About the Book
The mind has a way of interfering with personal happiness, often causing stress and doubt. Getting in touch with one's inner source of peace and following its guidance over the mind's often-unfounded concerns requires training and discipline. Knowing this truth intimately, Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life Founder Barb Schmidt developed a three-part spiritual discipline called The Practice. The Practice is a toolkit to be used throughout the day to guide people who are looking for confidence, less stress, and deeper meaning along life's path. These tools are a compilation of the great Truths taught by authentic teachers and masters throughout the centuries from various religious and spiritual traditions. In the first three chapters of The Practice, readers are guided through the daily routine: Waking Up, Living Present, and Letting Go. Beginning with a morning meditation, a thread of peace is followed over the course of the day through the repetition of a sacred mantra, practicing focused attention, reading for inspiration, and reflecting on the day. In the concluding chapter, readers are provided with an opportunity to deepen their experience of The Practice with engaging exercises
By regularly taking the steps to go within each morning, stay present throughout the moments of the day, and letting go of attachments when the day comes to a close, readers will find that they are better able to do the following:
- Remove the obstacles that interfere with inner peace
- Manage stress and cultivate more patience, empathy, and compassion
- Have more courage when facing fears and making changes
- Overcome habitual behaviors and make better choices
- Reduce negative thinking and ease feelings of anxiety, worry, and stress
- See the blessings beneath life's more difficult experiences
- Know a deep feeling of wholeness
About the Author :
Barb Schmidt is a businesswoman, philanthropist, and spiritual teacher with over thirty years devoted to spiritual development. She has studied with many notable teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Deepak Chopra, and Marianne Williamson. In 2001, she partnered with Florida Atlantic University's Peace Studies Program to promote dialogue on the topic of inner and outer peace. For the past ten years, she has been offering quarterly workshops and weekly classes on spiritual practices as well as lecturing at various schools and organizations on living a meaningful life. She lives in Boca Raton, Florida.
Review :
"The Practice is a wonderful spiritual book linking practical wisdom with daily mindful routines to learn to live in the moment. Barb Schmidt's extensive experience as a spiritual sojourner shines throughout the book. Her clear and concise method provides powerful tools for readers to train the mind to live a peaceful life. "As a founder of the organization Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, Barb Schmidt has presented a multitude of workshops over the years on The Practice, many as part of the Peace Studies Program at Florida Atlantic University. She led thousands of participants, providing them spiritual tools to engage with The Practice and learn the interconnectedness between peace in the world and peaceful lives as humans. As the Director of the Peace Studies Program, I participated in most of her workshops, and with each one increasingly realized how easy yet powerful The Practice is, and how learning to lead a peaceful life positively affects my own mindful routines. 'The Practice' is now my daily 'practice' for living in the moment, for attaining inner peace, for being part of bringing peace in the world."--Noemi Marin, PhD, director, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, Florida Atlantic University (former director of Peace Studies Program, FAU), author of After the Fall
"Barb Schmidt is a transformational leader who fearlessly shares her authentic truth. In her book, The Practice, Barb offers readers life-changing spiritual guidance in an easy to follow format. What makes this book so magnificent is that Barb has infused her own stories and struggles to help readers connect and learn."--Gabrielle Bernstein, New York Times bestselling author of May Cause Miracles
"Barb Schmidt is one of the most truly beautiful people I've ever met. Her beauty springs from a source within herself, endowing her with qualities that stand the test of time--patience, understanding, self-knowledge, serenity, and compassion, to name a few. She's on a quest to discover ways to tap into the most powerful, positive, life-affirming forces in the universe, and in this wonderful book she invites us to join her on that deeply rewarding journey."I've spent most of my life coaching young men who want to win football games. As any good coach will tell you, there's much more to it than that. The characteristics that make players winners on the field can also make them winners in life. Staying positive in the face of adversity, digging deep to find new wells of inner strength, having faith in yourself and the people around you, visualizing success-- all of these things profoundly influence a person's ability to move calmly and confidently through life, savoring its joys and weathering its storms. "The best, and most beautiful, thing about Barb is her passion for sharing her outlook with others. I'm happy and grateful to call Barbara 'coach, ' and as you read The Practice I'm sure that you'll be, too."--Howard Schnellenberger, founding football coach and ambassador-at-large, 1998-present, Florida Atlantic University; University of Miami national champions coach, 1983
"For many the world is a noisy, chaotic, overwhelming place. We are incessantly bombarded by stimuli via technology, mobility, and media. Today we must address hundreds of decisions that our grandparents couldn't even have contemplated. Couple that with the human tendency to worry, overanalyze, and fret, and suddenly the mind can become something like Times Square on New Year's Eve-- a lot of energy expended, but it doesn't get you anywhere."Barb Schmidt has traveled that course and came to understand that there had to be a better way to journey through life. She found a path that affords tranquility, peace of mind, and serenity; a path that nurtures the soul and elevates the spirit. Her book is a sincerely honest and candid tale of her discoveries. It invites readers to find their own pathway. The Practice is a template for a purposeful, happier, and fulfilling life."--Dan Baker, Ph.D., author of What Happy People Know
"One of the most common questions I am asked is how to integrate a spiritual practice with daily life. Barb Schmidt's small book supplies a very practical answer by setting out clear guidelines on how to transform our daily round into a spiritual path. This includes instruction on being present in the moment with focused attention, mantra recitation, and opening the heart to all others in gratitude and loving kindness. This beautiful book is filled with practical advice and inspirational instruction. "Having embarked on a spiritual search and practiced sincerely for many years, Barb Schmidt herself radiates the intelligence and harmonious kindness that she teaches. So this book is the result of her own experience and will appeal to anyone irrespective of religious affiliations--interested in travelling the spiritual path."--Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Buddhist nun, author of Into the Heart of Life, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India
"The effectiveness of this book lies in the sincere and encouraging manner in which Barb Schmidt shares her insights and suggestions for meditation and other spiritual practices that she has personally learned from a wide range of spiritual traditions and teachers. She provides practical suggestions to help readers cooperate with the challenges and graces that flow from a quiet, patient commitment to meditation. Those who accept her invitation to begin a lifelong, daily practice of contemplation will be grateful for the interior transformations that will occur as meditation radiates out into their lives, helping them to become a healing presence in the world." --James Finley, Ph.D., Thomas Merton scholar, author of Christian Meditation
