful from this book was the meditations and exercises that Thich Nhat Hanh shared. They are not complex, perhaps sometimes, they seemed even “too easy”. What I can say is that 20-some odd days into a new year, and another year of a global pandemic, I am feeling at peace. The exercises that I found most valuable from the book were the exercises designed to increase my own awareness through conscious breathing. The simple practices set out in the book are designed to encourage us to bring calm and peace to the world at large – and the “world” meaning the things and people that surround us, as well as bring us inner calm and peace. And it was said, by “turning the “mindless” into the mindful”.
Recommendation: I recommend this book for anyone who is looking to reset and find calm in the everyday chaos that continues around us. This was a great book to start of the new year. Even if this book already confirms what you know, it’s a great refresher to help you get back on the wagon.
