Product Description

What difference can five minutes make in the crazy, nonstop course of a sixteen-hour day? For people feeling overwhelmed with responsibility, bored with the same tired routine, or frustrated about how to create meaning in their lives, a little time well spent can lead to extraordinary changes. This book shows readers how to dramatically improve their lives in just a few moments each day. The concept is powerfully simple: Readers take the time each morning to be fully present, to set a clear intention for themselves, and to really engage in any of 100 fun and easy-to-follow practices. Soon they will discover that amazing things can happen in just five minutes.

The book provides guided imagery, relaxation, mindfulness, and meditation practices-fun activities that relieve stress and create meaning and purpose in the reader's day. These practices help readers feel good, get motivated, and become inspired to change their lives for the better. Over time, these activities become guideposts readers will return to throughout the day, providing energy and inspiration when they need them most. In other words, the time readers of this book take for themselves in the morning might just be the five good minutes that change their lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6523 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 235 pages

Amazon.com Review
Feeling overwhelmed on a daily basis is no fun for anyone, but changing your mindset requires time that just doesn't exist. Or does it? Five Good Minutes claims time can be found, and backs up that claim with 100 simple exercises that help get your day off to a better start. Dr. Jeffrey Brantley (Calming Your Anxious Mind) has created easy ways of modifying things you already do every day--like taking a shower--into moments that combine grateful awareness with deep relaxation.

Most of the exercises begin with what the author calls "breathing mindfully", and learning that technique is the only item in the book that might take more than five minutes. The nine-step instructions for a basic form of meditation are easy to follow, but could take a little practice if you're a newcomer to such techniques. You're also encouraged to use other techniques you're already familiar with that create a similar feeling of calm centeredness.

The exercises are arranged in broad categories like "peaceful awareness" and "growing wiser and kinder", allowing you to follow along through the book or skip around to the most appealing ones. Each one--from giving yourself a quick foot massage and a hug to paying special attention to your first sip of tea or coffee in the morning--is aimed at creating a short moment of peace and happiness in your otherwise frantic day. And hopefully you'll find that the five-minute exercise creates a lasting feeling of well-being that allows you to reconnect with the joy hiding in your busy schedule. Jill Lightner

From the Publisher
These 100 simple practices are designed to help even the busiest person start the day right. Using just five minutes of mindfulness, relaxation, or imagery techniques during their morning routines, readers can set their intentions and greet the day feeling calm, centered, and energized.

From the Back Cover
Calm, Focus, and Serenity Are Just Five Minutes Away

Do you live your life at a frenetic pace and then drop into bed at night feeling unfulfilled? Do you work hard yet sometimes feel as though you spend most of your time doing things that don’t matter? Do you feel overwhelmed and constantly stressed out? What if you could get everything done and still feel calm, centered, and stress free all day long? How much time would you invest to create focus, presence, and real intention in your life?

How about five minutes?

In this book, Dr. Jeffrey Brantley, founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke University’s Center for Integrative Medicine, offers engaging ways you can make simple, effective, and lasting changes—five minutes at a time. Starting each morning with just one of these exercises will set the tone for a balanced, stress-free, and more fulfilling day. And as you continue your practice, you will find that five good minutes are the best gift you can give yourself.

Customer Reviews

Dull and repetitive
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but when I finally did, it was a huge disappointment. "5 Good Minutes" should be "5 Good Pages," which is about as long as this book should have been. It's dull, suprisingly repetitive, and boils down to one word: Mindfulness. If there weren't already a dozen very good, well-known books on this subject that are more approachable, applicable and practical, I may have given it more stars. On the other hand I may not have, since the prose is as lackluster as the content. I've never seen an author make mindfulness and meditation sound so boring before.

I also got "5 Good Minutes in the Evening" at the same time. It was almost exactly the same, and so was my reaction to it.

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I wish this book had a lower price or more information. Try Instant Karma. A great Book with 8700 ways.

Small time investment can create BIG changes!
Little things can make a big difference. Yes, investing as little as five minutes a day can make substantial positive changes in your life. And these exercises really can be done in five minutes - even the "busiest" people can carve out this small time to invest in themselves.

This book provides a solid introduction to mindfulness and 100 different practices to get your day started in a positive way or use throughout your day. It's small, portable and easy to read. Work through it start to finish or just open to any of its short chapters and try the given exercise with an open mind.

This book will bring home the lesson that you can't give away what you don't have. Use this book as a tool to create more for yourself and to give to loved ones in your life. Recommended both for readers and as a great gift book.

Mollie Marti, Ph.D., J.D.
Author, Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success