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This Works: How to Use Mindfulness to Calm the Hell Down and Just Be Happy

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Following on from the success of his workshops, mindfulness teacher and inspirational speaker Paddy Brosnan has written a book that looks at mindfulness with a fresh eye. Paddy has taught and practiced mindfulness for many years, and for him, there are only two basic components – formal meditation practice and the practical application of mindfulness in everyday life. In this book, he teaches the concept that mindfulness is not something you do but something you are – it is a way of being.  

In This Works, Paddy presents the practice of mindfulness as something of the utmost simplicity, which can tap into truths we all know at an instinctive level, and can be easily understood and enjoyed by anyone. The book will simultaneously take mindfulness ‘back to basics’ and expand its boundaries into the much more general field of the development of awareness. It will also explore the deeper spiritual significance produced by mindfulness and its practice.  

The greater part of the book will focus on the sense in which the ongoing practice of mindfulness can open up a whole new dimension of experience, enabling us to savour the pleasures in life as they occur, to be more fully engaged in everyday activities, and to develop a greater capacity to deal with adverse events.  

Written with the humor, compassion, and relatability which have made the author’s workshops so successful, this book will provide a very direct and accessible insight into how the development of awareness through mindfulness can ultimately bring us a deeper sense of contentment and happiness – or, put another way, how mindfulness can help us to suffer less. 

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2018

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Paddy Brosnan

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for pizza boy.
254 reviews2 followers
December 19, 2020
ספר טוב על מדיטציות מיינדפולנס קשיבות ובעצם דרכים להירגע בעולם מלא החרדה הזה. בעקבות כך שאני חולה במחלה כרונית, ולא יוצא הרבה מהבית עקב הקורונה. התחילו אצלי לחצים וחרדות. התחלתי בעקבות עצה שקיבלתי להתחיל לנסות לעשות מדיטציות. זה עוזר לי מאוד ואני רואה שינוי בכל יום. הספר הזה פחות טוב לדעתי מה אפליקציות הרבות והמעלות שיש, כמו למשל הדספייס. אבל עדיין בהחלט מעולה לאנשים מתחילים עם המון תובנות מעניינות על החיים. מומלץ למי שנושא הקשיבות מעניין אותו.
Profile Image for Sandra.
201 reviews
January 20, 2021
It usually takes me the first half of a book to decide my overall opinion about it. By the half of this one I started skipping pages, and truthfully could have spared the time and stopped there.
This really is a pretty simple, step by step intro to mindfulness, so if that's what you're looking for this book is perfect for you. Personally, I'm more interested in mindfulness as a lifestyle and I don't need a "how to" for classic meditation techniques. Maybe it's because the whole topic of mindfulness is kind of popular nowadays, but the breathing techniques and such really didn't feel like new information for me. The second half of the book does go on to talk about how to implement mindfulness in your daily lifestyle and how to use it to weaken negative emotions, but I didn't appreciate the examples the author used to introduce his ideas.
- all people get clingy once they start developing deep feelings for their new partners, and mindfulness is the cure? nah disagree
- mindfulness will make you more heroic and be the first to - insert life.random.getHeroExample() - rush to an injured child? gee, sign me up
I felt like the author was just looking for ways to show off anecdotes about his "improved post mindfulness life". Honestly, the words "mindfulness" , whilst repeated too much in this review, were barely mentioned in the last few chapters shrug

Tldr: Kinda drone-y. Not half bad for whoever has never heard of meditation in their life.
Profile Image for Ann.
253 reviews3 followers
October 30, 2023
Praktisch en inspirerend.
“Mindfulness is so much more than just a system or a set of techniques – it is a way of living. It is not something you do – it is something that you are. We practise mindfulness in order to live with awareness, and in living with awareness, we get to experience life fully, directly, for the miracle that it is.”
1 review
October 22, 2020
Good book

I recommend this book. There is a lot of good information and practical problem solutions. I am really enjoying the quotations.
Profile Image for Or.
80 reviews24 followers
January 22, 2023
A great workthrough for anybody who wants to start implementing Mindfulness into thier lives.
Profile Image for Najwa.
23 reviews25 followers
March 4, 2019
I enjoyed reading " This Works " by Paddy Brosnan. While I had a fair background of what was already mentioned, I gained insights into the mindfulness process in terms of the subtle things that we unconsciously do, and might as a result get in the way of fully accepting the difficult emotions should they arise. The explanation was very simple, profound and the examples the writer has given about the events that happened in his everyday life and that anyone could have possibly encountered were simplistic and full of wisdom, which only reflects the wisdom he has gained from this simple act of living mindfully- which he regarded as life changing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in particular those who are interested in living happily and in the moment, which I firmly believe everyone in this life is.
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