Making Space

Creating a Home Meditation Practice

By: Thich Nhat Hanh

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Transform any space into a place of peace and calm with this inspiring guide from celebrated Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Designed for those new to mindfulness practices, Making Space offers easy-to-follow instructions for setting up a breathing room; listening to a bell; performing sitting, breathing, and walking meditations; and cooking and eating. Whether you live alone or with a family, this beautifully created audiobook can help you create a sense of retreat and sanctuary anywhere at home.

©2015 Thich Nhat Hanh (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Just what I needed

This book is short and very sweet. I have been under quite a bit of tension and listening has been a balm. I will immediately start to implement his ideas and actions but even just listening and following his speech has been helpful. Thanks.

Peaceful creations

This book really helps you realize it any part of your house can be a great place to reflect and have appreciation for what you have instead of what you don’t have.

Awesome book. It's indescribable! Purchase it!

I've listened to this book repeatedly. Each time I complete it, I get more insight into my self...

Great ideas for the home

This is great for what to have as a home shrine set up or for simple practices or for all of the above.

Making Space Encourages me to Change Bad Habits

I feel I am at the precipice of something. I could have died under piles of my own filth. Mom has always done a great deal of cleaning up, both keeping common areas pristine and ensuring my messy patches don't go unnoticed. I have imagined what life would be like without Mom cleaning up behind me. Cat litter would not get taken out, so cat would find other places to go. Little wads of paper would remain on the floor, because I was too lazy or disconnected to bend over. Disorderly environment would amplify as days passed. Clothes would not be put away, so cat would pee on the piles of clothes. How could I live in a landfill? Well, I currently don't because Mom makes sure the common areas are pristine and reminds me of the disorder in my room before it overwhelms us.

I started reading Making Space: Creating a Home Meditation Practice by Thich Nhat Hanh asking myself the question "do I really want to learn how to improve my space focus anyway?" The answer was a feeble yes, feeble because I knew saying yes would require a lot of work, and I wasn't quite certain I was ready or energetic enough to start caring about my space. The book hasn't quite said to me "clean your room yet." But I am reading into the idea of making space that all of my home matters and is important to be conductive to mindfulness. The book describes an idea of a Breathing Room and also refers to a space where you can meditate. For the past couple years of my meditation practice, I have taken meditation very seriously, but have just considered my front porch chair, as my sole best place for meditating. This is limiting, because sometimes I need to stay indoors, and there is not a roof or heat on the porch, and sometimes I neglect meditating due to the lack of roof. That was the main reason I decided to start cleaning my room, to seek a place where I could sit peacefully indoors. And miraculously I did locate a great chair feels set off and open to the space and that I enjoy how it feels to sit in, that I plan to use for meditation. In the process I began putting away laundry. It felt mindful to do so.

As I clean my space, my connection to the physical world becomes more real. As I tidy my home, I am more aware of breathe, of my body. As I clean, I emerge a better person.

I am actually thrilled this morning about cleaning! It is a new feeling for me, and a new BELIEF. I feel a new sense of commitment to keeping my space in good order. I cannot wait to see where this takes me. Never before did I really know a reason to believe in cleaning. Never before did I really believe in making space.

Now I look at my space, and I see much room for improvement! I am actually excited to tidy up my space! I am actively thrilled, and that very fact blows my mind. Thanks Thich Nhat Hahn!!!

Also, since Dia de los Muertos was recent, I have in my mind a lot of thoughts about altars. One time, my friend Elizabeth Vega told me I should make an altar, and I wrote a nice little poem about how I made an altar and then cleaned my room and my room became an altar and then I began embodying the altar in all I did. But the funny glitch in that is, I actually didn't make the altar back then, or clean the room, no less embody the learning, because all I did was write the poem. Now I am ready to do the work.

Keeping a space tidy requires ongoing work. Keeping connected to mind and body requires ongoing work. It is the same thing. As I clean my space, my connection to the physical world becomes more real. As I tidy my home, I am more aware of breathe, of my body. As I clean, I emerge a better person.