Quantcast

Sah D’Simone’s meditation book offers tips on starting a 5-minute daily practice

Yes, you only need five minutes a day to meditate.

That’s the message behind Sah D’Simone’s new book, “5-Minute Daily Meditations,” out this week.

The meditation teacher and transformational coach personally meditates for at least an hour each day. But with his new book, he wants to show that “meditation is for everybody.”

“Healing is for everybody, and meditation is a support for that,” the Alphabet City resident, 31, says.

D’Simone pulls from his training as a mental health first aid and breath, yoga and meditation teacher for the practices in his book, which address topics such as self-love and healing.

amNewYork spoke with D’Simone.

The book goes from January to December. What growth might someone expect over the course of a year?

The thing about the book is you have the daily practice. If you buy the book today, you’re entering the journey from there. Throughout the book, a big thing is learning that we are worthy, that we really have worth. We have inherent value, just by being alive. When we learn that we have worth, we learn that forgiveness is a main part of our vocabulary. And acceptance comes with that. We remember that we have an opportunity to recenter, to come back into our hearts at any given moment. The book is taking people back into their heart. You really realize your worth. For me, having a lack of self-worth was such a big thing. I never thought I had any value. I needed stuff to feel like I meant something. With the book, you get these bite-sized nuggets. They’re powerful and fiery and they get you to reflect and have that internal awareness.

Do you follow Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter? He does these good morning and good-night tweets, affirmations for being kind to yourself and others, that remind me of your book. Why do you think something like this has struck a chord right now?

I think we realize we want to feel better and be less anxious. And I think people are tired of the stigma around mental health. My talking about my struggle through a very simple way, and using the book as a platform — people can relate. We all have these internal struggles. We all have trauma, we all have a multitude of stories. I think we’re slowly changing this goal-oriented mentality, this journey-oriented way of living and talking about mental health, and changing the stigma. Everyone has moments of sadness and fear in them. Becoming emotionally flexible gives you the ability to live life more fully.

Is meditation a big focus for you as a coach?

Meditation’s the foundation. Then we always talk about gut health as another foundation — getting people to stop eating sugar and inflaming their guts. The meditation goes with breath — relearning how to breathe. Meditating, gratitude, intention, working on creativity, all the while cultivating a healthy way of being.

What is your diet like?

I’ve been a vegan for five years now. Plant-based. However, with all my clients and students, I always say to start small. The most important thing is to eat majority plants, and not processed stuff. Go out to your farmers market and eat some whole foods and look at your plate and be able to tell what it is. Have a beautiful sweet potato, some arugula, broccoli, legumes, grains. Put some delicious cilantro or basil on top of it. And olive oil. And if you want the fish, put the fish there. Take a moment and have gratitude. I’m a foodie, so I can talk about food for a while.

Sounds like you have a cookbook in you, too.

I also dream of some day opening a little restaurant for breakfast. Because I love making breakfast.

IF YOU GO

Sah D’Simone will guide a ritual of gratitude and manifestation from his new book during a new moon ceremony at The Alchemist’s Kitchen on Friday at 8 p.m. | 21 E. First St., tickets $30-$35 at leonewmoonceremony.splashthat.com