Healing America
How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Recapture the American Spirit
by Rep. Tim Ryan


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Most fans of the Democratic presidential primary are aware that Marianne Williamson is a self-help author who qualified for the June and July debates. But there is ANOTHER self-help author who has also been in both debates -- Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan. This is his self-help book.

Ryan's book "Healing America" was originally titled "A Mindful Nation" when it was first written in 2012. Ryan revised and retitled the book in 2018 in preparation for the presidential race. Both versions are about "mindfulness," which means practicing mental discipline and intentional attentiveness. Ryan claims that "mindfulness practice" can improve our education system, our family life, our workplace stress, and just about everything else.

Ryan's describes the "peaceful revolution" like this: "Mindfulness is about finding ways to slow down and pay attention to the present moment" (Introduction, p. xxv). Ryan says he "wrote this book to promote the values of slowing down, taking care of ourselves, being kind, and helping each other" (p. xxvi). Ryan wrote this book while he was a member of Congress, so he makes political connections to mindfulness (which is what we excerpt), but the book is mostly about spreading the word about mindfulness practice.

The Table of Contents (p. ix) makes clear how Rep. Ryan connects his proselytization of mindfulness to politics:

• Chapter 4: How Mindfulness Can Increase Our Children's Attention and Kindness
• Chapter 5: How Mindfulness Can Improve Our Health and Our Health-Care System
• Chapter 6: How Mindfulness Can Improve Performance and Build Resiliency for Our Military and First Responders
• Chapter 7: How Mindfulness Can Help Us Rediscover Our Values and Reshape Our Economy
• Chapter 8: How Mindfulness Can Help Us Help Ourselves and Our Country

Bottom line: Representative Tim Ryan cares about mindfulness. If you want to understand him as a candidate, this book is important to Ryan's character and to his life. Ryan has not raised the "mindfulness" issue in the presidential debates (nor much in his campaign at all). But we suspect if voters listen carefully in the autumn debates, which will allow more time for each candidate, they'll hear echoes of this book in Ryan's statements. We'll be listening!

-- Jesse Gordon, Aug. 2019

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Corporations     1960S: CEOs earned 48X employees; now it's 325X.     Families are underwater while global banks receive a bailout.

Crime     No kid should worry his brother might be killed in school.

Drugs     Mindfulness-based programs to prevent relapses.

Education     Mindfulness reduces teacher burnout.

Energy & Oil     We burned oil in 100 years that took a billion years to form.

Families & Children     Mindfulness lets kids concentrate on regulating emotions.

Health Care     Prevention makes us healthier at low cost.

Homeland Security     Give our troops everything they need, including after return.

Principles & Values     Mindfulness practices bring down our stress & anxiety levels.

Technology     High-speed rail creates jobs in the new energy economy.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Robert Reich Tim Ryan