Customer Reviews

Five Good Minutes: 100 Morning Practices to Help You Stay Calm and Focused All Day Long (The Five Good Minutes Series)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was absolutely perfect for me. My mother gave it to me as a gift and I love it. I am a mother of 2 children under the age of 5 and have practically no time for myself. These 5 minute exercises have really helped to center me for the day. I seem to be much more relaxed with the kids. The exercises are quick and easy and don't require tons of time. This is the perfect gift.

My typical morning is to wolf my breakfast down and dash out off work. Now I spend 5 minutes in mindfullness of positive ideas, exercises, and moments. What a difference it makes driving to work. I'm less stressed, more relaxed and even grateful for the 20 minute drive.

What a great way to start my day. This book was written for me!!

Dr. Brantley & Wendy Millstine have been able to capture goodness in 5 minutes. Thank you!

Here are Five Good Reasons why I like this book:

1. I can pick it up and just open it and each double page will have a relevant and practical way for me to come back to center.

2. It is a nifty size to stash by the bedside.

3. It would make a terrific and welcome gift.

4. It reminds me of what is important in a sometimes insane world.

5. The suggestions in the book really do take just five minutes.

Five Good Minutes is a brilliant little book. It's compact so I can take it everywhere, and the meditations are very useful for daily life. Depending on my need/mood, I flip through to find a helpful meditation and then do it. I have had night anxiety for years. The relaxation meditation has helped me calm down before bed each night, alleviating stress and worry in order to fall asleep. I am grateful to have found this great little book!

This is a fabulous book. It helps make it easier to take the time for setting intentions, breathing, meditating, etc.

Perfect for someone who lacks time and needs motivation for stress reduction.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

Can five minutes make a difference in your life?

The answer is a resounding YES, according to authors
Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstone in FIVE GOOD
MINUTES IN THE MORNING (see also Section 2)--a most
informative book that is filled with suggestions on what
can be accomplished in such a brief period of time.

To begin with, you should start with mindful breathing and
follow that with mindful listening . . . you are then ready
to act wholeheartedly, in which you do something with
all your attention and energy.

The authors give you a choice of 100 different practices, any
and/or all of which can be used to get your day off to a
great start . . . some of them may some basic, but methinks
if you actually tried to implement at least some of them,
you couldn't find a better way to begin start your day.

Or in certain instances, end it as was the case with the
following exercise that I've already started to put to good use:

If you inherited the worry wart gene, then you're well versed
in the mental ruminations that can plague a quiet night at home.
You worry about the strange ticking noise that the car started
making. You worry about an awkward conversation you had
with your boss. You may find yourself on a hamster wheel of
worries, running in circles but not making any forward progress
at all.

The following practice will help you stop spinning your wheels
and let go of those bothersome thoughts.

1. Begin by making a mental or written list of all your worries,
large or small, rational or far-fetched.

2. Visualize or find a small wastepaper basket or box in
which you can stash your worries.

3. Imagine tearing off each individual concern or fear and tossing
it into your storage bin. If you've made a written list, go ahead
and actually do this.

4. Say these words out loud: "I am letting go of these
nagging thoughts. Some are important and some are not.
But right now, I am reclaiming my right to enjoy life, live
fully, and feel safe and secure tonight."

Today, let me add one more exercise to the aforementioned
100; i.e., take the time today to get your own copy of FIVE
GOOD MINUTES . . . this slight investment will pay itself
back many times over.

An excellent book that is designed to truly help you create a better life for yourself. There are many exercises that can easily be implemented. The best way to read it is slowly over many days.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but when I finally did, it was a huge disappointment. "5 Good Minutes" should be "5 Good Pages," which is about as long as this book should have been. It's dull, suprisingly repetitive, and boils down to one word: Mindfulness. If there weren't already a dozen very good, well-known books on this subject that are more approachable, applicable and practical, I may have given it more stars. On the other hand I may not have, since the prose is as lackluster as the content. I've never seen an author make mindfulness and meditation sound so boring before.

I also got "5 Good Minutes in the Evening" at the same time. It was almost exactly the same, and so was my reaction to it.

I was hoping this book would be a bit more concrete in suggestions and ways to do exactly what the title implied, but I found it to be too free spirited and 'out there' for my personal liking. It just wasn't enough to motivate me to give it even 5 bad minutes each morning.

The power in this book isn't necessarily in the DOING of the exercises but the contemplation of these little activities. I find that picking the book up when I've got a moment and reading one or two of the exercises gives me ample pause and brings on the results at which the suggested activity aims. I can say that DOING the exercise does make the result more intense or satisfying but benefits can be had by simply taking a moment to think about the suggestion at hand. In any case, I recommend this easy to follow and effective manual to living a more peaceful and peaceable life. I suppose any book which has at its' heart such worthy objectives as living more peacefully can't be bad! It certainly worked for The Bible.