The Art of Stopping Time: Practical Mindfulness for Busy People

by Pedram Shojai

We're all struggling to find time in our lives, but somehow there's never enough to go around. We're too tired to think, too wired to focus, less efficient than we want to be, and guilty about not getting enough time with our loved ones.

We all know that we feel starved for time, but what are we actually doing about it? Precious little. In The Art of Stopping Time, New York Times bestselling author Pedram Shojai guides us towards success with what he calls Time Prosperity--having the time to accomplish what you want in life without feeling compressed, stressed, overburdened, or hurried.

So how do we achieve this Time Prosperity? We learn to Stop Time. To do that, Shojai walks us though a 100-day Gong, which is based on the Chinese practice of designating an amount of time each day to perform a specific task. The ritual helps you become mindful, train your mind, instill new habits, and fundamentally transform your relationship with time. We can find moments of mental awareness while in the shower, eating a snack, listening to podcasts, and even while binge-watching our favorite TV shows.

He shares how to use Gongs to reprogram your habits, reduce stress, increase energy, exercise the ancient practice of mindfulness, and become a master of your time. Whether you do one per day, a bunch at a time, or read the whole book in one sitting, practicing the Gongs is a dedicated act of self-love that snaps us out of our daily trance and brings the light of awareness to our consciousness. The more we practice, the more we wake up, and the better off we are.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Personal Development, Meditation, Health, Mental Health

Audible Audio

Published October 24, 2017

About the author

Pedram Shojai is a dynamic teacher, Taoist minister, and lifelong student of various Alchemical traditions. A master herbalist, licensed acupuncturist, and wellness consultant, Pedram has worked with individuals, companies, and groups for several years teaching transformative practice and meditation. Pedram teaches various forms of Qi Gong (Chinese energy yoga) from the Taoist, Buddhist, and medical traditions. He has a 3 DVD set out titled” “The Alchemy of Qi Gong” (Sacred Mysteries) that won acclaim from the COVR awards.

Reviews

[Bianca A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Published in 2017 around the time the mindfulness hype began taking roots, I read this book in 2020 in electronic format. Given the topic, it was a light lecture and potent speed reading candidate.
I'm surprised that a priest of the Yellow Dragon Monastery in China and a "doctor" of oriental medicine troubled themselves to write a book. You might have heard of one of their previous works, 'The Urban Monk' in which similar ideas were propagated.
This book latches itself in a very modern hot topic, that of time; how to manage it better, how to make more of it, how to make better decisions about how to spend it and so on. Naturally, it advocates a reduction of phone usage and social media, which I 100% agree with, but is nothing new. Expect eastern metaphors mixed together with popular advice. If you are truly familiar with these strategies and already have a grip on your schedule, skip the book. If you're new with the topic of time management and mindfulness, give it a shot if you've got the buck, but don't expect to be swept off of your feet and expect to find similar information for free in other places.
In retrospect, 'Essentialism' by Greg McKeown published in 2014 was a much better written and much shorter book, minus the mindfulness which can very well be explored in another book or through another way like a class or a video as it is not, after all, such a terribly complex idea to grasp. The message inside of the book is not terrible, but I have a personal distaste for over-recycled topics from authors who just wanna make a buck or throw in their two cents in an already over-saturated market.

[Lauren Bach · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review from Amazon: Pedram Shojai’s newest book, The Art of Stopping Time, is a treasure trove of suggestions for reclaiming control of your time while moving through life more consciously. The 100 daily exercises – or gongs as Shojai calls them – includes practices from time audits (exactly like it sounds) to time with the stars. (the celestial variety, not Hollywood.) I jumped at the opportunity to participate in a test panel that utilized 50 of the gongs and witnessed firsthand how valuable these daily practices can be. When I re-evaluated my priorities (Day 1 – assembling your life garden) and started to “chunk time” (Day 13) I found that my productivity in creative writing skyrocketed. To my delight, it’s still going strong. The Art of Stopping Time is a treat to read - each gong is only two, shortish pages or less and the author’s tone is conversational; soothing. There’s no fluff, yet it’s thought-provoking and no-nonsense. As with all personal development, it does require action and commitment. :) I loved the book – five stars, highly recommended. It’s the one I’m giving for Christmas this year.

[Mirela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

[Nikki Jefford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful daily reminders to be mindful and enjoy all of the little joys of living.

This is one I will revisit again and again.

[Ebony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The time I spent reading The Art of Stopping Time was well spent. Ironically, I really did have to stop my day because the ebook is due tonight and I had to finish before I lost my notes. I initially thought the book would be more narrative, but it’s 100 gongs or practical suggestions for making better use of your time. It’s spiritual without being overbearing or preachy. The author is conversational, and his subtle humor appears at just the right places.

So much of the book was a reiteration of my yoga life and advice from my holistic doctors. I highly recommend it. Even if you play gong roulette, flip to a random gong each day, and give it a try, it will be worth it. You’ll see the difference. Since I started the book a few days ago, I’ve stopping checking my phone upon waking. I’ve limited my scrolling at night. In fact, my phone has been off all day today. It feels amazing. When I do plug in, I find I haven’t even missed much. In fact, I’ve gained time. After reading the book in its entirety, I can’t wait to get back to nature and to prioritize more of the things I really want to do, and perhaps, most importantly, to take more breaks. When I started the book, I was horrified at the idea of taking a break every 25 or 30 minutes but 100 gongs later, I’m like, okay, I can see the benefits of stopping time.

[Joanna Bożerodska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knygoje autorius pristato 100-tą pratimų - “gongų”, kurių dėka galime sulėtinti savo vis labiau greitėjančią kasdienybę. Labiausiai man įsiminė pirmasis gongas (nors jau praėjo du metai), pasakojantis apie gyvenimą kaip sodą, kuriame esantys augalai - mūsų veiklos. Sodo priežiūrai turime ribotą kiekį vandens - laiko: kaip paskirstysime jį ir kuriuos augalus teks išrauti? Perskaičiusi šį skyrių skaudžiai suvokiau, kad kai kurių dalykų niekada nepadarysiu, nes jiems niekada neužtenka laiko. Peržiūrėjau savo įpročius, pradėjau pastebėti, kur iššvaistau savo brangų laiką. Knygoje dar buvo keli vertingi patarimai, tačiau didelė dalis gongų skambėjo “šiandien apkabink medį”, “susitvarkyk darbo stalą”, “pakvėpuok” ir panašiai, todėl knyga didelio įspūdžio nepaliko.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great advice and tips in this book. There’s a lot of good information in here.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to read this an idea or two at a time (which is the way the book is meant to be read) but that got too boring. There were some good ideas covered but also seemed like he was stretching to come up with 100.

[Rob Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is divided into 100 daily practices, providing the reader with much to think about along the way. If you're new to mindfulness, it's a great starting point. If not, it can serve as a useful daily reminder to slow down, stay positive, pay attention, enjoy nature and breathe.

[Cliff Chew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book uses a what I call 100-day approach, where each chapter should be read by a day, and the book should bring you through a 100 days of practice. Naturally, I didn't do that, because I don't have a 100 days to read one book.

But maybe that's why I need a book to kind of slow me down as well. If that is what you want, this book is a good start, but be warned, it might frustrate you as well. Reason being that even though I felt the book was good at the start, but kind of was repeating itself by 1/2 of the book.

Ironically, the book had a part about "forcing yourself to complete a book because you don't want to be seen as a quitter" (not exact quotes though). In the end, I rushed through about the last 1/3 of the book, and kind of went through a phase of "I finally completed this book!" moment.

Now, I need to go and find myself more time.

[Chintushig Tumenbayar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хэдий цагийг бид зогсоохгүй ч урсан өнгөрч буй цаг хугацааг удаашруулах илүү мэдрэх боломж хүн бүхэнд байна гэдэг санааг олон талаас нь сонирхолтойгоор танилцуулсан ном байлаа. Амьдралдаа хэрэгжүүлсэн зүйлсээс дурдвал аяга угаах үедээ олон зүйлс бодогүйгээр төвлөрч гунигтай мэт ажлыг илүү толгойгоо амраасан цаг хугацаа болголоо зарим үед подкаст сонсон нэг мэдэхэд л аяга шангвага ширээ, плитканы тавцан гэх мэт өөр хийж болох ажлуудруу орчихсон байдаг болсон.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A daily "thought or gong" book that will make you stop and feel. Great!

[Ramu · Rating 4 out of 5]

100 dienų įvairūs pratimai, naudingi patarimai pritaikomi kasdienai ir kiekvienam, kad gyvenimas nenueitų veltui :) patiko!

[Jung · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Art of Stopping Time - Pedram Shojai

Maybe you can’t literally stop time, but you can slow it down and get more out of it by spending it more wisely, becoming more mindful, and energizing yourself. To do this, you have to carve out time to practice mindfulness and do things that give you energy. That requires time management. And by becoming more mindful and energetic, you’ll also be able to manage your time better – using it more productively, enjoyably, and meaningfully. The end result is something that can be called time prosperity, where your limited time here on Earth serves you as much as it can.

Actionable advice

Practice some gongs.

It takes about 90 days of practice to internalize better habits of time usage. To help you with this, the author recommends doing something he calls a 100-day gong. Each day, you practice one “time-stopping” technique for a designated period of time, which he calls a gong. We touched on seven of the gongs, so you could string them together into a whole week of practice. For instance, Monday: identify the plants and weeds in your life garden. Tuesday: do the meditation exercise with one of your meals. Wednesday: listen to an audiobook on your commute. Thursday: politely decline unwanted time commitments. Friday: take a luxurious bath. Saturday: carve out some family time. And Sunday: think about the ROI on the way you’re spending your time.

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What you get out of your time depends on how you spend it, how much energy you have, and how mindful you are.

Imagine you could stop time – not just figuratively, but literally. Snap your fingers, and poof – the clock stops ticking. Congratulations. You now have unlimited time to finish that work project, write that memoir, or do anything else you want.

But what if you ended up just messing around with your phone instead? And what if you were too tired or scatterbrained to focus on anything more worthwhile? Well, in that case, you might as well take all of that newly created time and flush it down the toilet.

On one level, time is something very fixed and finite. There are only so many hours in a day, a week, and a lifetime. Meanwhile, an hour is an hour, no matter how you slice it: 60 minutes, 3,600 seconds – it’s always the same. And there’s only so much you can do with an hour. A good workout? Sure. A vacation? Obviously not.

But on another level, time is a much more fluid phenomenon. What you get out of it depends on three factors.

First, how are you spending it? Are you doing something interesting, useful, meaningful, or pleasurable with your time? If the answer is yes, you’ll end up getting much more out of an hour than if the answer is no. Going for a run? More endurance. Working on a side hustle? More money. Reading a book? More knowledge. But just sitting around, looking at photos of other people’s lives on social media? You won’t have much to show for that.

Alright, now the second factor: How much energy do you have? If you’re feeling revved up and ready to go, you can spend that hour pleasurably and productively. But if you’re exhausted, you’ll barely be able to do anything, let alone enjoy it. Maybe you’ll end up flopped on the sofa, zoning out in front of the television.

Finally, the third factor: How mindful are you being? Are you paying attention to what you’re experiencing? If the answer is no, you’re essentially losing that hour. Even if you’re doing something amazing, like hiking through a beautiful forest, the time will slip by as if you barely experienced it.

So no, we can’t actually stop time. And we can’t change the fact that our time is limited. But we can get more out of it. And we can stop losing so much of it.

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To get what you want out of life, you have to conserve your time, energy, and attention.

Picture your life as a garden. In this garden, you’re trying to grow some “plants.” Each plant is something you want to cultivate in your life – your career, health, relationships, hobbies, and anything else that’s important to you.

But here’s the problem. Your “life garden” has limited space – room for only about five to ten plants. And you only have so much “water” for your plants. The water is your time, energy, and attention. So, how do you help your garden to flourish? Well, the secret to success boils down to two words: resource management.

Inside your life garden, your “water” is an absolutely essential resource for your “plants.” However, it’s also very limited, so you have to distribute it carefully. If you don’t pour any time, energy, or attention into your career, it’ll never grow. But if you devote too much of your water to this one particular plant, it’ll prosper at the expense of your other plants. Your career will blossom, but your relationships will languish.

The same goes for that boring book you’ve been reading for months, that online class you’ve lost interest in, or anything else that isn’t worth the time, energy, and attention you’re paying to it. In your life garden, there are other “plants” more deserving of your water – and they’re not getting that water if you’re wasting it on “weeds.” These are the plants you don’t want to grow – the ones that divert valuable space and water away from the plants you do want to grow.

Chances are, you’ve already got some weeds in your garden. Harsh as it might sound, you’ve got to pull them out – and then you’ve got to stay on guard against new ones sneaking in and taking root.

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You need to think carefully about how you’re investing your time.

Have you ever worked in the business world or played the stock market? If so, you’ve probably heard the term return on investment before, or ROI for short. It’s basically a measure of how much profit you make when you invest money in a stock option or business venture. The goal, of course, is to get more money out of the investment than you put into it. The bigger the return, the better the ROI.

A similar logic applies to how we invest our time. Now, here are the million-dollar questions: What’s your ROI on how you invest your time? And what’s your time investment strategy? Do you even have one?

If the answer is no, then it’s time to do something about it.

Let’s say you’ve got half an hour to spend. No matter what you choose to do with that time, you’re going to experience some sort of outcome as a result. Go for a walk, and you’ll improve your fitness a little. Do a high-intensity workout, and you’ll improve it even more. Smoke some cigarettes, and you’ll do the opposite.

The choice is yours – and that’s the point. You’ve got to decide how you use your time. And that decision is essentially an investment decision. You’re putting a certain amount of time into one activity or another, and you’re getting back something else in return – whether that’s a better physique or a smoker’s cough.

Of course, the choices aren’t usually that stark. So how do you make your investment decisions under normal circumstances? Well, you should weigh your options based on the outcomes they produce. Do they improve your health, happiness, finances, or overall quality of life? And if so, how much?

If you measure your options by these criteria, you’ll see that some of them provide better ROIs than others. But it all depends on what you’re looking for. If you just want to whip yourself into shape, that high-intensity workout is an excellent investment opportunity. It squeezes a lot of exercise into a short period of time. In comparison, walking isn’t as much of a high-yield fitness option. But it could be a great way to reconnect with nature or have a conversation with a friend.

In any case, you wouldn’t plow your money into the stock market without weighing your options and thinking about your investment strategy, would you? So, shouldn’t you do the same thing with your time – your most valuable resource?

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Even when you need to do something, you still have a lot of freedom in how you do it.

Alright, you might say. Maybe I can take back some of my time. But that’s just nibbling around the edges of my day. Most of it’s full of obligations I can’t get out of, and I can’t really change them.

For many of us, going to work is an obvious case in point. Short of working from home, starting a business, or winning the lottery, that’s just something you’ve got to do, right?

Well, yes and no.

Let’s say that due to personal circumstances, you have to keep your current job and place of residence. And let’s say there’s a long distance between points A and B, so you have to commute. No choice about it.

But how do you do that commute? On foot, by public transport, or in your car? Often, the choice is yours, and some options are better for your body – not to mention the environment – than others.

And even if you’ve no choice but to go by car, that still leaves things open. Do you drive by yourself? Or do you join a carpool?

And even if that’s not an option, you still have many other choices to make. What do you do while you’re driving solo? Do you listen to music, a podcast, or an audiobook? Talk on the phone? Or just stare at the bumpers in front of you and grumble about the traffic?

As small as they might seem, these choices can significantly transform the hours you spend driving per week. By listening to some peaceful music, you can turn your commute time into relaxation time. By putting on an audiobook, you can turn it into learning time. And by making a phone call, well, that depends on who you’re talking to. A client? That’s work time. A friend? Social time.

In any case, whether you decide to listen to a classic novel or catch up with your dad, your choices don’t stop there. For instance, what are you doing with your body? Are you slouching, or practicing good posture?

You could even spend the time doing Kegel exercises, where you tighten and relax the pubococcygeus muscles in your pelvis. This will help you build a stronger core and improve your sex life – all while you jam out to your favorite tunes, learn about history, or do whatever else you choose to do with your time!

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You need to stop wasting your time on technological distractions.

Now, maybe you’re one of those lucky people who doesn’t have a morning commute. But even if you get to work from home in your pajamas, you still experience numerous situations per day where you’re waiting for something else to happen. If it’s not waiting for the customer service agent to pick up the phone, then it’s waiting for the elevator to open, the waiter to bring the check, or the microwave to finish.

Many of these experiences last just a few seconds or minutes, but they all add up, and they present us with a question: How do we fill up all of that empty time?

If we’re being honest, the answer for many of us is “not so well.” And the reason for this comes down to two words: technology usage.

Imagine you’re waiting in line at the coffee shop. What do you do to pass the time? If you’re like many of us these days, chances are you’re looking at your phone. Maybe you’re flicking through the news or one of your social media feeds. Or perhaps you’re checking in on one of those chat apps where you and your friends engage in mostly idle conversation.

In any case, staring at a phone has become the default, go-to activity for many of us, whenever we have any empty time to kill. Is it any surprise, then, that so much of our free time feels like dead time? We’re spending a large chunk of it as if we’re zombies, enthralled to various electronic screens. If it’s not our phones, then it’s our computers or televisions.

But no one is forcing us to waste our time this way. We can take back this time we’re losing and put it to better uses.

The first step here is to kick the habit. Next time you’re waiting somewhere and feeling the itch to pull out your phone, stop and take some deep breaths into your lower abdomen. Ask yourself, is there some urgent piece of information you simply must gain access to right now? Or have you just become uncomfortable spending time with your own thoughts or observing the world around you?

Maybe you could try some people watching instead, or do some stretches. Or, just stand there and think – anything that helps get you more in tune with your body, your mind, or your surroundings.

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Mindfulness can help you get more enjoyment out of the present moment.

Take some deep breaths into your lower abdomen. Check in with yourself.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other ways in which mindfulness can help us focus on the present moment and try to make the most of it. It’s a powerful technique you might not have tried before, even if you already practice mindfulness.

As we’re going through our days, many of us are often so lost in our preoccupations that we barely pay attention to the world around us. Now, if you’re familiar with mindfulness, you know that part of the point of it is to snap your mind out of this distracted state of being and bring yourself back into the present moment. But how do you do that?

Well, try this out next time you find yourself in a place you’ve never been before. It could be a tropical paradise you’ve gone to on vacation. Or it could just be a neighborhood in your city that you’ve stumbled into for the first time. For this exercise, it doesn’t really matter. The thing you’re going to do is simply: stop, look around, and think to yourself, This could be the last time I’m ever here.

Notice how your perspective suddenly shifts. You’re no longer just walking through that neighborhood. You’re taking in the sights, smells, and textures of the people, streets, and buildings around you. You’re observing everything more closely. You’re noticing the magic of it all. In short, you’re fully experiencing this present moment of your life, instead of just barreling through it.

Now, ready for the kicker? You’re not just doing a thought experiment. This could literally be the last time you’re ever here – wherever that happens to be.

To put it bluntly: terrible things can strike us in the blink of an eye, sometimes without warning. All we know for certain is that some day we’re going to die. That day could be today, tomorrow, or two decades from now. We just don’t know.

And that’s the point. We should try to savor our moments as if they were the last ones we’ve got – because they very well could be.

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Mindfulness can slow down your experience of time, which can enable you to extend it and even stop it.

Alright, after all that talk about mortality.

Has this ever happened to you? You sit down for a meal – pizza, let’s say. You’re eating quickly, without thinking. Maybe you’re doing something on your phone. Suddenly, you look down at your plate and realize the last slice of pizza is already gone.

Where did it all go? Well, you know it went into your belly – but you can barely remember eating the darn thing. It’s as if the experience didn’t even register in your mind.

Okay, you probably already know where we’re going with this. Yep, that’s right – once again, mindfulness is here to save the day.

Here’s another mindfulness exercise for you: next time you’re having a meal, stop doing anything else, and focus all of your attention on what you’re experiencing. Savor the tastes, smells, and textures of your food. Give each mouthful its own due. Chew and swallow it completely before you move onto the next morsel. Observe the muscular sensations involved in the process.

There’s a lot to take in! You just have to pay attention.

And if you do this exercise, it’ll not only enrich your experience of eating and make these minutes register in your mind. It’ll also stretch out the time, enabling you to experience more of it, in effect.

That’s not just because you’re eating slowly, but because you’re eating mindfully. When you’re paying attention to what you’re doing, time tends to go by more slowly – in a good way, not like when you’re having a boring experience and the time just seems to drag. This applies not only to eating but to just about anything you’re doing. You can practice mindfulness with the music you’re listening to in the car, the background noises you’re hearing on the street, the physical sensations of a nice warm bath. You name it, you can be mindful about it.

And if you’re really mindful, you can even achieve the seemingly impossible: you can stop the flow of time – in a sense, at least. When you’re fully plugged-in to the present moment, that moment itself can feel eternal. Sink into it, savor it, and let the seconds stretch out into infinity.

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You need to make better time for yourself.

How’d you spend your morning today? If you’re like many people, you might have spent a lot of it in the shower. Many of us spend so much time in there that our bathrooms look like a steam room by the end.

Now, taking these long, hot showers on a daily basis is obviously bad for the environment. If you’ve got chlorine in your water supply, it’s not so good for your body either, since your skin can absorb the chemicals. But there’s an even deeper problem going on here, and it brings up a more general point that’s going to help us tie everything.

Yes, that long, hot shower feels good. But even putting aside the environmental and physical consequences, is this a good use of our time? Most of us spend our shower time just zoning out, basking in the warm sensation of the water and the sense of privacy we have.

Well, as car mechanics sometimes say, there’s your problem right there. For many of us, the shower is one of the few places where we have any sense of privacy. And it’s also one of the few times in the day when we do something nice and relaxing for our bodies. In other words, we have a deficit of “me time,” and we use the shower as a way of compensating for it.

The obvious solution? Reclaim some time for yourself. Perhaps there are better ways to relax and energize yourself. You could get a weekly massage, or do stretches every morning. Or, you could take a luxurious bath a couple of times per week, punctuated by quicker, more environmentally-friendly showers.

Only you know what your body needs, so this is yet another exercise in mindfulness. You’ve got to tune in to yourself and figure out what works best for you.

It’s also another exercise in time management. You’ve got to schedule your “me time” into your days and weeks. The same goes for all the other things that energize you and make you feel like you’re making the most of your time. Working out at the gym, going on walks with a friend, spending time with your family, having sex with your partner – none of these will happen unless you carve out the time to make them happen. So what are you waiting for? Your life is in your hands!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. I paced myself to read this book, to process the ideas that were presented. I plan to revisit this book to remind me how to live a full life and not experience time compression / deprivation.

[Karen Shilvock-Cinefro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought filled little book with some perceptions and suggestions on using our time over a 100 day process. Always good to stimulate thought reflect on our own personal habits and use of time. This author has also written the Urban Monk.

[Dang Minh Ngoc · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Art of Stopping Time: Practical Mindfulness for Busy People (Hardcover)
by Pedram Shojai

*sách tóm tắt

tên tiếng Việt: Nghệ thuật ngừng thời gian

1. 3 nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến chất lượng thời gian:
- chia được (theo phút, giây, giờ, ngày... ) và co giãn được (theo cách mình sử dụng, mục đích dùng)
- tình trạng năng lượng của mình (thể chất, tinh thần, tâm trạng) ảnh hưởng đến hiệu quả sử dụng thời gian
- sự hiện diện, chú tâm vào trải nghiệm đang làm

-> giải pháp tận dụng thời gian: dự trữ năng lượng và chú tâm cho các hoạt động có ý nghĩa.

2. cắt giảm các khoảng thời gian ko sinh lời:
- ROI - Hiệu suất lợi nhuận do đầu tư mang lại. mục tiêu đầu tư: thu về kết quả lớn hơn nguồn lực ban đầu.
- Thời gian cũng là 1 loại nguồn vốn đầu tư và là loại nguồn vốn có giá trị nhất-> Sử dụng thời gian hiệu suất để mang lại kết quả lớn nhất.
- Hiệu suất lợi nhuận khác nhau khi nhìn qua nhiều lăng kính khác nhau.

3. Chú tâm vào khoảnh khắc hiện tại
- ko nghĩ về QK, ko mơ về tương lai, ko vướng bận vào kế hoạch
- dừng các luồng suy nghĩ và cảm nhận mọi thứ sâu sắc hơn bằng mọi giác quan
- " có thể đây là lần cuối cùng.."
- sống trọn vẹn để cảm nhận thời gian vô tận
- giảm mức độ phụ thuộc vào điện thoại trong các khoảng thời gian trống (chờ thang máy, chờ phục vụ bàn..) -> thở sâu, tiếp cận thêm thông tin, nhìn ngắm, chậm rãi, căng cơ, quan sát và lắng nghe suy nghĩ..
- tiếng chuông chánh niệm : làm 1 việc gì đó trong tỉnh thức*90 ngày
- cơ thể đầy năng lượng + đặt trọn tâm trí trong việc mình làm

06.09.2022
N

đọc thêm review/ tóm tắt sách của mình tại: https://nhungghicheplinhtinhcuangoc.w...

[Suzanne Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound. A balm and a recipe for living in this world.

[Laura Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it in a few days rather then 100 but some good advice. I need to remember to breathe, take breaks and plan ahead.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be taken day by day or read out of order or straight through. I enjoyed reading it straight through, I think I would have found it difficult to do the exercises each day. We have a cold climate right now and exploring nature for the day would be unwise. The main concepts of the book were focus on one thing at a time, be mindful, move your body and be aware of stillness and motion, live life to the fullest because it is limited. Not all of the 100 days of exercises/meditations/lessons worked for me, and I don't think realistically I could live by all of the maxims of the urban monk. Yet, some of them did resonate with me. Like imagining what your old self would say to your current self from their death bed. Super morbid, but also interesting. I connected with it. A lot of the practical schedule stuff fell flat with me. Still I liked this one.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, I did not read each and every one of these 100 recommended mindfulness practices (hence the 4 stars for what is likely to be a 3 star book if I did). Some of the subjects just didn't appeal to me, and I hardly think I need a lecture on the importance of eating well or exercising. For those that I did read, I found them to be insightful reminders to meditate on the world around me. To stop and have a moment with a tree, or a fire, or the stars, or my family...to carve out restorative practices every day.

[Iola Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you find you are motivated by being told you are no good, inadequate and. patronised? This is for you then. I know in the 80s that was all the vogue so maybe it works for you but frankly I have a voice in my head doing this for me and I use self compassion practised to quiet it. This book is either a piss take or there is a very different school of mindfulness to the one that sits alongside self compassion therapy. I confess I gave up after day 10 and a flick through to see if it got better.

[Lisa Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a number of books recently that have helped in my career transition year. This one came at a time when I was feeling panicky and overwhelmed. It reminded me to stop. And breathe. The point of this book is to read one chapter every day for 100 days. At the end you will have developed practices that will allow you to stop and enjoy time. Excellent advice.

[Craig Carignan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alot of the same information for his prior book the Urban Monk. So although I find the information valuable it is redundant if you already have his earlier book. I did like it enough to buy it for my sister.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I didn't finish this book.

As someone with executive function struggles who is helped by guided meditations, I was expecting from the title that this book would have similar benefits. I also expected that its suggestions would be achievable for busy people.

The book is split up into 100 daily readings; perhaps a bit of a challenge for a busy reader, but not that out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that each daily reading contains a task or chore, and each prompt is either:
* a task that takes extensive time to complete
(list each demand in your life and pick only 5-10 which you'll keep doing; plan, and then go on, a week long vacation; list all the self care you want to be doing and add it all to your schedule),
* a task that doing only once would have very limited benefits
(sit outside and do some deep breathing, smell your food for 20 seconds before eating it, notice when you're feeling anxious and follow this list of steps), or
* a task which the author explicitly instructs you to repeat daily
(pick a 30-60 minute time slot EVERY MORNING *AND* EVERY AFTERNOON in which to respond to emails).
As you're probably imagining, the demands stack pretty quickly. Many of them require significant financial resources. Some of them, if all perfectly followed, conflict with each other. The reader is also expected to remember and complete all of these accumulating tasks repeatedly with no assistance; the book contains no reminders or check-ins.

It's possible I'm simply not the target audience for this book; that it's meant only for readers with great memories, strong willpower, and perfect focus. But someone that gifted would likely have figured out and implemented much of this book already. The author seems blissfully unaware of how dysfunctional many of his readers are likely to be, and has instead directed his advice to people who are doing quite well for themselves and simply want to fine tune things. Most people who are desperate for this book's help are not going to be able to go to a park and do a set of pushups, sprinting, and then 50 jumping jacks (yes, 50) SEVERAL TIMES on a given day just because an author told them to. In spite of the approachable title, the author seems completely out of touch with how swamped many people are, and how further overwhelmed they will become after only a few days of following his suggestions - let alone all 100 of them.

In short, this book is not, in my opinion, "practical mindfulness for busy people". It is an intense 100-day spiritual retreat in book form that, if you actually follow all its advice, will monopolize the rest of your life. I cannot imagine having the arrogance this author seems to possess, to propose dominating someone else's time so completely under the premise of a little "practical mindfulness".

[Khairulazizi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dalam satu hari jantung bergetar sebanyak 100k kali. Maka setahun bersamaan 35 juta kali dan jika average umur manusia adalah 71 tahun, jantung kita bergetar 2.5 billion kali. Katakan 2.5 billion ini adalah usd 2.5 billion. Umur abiang hampir 39 tahun, so balance duit abiang (mengikut rumus ni) adalah 71-39 = 32, x 35 j = 1.12 B usd. Kalau abiang ada lagi 1.12 B usd, abiang mesti muka ada ketawa namun masih belum. Secara average (kalau tak mati awal), tinggal lagi 1.12 B getaran jantung balance utk abiang hidup dlm muka bumi ini. Persoalannya adalah begini. Apakah yg akan abiang buat dgn balance 1.12 B getaran jantung ini utk fulfill peranan dan saranan abiang sebagai manusia? Masa, yang tuhan bagi kepada abiang, kemanakah ia pergi? Buku ini memang power. Ia menjelaskan dgn santai tapi makan dalam tentang "masa". Ada teknik utk perlahankan masa rupanya dan rupanya "nafas", adalah salah kunci utama untuk "merasakan lama". Ada juga teknik utk travel ke masa silam dan sucikan kenangan pahit yang menarik kita kebelakang, selain dari mengubah perspektif pada masa, utk lebih "kenal diri". Hakikatnya, kita memang tidak boleh berhentikan masa tetapi dgn menggunakan masa dgn bijak dan betul, kita boleh berhentikan perkara yang sia-sia dalam hidup kita. Kalau ada point dalam hidup anda "wtf yg aku buat selama ini" atau "apsal aku rasa tak cukup tanah", mungkin buku ini adalah jawapan "demi masa" namun awas, kesannya boleh mengubah haluan hidup anda. Time, is the currency of life. Membazir masa, ibarat membuang sebahagian daripada hidup kita. Membuat perkara sia-sia, ibarat menjahamkan hidup kita. Tak boleh jadi ni. Rasa nak kena beli jam baru. Akak mesti tak dpt nak bantah dgn hujah yg panjang sebegini. #sirimembacha #pedramshojai #demimasa #surah103:1

[Jason Pettus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be a light but lovely little book, essentially introducing the concepts of mindfulness to Westerners who know nothing about it by devising a series of daily exercises that match perfectly to the harried, social-media-dominated lives of middle-class Americans. As such, then, it's not going to teach you anything meaningful about meditation or Buddhism, but it is a great way to gently lead people into those subjects when they're perhaps intimidated by the idea of throwing themselves whole-hog into it all, with daily tasks that include such simple activities as, "Go through your house today and throw out anything you haven't used in years," "spend an hour doing nothing but thinking about a difficult, complicated problem you're trying to solve," and, "Turn off all your electric lights in the last two hours before bed, and do all your activities by candlelight only." A great primer for learning more about mindfulness, and a fun excuse for regulars to to re-engage with the subjects, it comes recommended in that spirit.

[Ashutosh Upadhyay · Rating 5 out of 5]

To get what you want out of life, you have to conserve your time, energy and attention. Ask yourself- How are you spending your time? Are you doing something useful, meaningful and interesting? How much energy do you have and what are you doing to refresh & regain it? How mindful are you being? Are you paying enough attention to what you are doing & discovering? You may be extremely busy but still you can get time to enjoy a short period of high intensity workout and reading a book while commuting. These activities have high rate of investment ROI in long term. While waiting something, don’t take your mobile as a timepass tool, instead observe your surroundings and people carefully as this is the last moment and enjoy the present moment. As a Mindfulness exercise to live in the present, we must eat our food slowly and should give proper attention to the whole process. Eat slowly, chew properly and observe the motions of the muscles.
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[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soft reminders on how to slow down and make a habit of enjoying and appreciating life. My favorite things I already do and want to do more of:
*Time on a Lake. (Lakes represent stopped time, where flow stops/stalls; there's a serenity to it.)*
Time with a Tree. (Majestic beings whose roots dig deep into the ground where the magic happens.) Time in Bed. (Make it a safe haven.)
Your Bucket List. (Invest your time into your dreams.)
Vow of Silence. (We spew our energy out on wasted words every day.)
Time in the Dark. (Turn off the lights and simply sit for a moment, relax your body and mind.) Time Under the Moon. (A rock floating 250,000 miles away from us but we can see it clearly.)
Time with the Stars. (Sync up with the sky.)
Time on the Ground. (Slow isn't weak.)
Time to Read. (Life experience in a digestible package.)
Snack Time. (Savor them.)
Time and Weight Gain. (How much of yesterday are we carrying around?)
How Many Heartbeats Do I Have Left? (Time here is a gift. Some things can't wait for retirement.)

[Tony Vynckier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not power, not gold, not money, but Time is our ultimate resource.
You need time to get anything done.
- Is there a way to stop time? Can I get more out of it?

Ask yourself:
- How do I spend my time?
- How much energy do I have?
- Am I living in the ‘now’?

Are you doing something interesting, useful, meaningful or pleasurable with your time?
If so, you are getting more out of an hour than if you’re not.
Stop wasting your time with social media or mindless hours of television!

Pay close attention to what you are doing – time will tend to go by more slowly.
Be in the present. Make better use of time for yourself.

To slow down time: Wisely savour the current moments as if they were your very last ones.
Choose wisely on what you spend your time, your energy and your attention.

For the gardeners amongst us: Feed your plants, not the weeds …

TONY VYNCKIER