Friday, 31 July 2015

Book: Peace is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh

This book reminds us to live in the present moment and to be mindful in absolutely everything that we do, be it sitting, eating walking, or even doing the dishes being on the phone or driving. 

Something that I did find quite humerous, or perhaps, intrigued by, is more apt, is that a 'breathing room' is recommended (page 45). As the author says, we have rooms for everything else, bedroom, lounge, television room etc. in this breathing room, the author suggests decorating it very simply, and not to be too bright. You may want to have a small bell, one with a beautiful sound, a few cushions or chairs and perhaps a vase of flowers to remind us of our true nature. Every time you feel a little upset, you know that the best thing to do is to go to that room, open the door slowly, sit down, invite the bell to sound, and begin to breath. The following bit is where it becomes intriguing, "Suppose your husband is irritated. Since he has leaned the practice of breathing he knows that the best thing is to go into that room, sit down and practice. You may not realise where he has gone; you were busy cutting carrots in the kitchen. But you suffer also, because you and he just had some kind of altercation, the anger translated into the movement. Suddenly you hear the bell and you know what to do. You stop cutting and you breathe in and out. You feel better, and you may smile, thinking about your husband who knows what to do when he gets angry he is now sitting in the breathing room, breathing and smiling. That's wonderful. Suddenly a feeling of tenderness arises and you feel much better. After three breaths you begin to cut the carrots again but this time quite differently..."

Erm, not too sure that such a 'breathing room' would really be adopted and work in our home. I do however really like the idea of breathing through moments of anger. 

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