The Mindful Woman: Gentle Practices for Restoring Calm, Finding Balance, and Opening Your Heart [Paperback]

Sue Patton Thoele (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Imagine a day in which you can be in the midst of chaos but maintain a clear head and sense of balance and focus and have your feet firmly planted on the ground. Even the busiest of women among us has the ability to embrace mindfulness and will reap the benefits of doing so!

In this book, Sue Patton Thoele shows you how to incorporate mindfulness into your busy and dynamic life. The book's gentle and humorous approach makes it a practical and easily understood guide for those who are new to the practice of mindfulness as well as those who are already familiar with its gifts.

The book offers over sixty-five simple and effective practices to help you embrace mindfulness one moment at a time. Filled with both the author's and other women's personal stories about the joys and hurdles that come with embracing mindful living, The Mindful Woman is a friend whose hand you can hold on the path toward being present in the moment. Finding your way will lead naturally to a more open heart, inner peace, and greater zest for life-a path well worth pursuing.

I have been a fan of Sue Patton Thoele's gentle wisdom since her very first book. Here she takes on mindfulness in her typical wise and caring way. The Mindful Woman is a retreat in a book!
-M.J. Ryan, author of This Year I Will…, Giving Thanks, and many other titles

The Mindful Woman is a warm-hearted tour of many effective ways for a woman to feel more peaceful, focused, and happy in the middle of her busy life. Based on scientific research and its author's deep insights, it is comprehensive and caring…a wonderful book.
-Rick Hanson, Ph.D., psychologist, board member of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and author of Mother Nurture

Sue Patton Thoele is a heart-filled and gifted wordsmith who draws you into an enchanted journey of personal growth in each of her books. The Mindful Woman may well be her crowning glory… and yours… so get ready for a big treat!
-Bobbie Sandoz Merrill, MSW, author of Settle for More, Parachutes for Parents, and In the Presence of High Beings

Sue Patton Thoele is the master of explicating real life and real people. In The Mindful Woman, she adds a new dimension: real thinking. Many books preach mindfulness, but this is the only one that makes it so simple that you fall into practicing it as you turn the pages. Thoele has surpassed even her early groundbreaking books tailored to women's needs. Here is the hallmark of a deeply intuitive writer who presents her message in gentle, non-judgmental, and attractively intimate prose.
-Hugh Prather, author of Morning Notes, Notes to Myself, and Spiritual Notes to Myself

Sue Patton Thoele's books have long been a guiding light for me. The Mindful Woman is warm, wise, and wonderful and has become a touchstone to which I turn for advice and clarity. Reading Sue Thoele has truly made a difference in my life and has made me more mindful of the happy, healthy woman I am becoming.
-Brenda Knight, author of Wild Woman and Rituals for Life

wise, witty, and wonderful guide to what eludes us most: peace of mind and heart in a turbulent world.
-Janice Lynne Lundy, author of Your Truest Self

This book now has a permanent place on my nightstand. The Mindful Woman does much more than inform the reader about mindfulness. Through tiny, sweet bites of easy practice, it transforms a thoughtful woman into a mindful woman. Sue Patton Thoele's tenderness toward her reader warms each page as she reveals her own slips and slides in finding the positive and pleasant view of every circumstance.
-Cynthia Wall, LCSW, author of The Courage to Trust

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Publisher

In The Mindful Woman, best-selling author and psychotherapist Sue Patton Thoele shows the woman who does too much how practicing mindfulness, cultivating calm, and restoring balance can increase feelings of well-being, hopefulness, and happiness. A happier, calmer woman can be more successful and productive as well as more loving and relaxed.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572245425
• ISBN-13: 978-1572245426
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writing made me sit down and shut up and, as a result, helped me become aware of the desire to move from an over-busy lifestyle to a more balanced one. I actually didn't begin writing until all four kids were either in college or on their own. In fact, I was forty-five when the Muse grabbed me by the back of the neck and wouldn't let go no matter how much I resisted. And resist I did! However, my first book, The Courage To Be Yourself, seemed to have a mind of its own and simply would not let me rest until I was totally committed to it. By the time the original book was completed, I was passionate about writing. Since I'd had a private psychotherapy practice for many years, it felt natural to write about issues similar to those with which my clients and I grappled.

I am incredibly blessed to be able to do work I love and to have the support of My Husband Gene, without whom I would never have become an author. We--well, really he--self-published "The Courage To Be Yourself", stacked the first 5,000 copies in our itty bitty garage, and hand delivered two and three copies at a time to local bookstores before the book was eventually picked up by a "real" publisher. To this day, Gene continues to do all the heavy lifting, paper and financial work, schlepping of author to speaking engagements, and has enduring patience with the weirdness-of-wife-while-writing phases I inevitably go through while working. He is my rock.... and he makes me laugh.

Each of us plays many roles and works in different arenas during a lifetime. Below are a few roles I've played and some of the work I've done. Several I still do and others seem as if they existed in another time and space.

ROLES I'VE HAD
Wife, divorcee, wife again ... still "wife again"
Mom, single mom, stepmom ... once a mom of any kind, always a mom
Grandmother, mentor ... love these roles
Myriad acting roles in community theater ... now do some Reader's Theater

WORK I'VE DONE
Author
Psychotherapist in private practice
Public/Keynote Speaker
Seminar/Group/Retreat Leader
Hospice Chaplain, Trainer &
Counselor
Director of a Counseling Center
High School and Adult Ed teacher

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that guides you to mindfulness, May 2, 2008

By 

Cynthia L. Wall, LCSW (Mendocino, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mindful Woman: Gentle Practices for Restoring Calm, Finding Balance, and Opening Your Heart (Paperback)

I dived into The Mindful Woman, and whipped through part one, admiring the writing and synthesis of LOTS of information presented elegantly and simply. I slowed down in part two, where she offers practical examples, savoring each sweet bite of advice and wisdom. I honor the brilliance of what Sue Thoele has accomplished. It is not merely a book about mindfulness: Sue has created a mindfulness experience for every reader. This book will live on my nightstand. In just a few minutes, I reclaim gentleness and compassion toward myself and others. The most magical aspect of Sue's approach is that anyone can find support for their beliefs, whether Christians, Buddhists, Jews, or agnostics. It is all about seeking peace of mind.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How To Live In The Moment, May 9, 2008

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mindful Woman: Gentle Practices for Restoring Calm, Finding Balance, and Opening Your Heart (Paperback)

Are you a recovering drama queen? Is it difficult for you to avoid being sucked into the stimulation vortex to which society as a whole seems addicted? According to Sue Patton Thoele, mindfulness is a wonderful form of rehab.

In The Mindful Woman, she first explains how the practice of mindfulness--consciously living in the moment--can enrich our lives. "When consciously and kindly focusing awareness on life as it unfolds minute by precious minute, you are better able to savor each experience." For those who are so over-obligated that they feel as if they are being "nibbled to death by ducks," choosing to focus only on the ducks nibbling in the moment helps alleviate feelings of being overwhelmed.

I have spent way too many days running on autopilot and wondering where the hours went. Now I realize that this kind of "automatic living" is essentially the opposite of mindfulness. Thoele believes there are four basic elements necessary for becoming more mindful: paying attention, living in the moment, simplifying, breathing. I found that her breathing exercises were a wonderful way to rein myself in to the moment and to tame my "monkey mind." Since reading Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach some years back, I have been on a quest for my authentic self. Therefore, Thoele really grabbed my attention with her assertion: "All you are and can be is within. Your assignment is to pay attention and gently coax your unique authenticity into expression."

For most people, it would not be practical to spend most of their time away on retreat, or to spend hours each day in meditation, in order to achieve a Zen-like state of mindfulness. However, Thoele feels that even a few mindful moments can make a world of difference. With her book and its myriad exercises, I think anyone can create "minutes of mindfulness and oases of awareness amid the hustle and hassle of everyday activities."

by Becky Lane
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very solid and recommended reading for any woman who wants to break out of cruise control, December 12, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mindful Woman: Gentle Practices for Restoring Calm, Finding Balance, and Opening Your Heart (Paperback)

Going through life on automatic is no way to live. "The Mindful Woman: Gentle Practices for Restoring Calm, Finding Balance, & Opening Your Heart" promotes a more mindful approach to life for women, in which every act they do begins to have more meaning. With much wisdom and advice throughout for sprinkling more thought onto life, "The Mindful Woman" is very solid and recommended reading for any woman who wants to break out of cruise control.