The Urban Monk: Eastern Wisdom and Modern Hacks to Stop Time and Find Success, Happiness, and Peace Hardcover – February 2, 2016

I have read the book twice now. After the first reading, I got a few practical tips on how to re-prioritize my life to accomplish the things that are truly important to me. But the real breakthroughs happened when I did the Qi Gong exercises he posted online in the resources. Once I did those daily, I noticed immediately that I was calmer and had less stress each day. After a month I had gone from having daily high anxiety to zero anxiety. I am not exaggerating. The people whose stories he describes in each chapter will be familiar to you because they are how virtually everyone lives their lives. Those people improved as well, by also doing the work Pedram gave them. Doing work is not popular advice, so if you are likely to read the book and move on without even attempting the exercises or the changes he suggests, you probably won't get much from it. But if you do the work, you will notice real improvements in your health life. If you think you don't have time to add these exercises to your busy life, the great news is Pedram gives you tons of practical advice to be more productive throughout your day. Once you make those changes, you will have 15 minutes daily for some Qi Gong.After reading the book the second time, I committed to trying even more of the exercises, and I realized there is significant wisdom in this book. Much more than was apparent the first time through. The exercises such as rooting energy down through the earth or heart meditation may seem simple, but they work wonders as well. Do not skip over those.Highly recommended.

This is a fantastic book for anyone wanting to better their life (mentally, physically, spiritually) but are intimidated by the very idea of it. The techniques and "hacks" Dr. Shojai espouses are put forth in a way that makes them easily applicable for anyone, regardless of a person's experience with meditation, yoga, exercise, dieting, whatever! He gives very simple and specific instructions on ways to solve many of modern life's problems, and does so with examples and how-to's that literally ANYONE can follow. He writes the book the way people actually talk, as if you're simply hearing someone you know give scientifically-backed and philosophically-sound advice. What's more, Pedram's hacks actually work! The resource section for each chapter alone is easily worth ten times the asking price for the entire book, complete with links to instructional videos, recipes, herbal lists, and MUCH more. Really, he's included everything you'd need to teach your goals.The book is broken down by chapters, each devoted to a specific area of modern life; you can still read the book cover-to-cover for an extensive, in-depth lesson on how to get yourself back to where you need to be, or get yourself to a place you never thought you could be on your own!Better than ANY self-help book I've ever read. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I've adopted several of the techniques discussed in this book (pomodoro technique, barefoot walking, going by candlelight at night, etc.), and feel like it has helped improve my inner peace and overall relationship with life. Each chapter starts out with a description of one of his clients and the struggles they were encountering in their life. The rest of the chapter goes on to explain various techniques that can be used to deal with the problems mentioned through Urban Monk Wisdom, Modern Hacks, etc. Also scattered throughout the chapters are blocks of "Personal Journey" stories that the author experienced. I didn't really find these useful and they often showed up in weird places on the pages that made following the sentences difficult.Initially I had a hard time getting through the first chapter or so, because the author talked about themself quite a bit and in a fashion that seemed arrogant to me. This doesn't last throughout the book, but may be something that stops people from reading the book further. There are also some suggestions thrown in about taking different types of supplements, drinking kombucha, etc. The author does suggest consulting with a medical professional throughout some of these suggestions, but someone who is misinformed may take his advice without talking to a doctor and end up getting sick. I would encourage everyone to do their own research on the health benefit claims the things he suggests throughout the book have and talk to their doctor before starting any of them.Overall, this is a positive book and is full of encouraging advice everyone can use to improve their life. If you go in to it with an open mind and do your own research on the claims made, you will enjoy this book.

This is such a useful book. I highly recommend it.First, this book breaks each chapter down into three/four basic sections. It starts with a story (based off real life examples he has gone through, but slightly changed to protect his original patients), then it talks about the problem, transitions into the solution, then concludes by going back to the original story, and discussing the changes the person took and how it affected them in the end.The flow of the sections are great for people like me. I love the nitty gritty details of what are the good and bad things to do. But it really helps to have a real life example to actually understand it on a different level. The days during and after I read this book, I would often find similarities of my life to those in the stories, then I would remember how they changed those issues in the story. It made it really easy to remember what changes I need to do to better myself in this hectic world.The book offers many suggestions, such as meditation techniques, teas to drink, supplements you can take etc. I have so many book marks in this book saving each of the useful suggestions. This book is extremely helpful for people who are stressed out, tired, or just feel they can't quite catch up. I personally don't have those specific issues, but the book was still very helpful for mild personal growths.

Love the wisdom in this book

This is a great book that should be read by everybody who's lost in the wilderness of modern living. Use the resources section too!

A refreshing, no-nonsense look at what in our current world is having a negative impact on our well being and how to change our personal environment in 'doable' ways. I will be reading it again and implementing many of the suggestions.

I just love this book. Of course you have to do the exercises and be self-disciplined, but Dr Shojai's style is so positive yet realistic and the book really supports me through an important phase of my life. I highly recommended this book for people who are tired of bs and want to develop life skills to be integrated into daily life. Great internet support through Dr Shojai's webpage.

I don't usually write reviews, but was so impressed with this book that I wanted to share.Pedram has a great way of putting the information across. It's not only simple to follow, but makes so much sense; on quite a few occasions I found my head reeling from the sheer cosmic force of it all.Pedram covers all topics that effect us and prevent us from being the best and healthiest we can be, from sleep to nutrition to energy amongst others, as well as giving some easy to follow and incorporate solutions.If you've found yourself feeling that there's a void in your life but can't put your finger on it, or wondering why all the material crap you've accumulated isn't making you happy, you should probably take a look at this book.