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

Feeling overwhelmed on a daily basis is no fun for anyone, but changing your mindset requires time that just doesn't exist. Or does it? Five Good Minutes claims time can be found, and backs up that claim with 100 simple exercises that help get your day off to a better start. Dr. Jeffrey Brantley (Calming Your Anxious Mind) has created easy ways of modifying things you already do every day--like taking a shower--into moments that combine grateful awareness with deep relaxation.

Most of the exercises begin with what the author calls "breathing mindfully", and learning that technique is the only item in the book that might take more than five minutes. The nine-step instructions for a basic form of meditation are easy to follow, but could take a little practice if you're a newcomer to such techniques. You're also encouraged to use other techniques you're already familiar with that create a similar feeling of calm centeredness.

The exercises are arranged in broad categories like "peaceful awareness" and "growing wiser and kinder", allowing you to follow along through the book or skip around to the most appealing ones. Each one--from giving yourself a quick foot massage and a hug to paying special attention to your first sip of tea or coffee in the morning--is aimed at creating a short moment of peace and happiness in your otherwise frantic day. And hopefully you'll find that the five-minute exercise creates a lasting feeling of well-being that allows you to reconnect with the joy hiding in your busy schedule. Jill Lightner