Book excerpt: Mindfulness Travel Japan is the perfect travel guide to Japan when you need to breathe, pause, focus and relax. Are you looking to step back from the stress of daily life on your next holiday? In this guide, Japan travel connoisseurs Steve Wide and Michelle Mackintosh offer a selection of some of the most relaxing and mindful destinations and experiences across Japan, so you can just exist in the here and now. Covering a total of 100 mindful travel experiences, you can enjoy forests carpeted in moss, plant-based food banquets or long walks in zen gardens, losing yourself in Japan's beauty and nature. Soak in medicinal onsen waters, or have your whole body covered in a hot-sand bath, stay overnight in a traditional ryokan or zen temple. Walk the paths of philosophers and poets and hike the paths of religious pilgrims. Observe the opening of cherry blossoms, the changing of the leaves or the first flurries of snow. Take a class in calligraphy or learn the art of meditation, spend a day bicycling around ancient temples and shrines. Learn about the different varieties of Japanese tea and the art of tea ceremony. Mindfulness Travel Japan will show you how to be your best self not just on holiday, but in life.