Hand Wash Cold

Over the course of 2013 and 2014 on my U Can Yoga website I featured (mostly) yoga related books that I’ve really enjoyed and wanted to share with you. Book of the Month took a bit of a sabbatical in the latter half of 2014, but I am happy to say it has returned for 2015 and you’ll be able to find a new book recommendation each month on the dedicated Book of the Month page over at U Can Yoga. For anyone who has missed the titles featured so far, I will be including some my previous ‘Books of the Month’ here on this blog over the course of the year. In the meantime, here is the Book of the Month for January 2015 – Hand Wash Cold by Karen Maezen MIiller. I hope you enjoy:

Book of the Month – Hand Wash Cold by Karen Maezen Miller

Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions For An Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller

“Happiness is simple. Everything we do to find it is complicated.” – Karen Maezen Miller

Could you imagine that the simplicity of household chores can become
opportunities for life lessons, self-examination and selflessness?

A friend lent me Hand Wash Cold last year and it turned out to be one of the best books I read in 2014. The author, Karen Maezen Miller is a Zen Buddhist priest and here, via a mix of personal anecdotes, insights and Zen wisdom, she writes about how changing our perceptions can help us find joy in the lives we already have, rather than thinking that fulfilment and bliss are somewhere ‘out there’. I admired the author’s openness about some of the difficult times in her past and acknowledging the self-absorption and ambition of her youth on the way to her finding steadiness in the life she has now. A wonderful read which manages to be both profound and playful. A great reminder that true happiness really comes from within and that it is possible to fall in love with the life you have today.