The Mindful Place of Calm: Find Your Way into the Space Between Thoughts & Actions

by A. Paul Miller

Learn how to find the gap in your negative emotions and create a place there to successfully practice mindfulness that can be carried effectively into your daily life. This remarkable book helps you change how you react to stressful situations by building a calm mental space to unpack your thoughts and emotions for better awareness and actions for positive change. Once you reach this place of calm, you can transform tension into lasting joy and peace.

The Mindful Place of Calm shows you how to carry the tranquil centeredness achieved in meditation wherever you go and throughout your day, whether it be the line at the supermarket or the anxiety-inducing freeway. With hands-on exercises, easy-to-learn techniques, and examples from his professional practice, author Paul Miller provides inspiration and helps you cultivate deep inner wisdom that will sustain you long after your meditation session has ended.

264 pages, Paperback

First published November 8, 2019

Reviews

[destiny ♡ howling libraries]

This just wasn't for me. It wasn't what I expected — like some other reviewers, I expected less self-help and more meditation and techniques and tips — and the narrative voice felt a bit dry and boring for my taste.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Ell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be focused more on meditation and mindfulness rather than self-help, but it turned out to be primarily self-help based. I wasn't looking for a self-help book, but set that aside and I would have to say this is a well-written, well-composed and thoughtful work. Its tone is comforting, nonjudgmental and authentic. The tips given on meditative practice are unique and helpful. Four stars.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would you most change about yourself? Can you honestly do this? Fear is the one deterrent to changing ourselves.

Change takes consistency over a sustained period of time. The willingness to look at your issue and the fortitude to uncover and deal with it. Are you willing to make this effort to change yourself? This is what the yogi’s and masters of times past did in order to remove unwanted patterns, habits and energies from both their physical bodies but also their energy fields. Thank you Mr Miller for saying this in easy to understand language!

It sounds easy does it not? It is when one is focused on change that is improving to both body and soul. Focused intent, a willingness to look at both the issue and the self critically and in an unbiased way, with the Will (and this is important) and then the constancy to keep at it each time the issue to change appears. Just remember everyone is able to change, able to make more beneficial choices for themselves.

What stops us from changing? A technique we find, use and have success with, stops working after a period of time. We get discouraged, we regress. Why, did the the technique not evolve along with you? There were no additional levels of assistance. It may also be that in changing your perception and behavior you did not change the foundation on which your reactions or decisions stem from. In changing ourself we must also change the foundation upon which what we are changing is based. To change yourself you will have to change how you think, feel and act.

In building a home, one does not build on quicksand without making sure the house will last longer than overnight, a month or even a year. Rather a builder finds ground that is firm, level and solid. Building our new foundation takes concentration, focus, determination and strength of will.

Meditation is a way to build this new foundation. Three feelings manifest from a meditative practice; peace, calmness and stillness (this occurs when the mind is not racing). The author names examples of meditations he teaches his students. He describes in detail the Candle Meditation, then the Grazing Meditation and the Nose Breathing Meditation; there are other meditations placed through out the book too.

This book contains untold wisdom easily explained and condensed into a couple hundred pages. How the author does it is through practice, application and becoming. One cannot write about something one has no knowledge or awareness of. To place so much into so small a space takes care, study, focus and will.

I thank the author for his insights, for sharing and most of all for his Renovatio Sutras. I am humbled to come across his explanation and is it not so that when one changes themselves they rebirth a new Being, a new self?

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I went back and forth with this book. On good days, this book brought me a lot of peace and thoughtfulness. On bad days, it annoyed the shit out of me. I think you need to already be at a certain point of growth in order to obtain anything helpful from this book at all, but I think that could be said of most, if not all, self-help books to varying degrees.

Overall, I'm at a stage of growth that I was able to take a lot from Miller's teachings. There are really beautiful metaphors and stories that make certain lessons click very well. I enjoyed this writing style very much and think it helped prevent the language from becoming dry or boring to read, something I fear a lot of similar books suffer from.

Miller doesn't just tell you meditation will solve everything. He discusses addressing the way we view ourselves, the baggage and trauma we carry, how to examine ourselves more honestly, and how to carry calmness with us outside of formal meditation. I think it's full of valuable practices that someone already familiar with the concepts of meditation could easily implement.

Similarly, Part 2 of the book dives deeply into the "Wisdom Insights." I like that Miller actually takes the time to share his insights instead of only alluding to them vaguely. I think it speaks to a genuine desire to teach instead of preach or flaunt. There are a variety of meditative pathways and strategies to open the practice to as many people as possible, which I appreciate. The main takeaway is that it doesn't matter how you meditate or for how long, only that you try, and I love that.

My biggest gripe with the book is that it may come of as frustratingly condescending to someone who isn't ready for this stage of their journey. I'm not sure Miller does a fantastic job of empathizing with mental health struggles, or uses appropriate language surrounding such topics. People who suffer from ADHD, DID, bipolar disorder, or even severe anxiety and depression, may get frustrated with Miller's language and how he repeatedly says our emotions can be chosen or controlled if we just try. Anxiety and depression are spoken about more as moods than illnesses, which I found to be annoyed. It's mostly for this that I ultimately removed stars.

At the end of the day, having fluctuated at times between 3 and 5 stars, I settled on 4. I do recommend it for those who have already made significant progress in mental health and shadow work journeys. For those people, I think this book can help you make additional steps to finding clarity and peace of mind in everyday moments.

I'm not going to recommend this book for "beginners" though. I think the language used can be discouraging for those who find themselves still identifying with a victim mentality or who tend to cling to their "negative" feelings for a sense of comfort or security--both of which are very valid and normal parts of healing. However, this book won't be helpful until those kinds of issues are addressed.

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually when you read books like this you're prepared to roll your eyes or settle in for long boring spiels that you did not sign up for but you push through because you know there's some good in it, a message that you want to depart with. I mean, you DO want to get your money's worth since you did buy this book right? This book was wonderful. I didn't feel as though I was forcing myself to read some convoluted mess and the techniques that Mr. Miller provided were wonderful and relaxing.

I suffer from depression and anxiety and this summer has been hell, I'm not going to lie. This book was light, funny, and a great guide for meditation and self help. It was a fast read and easy and when it comes out I will buy it for myself because it did help and I could use more than a few of these techniques in my day to day life.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid self-help book on meditation and creating inner calm while setting measurable personal goals. The meditation techniques were straightforward in theory but require practice to master. The section on Wisdom Insights is really the crux of the book and will likely require several read-throughs to capture every nuance. Nothing particularly unique but a lot of great ideas put together in a pleasant package.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot of good ideas and wisdom here. The author is a clear writer and has some worthwhile approaches to our many challenges. I learned some new perspective and was reminded about a number of ideas I should keep in mind. Good meditation instructions as well. Recommended for knowledge seekers. 4.5 stars rounded up.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book hard to read and boring. It came across as preachy in some places as well. I really wanted to like it as meditation and trying to calm my mind are very high on my priority list. I’m sorry that this book didn’t provide me with what I need.

[Liz Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think there is something to learn and gain from any self help book, and though there were some nice moments in this book, overall the writing was trite. It read like an academic paper which made it hard for me to connect to since it lacked originality.

[Heather Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mindful Place of Calm is a great book with useful information, techniques,and advice. The book is well written and easy to read.

[Alexandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not vibing with the book like others might. there are some recommended resources to look at. Can be helpful for those who want to read more. I think I was expecting more helpful things and not going with interpretations of passages/quotes near the end of the book.