Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Have a walk in a book

If you have Audible Plus, you can listen for free to this amazing gem. If not, this book alone is so gently introducing us to a world of loving awareness that I believe it deserves to start a trial just for it.

For me, this book is on the same level of joy-bringing as Momo, by Michael Ende: both of them are like walking in a fractal.

And if you think I am diminishing Thich Nhat Hanh's writing by comparing it with a children's book, I am not. Pause for a moment and connect with the unspoiled joy you had as a child when you were listening to your favorite story:

That was the level of enchantment that “Peace Is Every Step” has on me. Has, not “had” because It gave me a beautiful glowing feeling, its effect lasting for many days. And it became one of my favorite modalities to counterbalance the depressing effects that other amazing (but darker) books have on me.

I actually started to listen to the audiobook “Peace Is Every Step” when I needed to put down “The Book of Forgiving” by Desmond Tutu. I had to let the book for a while after reading a chapter about a man`s struggling with the pain and anger he was inheriting from his father. It was like he was speaking about me… I cried so much I needed to nourish myself for while.

What I can say about “Peace is every step?” It is not a book on meditation: it is a meditation on its own. The sheer experience of walking and listening to the calming pace and the gentle voice of the narrator (Edoardo Ballerini) was powerful enough to induce a state of increased awareness for me.

It helped that I feel natural to connect with the nature around me every day: every step I was taking was magically waving nature, my body, and the book itself.

After 10 years of meditation, I tend to have spontaneous moments of increased awareness. But until now it was never so easy to induce them.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching about smiling made me even more conscious of our inner power. I am a Laughter Yoga Teacher and often tell people that laughter is my superpower. It is.

But laughing might be hard sometimes. Smiling, on the other hand, is so subtle that does require nothing more than the intention. And a memory. One morning of our childhood. The night when we stayed around the fire talking with our new love. The smell of a newborn baby. The thought of our beloved pet waiting for us at home. Anything we can use to make our lips curl up a little by themselves.

When I see someone smile, I know immediately that he or she is dwelling in awareness. This half-smile, how many artists have labored to bring it to the lips of countless statues and paintings? I am sure the same smile must have been on the faces of the sculptors and painters as they worked. Can you imagine an angry painter giving birth to such a smile? Mona Lisa’s smile is light, just a hint of a smile. Yet even a smile like that is enough to relax all the muscles in our face, to banish all worries and fatigue. A tiny bud of a smile on our lips nourishes awareness and calms us miraculously. It returns to us the peace we thought we had lost. (Thich Nhat Hanh — Peace Is Every Step)

Since reading this I'm adding the smiling practice in all my daily meditations — no matter if I am practicing a sitting or walking meditation or the simplest breathing exercises before slipping, I am all the time remembering to smile. That tiny bud of the smile is enough to instantly change my mood.

I`ll let you with this gentle reminder that the dandelion is one member of our community of friends.

I have lost my smile, but don’t worry. The dandelion has it.

If you have lost your smile and yet are still capable of seeing that a dandelion is keeping it for you, the situation is not too bad. You still have enough mindfulness to see that the smile is there. You only need to breathe consciously one or two times and you will recover your smile. The dandelion is one member of your community of friends. It is there, quite faithful, keeping your smile for you.

Thank you for reading. 🙂

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