Five Good Minutes

Five Good Minutes in Your Body offers simple yet effective activities to help us restore and recharge our relationships with our bodies. With these tools we can create a life that is more fulfilling-a life in which we are no longer at the mercy of the stress of our day. The practices can transform the mundane into the extraordinary, and renew our sense of vitality and passion for life. Learning to be mindful of our bodies can be hard in this fast-paced, stressful world. Some of us live from the neck up, forgetting to nourish and appreciate-or even be comfortable in-our bodies. In the western world we often live nearly entirely in the mind. Through mindful practices, this book will help bring us back into our bodies and help us reduce stress, breathe again, and actually enjoy our bodies. We're also incredibly self-critical of our bodies. Who among us hasn't wished they were just a little skinnier, more muscular, taller, had a narrower foot, darker hair, lighter eyes… the list of our inadequacies is endless. We are very self-critical of our bodies and often have distorted perceptions of ourselves. We needlessly compare ourselves to some unattainable-and airbrushed-ideal. This often leads to feeling cut off from our bodies and, ultimately, disembodied. We then end up making unhealthy choices, such as eating foods that don't make us feel good, drinking too much, or even over-exercising, all in an effort to try to feel better about ourselves.

When you first fall in love, every moment you spend with that special someone feels like a lifetime. Even a glance and a smile can seem to last for hours. But as time goes by, let's face it, relationships change. You have places to go and people to see, children to raise and careers to manage. The rest of the world can start to slip in between you and the one you love. It takes practice to remain deeply connected and truly intimate with someone-but it doesn't need to take up all of your free time. With the simple practices in this book, you'll be able to really connect with your special someone in just five minutes a day. Using simple techniques drawn from mindfulness practice, each of these intimate and fun activities will help you feel closer, more connected, and more deeply in love with your partner. The meditations, affirmations, and observations you'll find here will foster gratitude, trust, empathy, and loving kindness. Use them to get closer to the one you love, and watch as the benefits of mindfulness grow to fill your relationship with renewed romance, harmony, and joy.

Five Minutes to a Happier, More Productive Workday! Is your workday filled with chaos, stress and, at times, and inability to focus? Do you have mountains of projects ahead of you but no motivation to tackle them? In less time than you would spend on a coffee break, you can fill your workday with calm, balance, and serenity. Five Good Minutes® at Work, the third in the breakaway Five Good Minutes™ series, can help you transform your workday from tired and uninspired to engaged and productive in just a few good minutes. Whether sitting at your desk or ducking into the supply closet, you can include these stress-relieving and centering activities into even the busiest schedule. These practices can help you deal with difficult coworkers, tyrannical bosses, impossible deadlines, and more. Your five good minutes each day will reward you with increased productivity, reduced workplace conflict, and a sense of serenity that will start to spread to the rest of your life. Five Good Minutes is a trademark of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.