Making Space: Updated Edition: Creating a Home Meditation Practice

by Thich Nhat Hanh, Brother Phap Dung (Introduction)

Overview

Be at home in yourself and recreate your living space as a cozy sanctuary of peace and calm during stressful times with this mindfulness meditation book by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Hailed by TIME magazine as "the monk who taught the world mindfulness," Thich Nhat Hanh developed practices for people to be able to feel at home in themselves and in the world, especially during times of transition and change.

Designed to be both inspiration and guidebook for those new to mindfulness practice, Making Space offers easy-to-follow instructions for:

• Setting up an area in your home for mindfulness practice—a literal breathing space
• Listening to a mindfulness bell to bring you home to yourself
• Breathing and sitting meditations
• The "cake in the refrigerator" practice for households to consciously steer their conversations in a harmonious direction
• Walking meditation
• Cooking and eating a meal in mindfulness

Whether you live alone or with your partner or a family, this beautifully illustrated book can help you create a sense of retreat and sanctuary in yourself and at home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780938077282
Publisher:	Parallax Press
Publication date:	03/10/2026
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	108

About the Author

Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned spiritual teacher and peace activist. Born in Vietnam in 1926, he became a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of sixteen. Over seven decades of teaching, he published more than 100 books, which have sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966 for promoting peace, his teachings on Buddhism as a path to social and political transformation are responsible for bringing the mindfulness movement to Western culture. He established the international Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism in France, now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and the heart of a growing community of mindfulness practice centers around the world. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 95 at his root temple, Tu Hieu, in Hue, Vietnam.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Domestic life is a valid form of spiritual practice and Thich Nhat Hanh gives us practical ways to infuse the atmosphere of our home life with attentiveness and peace. Children, friends and even our digestive system will benefit from the daily exercises presented in this profound book. - Michael Stone, Founder, Centre of Gravity Sangha and author of Awake in the World: Teachings from Yoga and Buddhism for Living an Engaged Life.

Your own home, no matter how big or small, can be a peaceful refuge. Making Space gives simple, practical and inspiring ideas on how to create sanctuary in your living space, and blend mindfulness into your daily life. Thich Nhat Hanh's kindness and wisdom shine throughout this poetic book.
Charlotte Bell, author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice A small, practical book filled with deep and healing truths about the sacred nature of place and home. Thich Nhat Hanh offers each of us an irresistible invitation: to clear a bit of space in our everyday lives, in our own homes and in our own busy schedules, in which our souls can rest and our spirits flourish. To read this lovely book is to take the first small step toward inner peace.
Katrina Kenison - author of The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir

Making Space brings home over thirty years of attending Thay's retreats. It invites us to establish a dedicated space for wakefulness, in the monastery of daily living. Although Making Space is intended for beginners, we're always beginners, so longtime meditators can also enjoy refreshing awareness of the timeless basics, cultivating empirical evidence of the unity of inner and outer space - on each step new, with each meal, in each moment. The extended loving kindness (metta) meditation allows the seeds of awakening (intention, understanding and love), to pervade the seeds of suffering (anger, craving and delusion). Making Space kindles our aspiration to discover that the door of our heart is already open, so compassion can flow freely, on the heart's breath. - Elizabeth Hamilton, author Untrain Your Parrot - and Other No-nonsense Instruction on the Path of Zen

Editorial Reviews

“A small practical book filled with deep and healing truths about the sacred nature of place and home. To read this lovely book is to take the first step toward inner peace.”
—Katrina Kenison, author of The Gift of an Ordinary Day
“Offers simple, inspiring ideas about how to create sanctuary and blend mindfulness into your daily life. Thich Nhat Hanh’s kindness and wisdom shine throughout this poetic book.”
—Charlotte Bell, author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life
“Thich Nhat Hanh gives us practical ways to infuse the atmosphere of our home life with attentiveness and peace. Children, friends and even our digestive system will benefit from the daily exercises presented in this profound book.”
—Michael Stone, author of Awake in the World
“Kindles our aspiration to discover that the door of our heart is already open, so compassion can flow freely. As inner space awakens, we discover peacefulness in even the noisiest outer spaces.”
—Elizabeth Hamilton, Zen teacher and author of Untrain Your Parrot

From the Publisher