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

by Paddy Brosnan

Former investment advisor turned committed Buddhist shares a simple introduction to the deep wisdom and transformative practice of mindfulness.Everyone is talking about mindfulness, but how does it actually work and how can it help you?Mindfulness is a simple yet radical practice that can completely transform your life. Paddy Brosnan worked for many years as an investment advisor but felt trapped in a cycle of anxiety and anger. When he began practising mindfulness every day, he found that his relationships became more profound, his interactions with others more honest and his daily frustrations and anxieties simply vanished. In other words, mindfulness helped him calm down, and he became truly happy.This Works is the collection of tools and exercises that Paddy teaches in his workshops and events, and includes examples of everyday mindfulness from his own family life. It shows you that literally anyone can learn to meditate, and you don't have to become a Buddhist monk to be truly zen. Through simple daily exercises, you'll learn that mindfulness is not something you do, but something you are.Or, put simply, mindfulness can help you be truly happy.

Genres: Spirituality, Meditation

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2018

Reviews

[pizza boy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.”

[Julie A Lamirande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

I recommend this book. There is a lot of good information and practical problem solutions. I am really enjoying the quotations.

[Or · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great workthrough for anybody who wants to start implementing Mindfulness into thier lives.

[Najwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.