In "Five Good Minutes of Mindfulness," authors Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstine offer a portable pick-me-up designed to provide quick and effective mindfulness practices in just moments a day. This guide, aimed at helping individuals find peace and serenity even in the face of stress, provides accessible techniques for slowing down, appreciating the present moment, and reducing anxiety.

The strength of this book lies in its practical and straightforward approach to mindfulness. Brantley and Millstine, drawing on Dr. Brantley's expertise as the founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke Integrative Medicine, present readers with a variety of techniques that can be easily incorporated into daily life. From simple stretches to savoring a meal or jotting down thoughts in a gratitude journal, the guide offers a diverse range of practices suitable for different situations.

The emphasis on finding moments of calm amidst the chaos of modern life is a valuable takeaway from the book. The authors acknowledge that true peace of mind may be hard to come by in difficult times and propose mindfulness as a quick antidote. The inclusion of practices that can be implemented at home, work, or during moments of stress adds versatility to the guide.

However, while the book succeeds in providing practical exercises, some readers may find the content relatively basic, especially if they are already familiar with mindfulness practices. The brevity of the guide also means that the depth of exploration for each technique is limited, potentially leaving readers wanting more detailed guidance.

In conclusion, "Five Good Minutes of Mindfulness" is a three-star guide that serves as a quick introduction to mindfulness practices for those seeking moments of peace in their daily lives. Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstine offer accessible techniques that can be easily incorporated into various routines, making mindfulness an achievable goal in just a few minutes a day. While the content is practical, readers looking for a more in-depth exploration of mindfulness may need to seek additional resources.

Five Good Minutes of Mindfulness is a concise self-help book that delves into the power of mindful breathing and meditation. Brantley and Millstine offer practical exercises for various scenarios like sleep, anxiety, and pain. While the repetition can feel redundant, it effectively reinforces the importance of staying present. "Star-Filled Nights" stands out as a personal favorite.

A wonderful variety of quick mindfulness exercises to try. The beginning of the book covers the basics of mindfulness and related concepts (meditation, mindful breathing, setting intentions, etc.) and why it’s worth doing those things. Then, the bulk of the book consists of numerous different 5-minute mindfulness exercises. I think this book is a great option for anyone who wants to try mindfulness but maybe has struggled to find a method that works for them. There are so many different kinds of exercises I think anyone is bound to find some that will stick.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Like the title suggests, it’s a great walkthrough on tactile five-minute mindfulness exercises and strategies for both beginners and ‘pros’. I didn’t try out every exercise and found some resonated moreso with me than others, but would recommend this book for people looking to add a quick daily meditation practice to their routine!

Another really good book to help with mindfulness, I found it informative and easy to follow.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This is a short collection of mindfulness exercises that can be done in about five minutes. The book is chalk full of different mindfulness activities, there truly is something for everyone in this one! I definitely will be keeping some on these in mind during my day to day work and home life. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Five Good Minutes of Mindfulness: Reduce Stress, Reset, and Find Peace Right Now is a collection of mindfulness exercises that can be done in five minutes. Each exercise is well detailed and designed to help the reader learn how to slow down, relax, and appreciate what is good in their life. The act of reading this book is calming by itself and practicing the exercises will surely help the reader develop life changing habits.

Special thanks to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am always intrigued by books that offer to help me to be more aware and centered. So, I definitely wanted to give this title a look. Certainly in our current crazy and stressful world, learning how to not get swept up is a reasonable goal.

The author has excellent credentials. He works at Duke University in an integrative medicine program. His book drew me in with sections on Slowing Down and Relaxing, Appreciating Who You Are and What You Have, and last, Connecting to Others and the World Around You.

Readers can go through this title in order or browse. Either way it is a helpful, easy resource to use. The activities that are included will encourage readers to slow down and reset. Try them first thing in the morning as the author suggests. Also, allow for practice. It can be surprisingly difficult to be mindful for five minutes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Extremely helpful for helping with everyday stress and anxiety. Who doesn’t have 5 minutes for taking care of yourself? 5 minutes to breathe and relax. This book walks you through exercises to release the tension and feel more in control.

This is a great book for starting out with mindfulness. I love that the authors explain the important steps and how to accomplish them, and then there are 100 exercises to choose from. The exercises are in parts on Slowing Down and Relaxing, Appreciating Who You Are and What You Have, and Connecting to Others and the World Around You. I think it is great that they don't have to be done in any order, and the reader can go to the section they are most interested in. With each exercise only taking 5 minutes, these are easy to do but still impactful.

I thought this book was perfect for the everyday person, each day. It allows you a few minutes to set up or reset your day and ensure you are on the right track. The writing was easy to read and follow. Only 5 minutes draws in a variety of readers, like myself, who don't have much time in their day to give, but need to give time to their mental health.

I appreciated the several mindfulness exercises. Each one starts off with mindful breathing, then has you focus on certain scenarios and ways to feel all of your feelings about what you experience, and how to get through them.
While the exercises were focused, the opening chapter didn't feel like it was part of the same book. After reading through it, I got to the first chapter and began reading through ways to become more focused and mindful. The first quarter of the book became very repetitive. "Attention, Intention, and Wholehearted"

My recommendation, skim through the beginning of the book to get the gist of it, then jump straight to the exercises. Pick the exercises that fit specifically with how you feel and take the 5 minutes to do the exercises.

A useful resource perfect for beginners.

Mindfulness / selfcare is something we should all take time to focus on. This is certainly a book I’d refer back to often.

Thank you to Netgalley, New Harbinger Publications for this gifted copy.

Great, concise, actionable exercises for focusing on mindfulness. The author does a great job of covering a broad set of situations, perspectives and mindsets, with excellent recommendations and exercises to pursue a more mindful approach.

Give this a shot! This review is mine without influence.

3.5 rounded to 4⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley, New Harbinger Publications, Jeffrey Brantley, and Wendy Millstine for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

What an interesting book! Chalk full of different mindfulness activities, there truly is something for everyone in this one! I will definitely be revisiting it to see which ones I would find useful in my life! An excellent source of self-care

Since we have been doing a lot of work on campus about mental health this year, I have been paying close attention to resources about mindfulness and this is a good browsable read for ideas about different types of exercises that people can try out. It is just the type of book that you can flip through and pop around to what happens to catch your interest or resonate with you. I plan on getting a copy for my library as a reference that I can use myself for ideas plus I have also had students ask for books on mindfulness and meditation and so I hope to get more user-friendly resources like this.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. This book had alot of good information regarding ways to eliminate stress in as little as five minutes. I learned of different ways i can manage my stress so it doesn't take over my life. This book had good ideas for eliminating obstacles that we have in our daily lives.

Bite-sized mindfulness moments perfect for beginners to a mindfulness practice and also really beneficial to long-time practitioners.

I love a well-written preface. Very thorough with reinforcing what being mindful and in the moment can bring to your life. Also very helpful in supporting your discovery of your own why's-- it's always important to be self-motivated.

With "chapter titles" like Five-Fingered Peace and Soft Belly, the book is full of practical, real-life examples to help you incorporate mindfulness in your day-to-day, whether all you have is five minutes or more.

Definitely looking forward to going thru the book again a little slower to help guide my mindfulness moments and intention-setting for each day.

Thank you to NetGalley and New Harbinger Publications for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a lot of books on mindfulness, especially since I work in the mental health field. But I have to say, this is a decent book. It’s MORE than mindfulness (which I appreciate), and it’s super practical.

I went into this expecting not to be surprised by the information only because of my training and professional background, but I did learn some things that I will incorporate in my work and in on my personal life. There even was one activity I fell in love with called Red Light, Blue Light. It has become my go to mindfulness activity.

I also want to commend the author on their instructions. So many books on mental health use jargon, or just too basic. This book is basically the Goldilocks version.

This is the type of book I’d recommend to clients and friends who are new to mindfulness and are wanting to jump in. It breaks it down to manageable activities, which is good because mindfulness is really, REALLY difficult to master. Especially in this climate. But as the author states, our ability to “tap into enormous inner resources” has not changed.

This is a detailed and comprehensive set of meditations for self-care and growth. They are arranged loosely by theme and are appealingly bite-sized, which makes them feel accessible and do-able instead of overwhelming. There is a wide variety of visualization, breathing, and physical exercises to encourage mindfulness and self-knowledge.

This would be a very valuable resource for readers looking to center themselves and improve their self-knowledge in a realistic, manageable way!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!