8 Strategies to Find Balance in an Unbalanced World
by Keith W. Fiveson (2021)
A practical mindfulness framework for directing attention, regulating energy, and cultivating presence with purpose in daily life.
The Mindfulness Experience presents a clear, structured approach to mindfulness grounded in attention training, energy regulation, and intentional presence.
This book introduces the Vitruvian 8 Strategies, a practical framework designed to help individuals develop mindful awareness and direct energy with clarity and purpose in the present moment. The core principle is simple and actionable.
Where attention goes, energy flows.
Rather than framing mindfulness as stress reduction or spirituality, this book positions it as a learnable skill set. Attention can be trained. Energy can be regulated. Presence can be practiced deliberately.
The Vitruvian 8 Strategies support:
Mindfulness practice for daily life.
Emotional regulation and nervous system balance.
Focus and attention training.
Stress management and burnout recovery.
Intentional behavior change.
Embodied awareness and self regulation.
Healing through present moment awareness.
Alignment of values, action, and energy.
Drawing on decades of experience in mindfulness coaching, contemplative practice, and recovery, Keith W. Fiveson offers practices that are practical, repeatable, and applicable to real world demands. The emphasis is not on achieving calm, but on sustaining awareness under pressure and choosing responses with intention.
The Mindfulness Experience serves as the foundational framework for Fiveson’s later work, including Return of the Exiled Child. This book teaches how to cultivate presence and direct energy consciously. The later work applies these skills to trauma integration, narrative healing, and relational repair.
This book is suitable for individuals, coaches, therapists, clinicians, and group facilitators seeking a disciplined, embodied approach to mindfulness, presence, and intentional living.
“At a time when there are as many distractions as there are growing concerns to divide our attention, disconnect us from our bodies, and separate us from each other and Spirit, The Mindfulness Experience helps bring us back into connection and coherence as elegantly as a singing bowl. ”
Dr. Miles Neale, Buddhist Psychotherapist - Author of Gradual Awakening, and Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy
“Written with clarity and a passion earned through his own journey, Fiveson’s book offers an integrated approach that can help anyone on a journey of self-discovery. ”
- Allen Salkin, Reporter, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Los Angeles Magazine.
“How we seek happiness and fulfillment in life is a universal pursuit. Keith has composed a priceless smorgasbord of options for anyone to construct their ideal path forward. It will appeal to both newbies and experienced people alike with its inviting tone, authentic nature, and wonderful combination of lived examples and pragmatic guidance. Highly recommend to anyone facing challenges in life and seeking to make meaningful, positive, and lasting changes that will affect themselves, others, and the world around them. ”
Daniel Sieberg, Co-founder and Chief Storyteller, GoodTrust
Mindfulness coach and contemplative therapist. U.S. Army veteran. Two time cancer survivor thriver. Author.
Keith W. Fiveson is a contemplative therapist, mindfulness based coach, and PATP certified psychedelic assisted therapy provider. He is a U.S. Army veteran, cancer survivor, and open heart surgery thriver. He is the author of Return of the Exiled Child and The Mindfulness Experience. For more than thirty years, Keith has worked with high performers, veterans, and individuals navigating trauma, burnout, and life transitions. His work integrates mindfulness, Internal Family Systems informed practice, breathwork, and embodied self regulation. His professional orientation is grounded in lived experience. Childhood trauma, military service, serious illness, and recovery inform his emphasis on presence, pacing, and nervous system safety. Keith’s work focuses on restoring contact and choice rather than fixing or optimizing. He supports clients in identifying adaptive patterns, reconnecting with younger parts of self, and integrating insight through embodied practice.
Written from lived experience, Return of the Exiled Child explores trauma, resilience, and healing through mindfulness, parts work, and lived truth.
A Practical Guide to Healing, Integration, and Rewriting Your Story
by Keith W. Fiveson (2026)
A guided workbook for people ready to understand their patterns, regulate their nervous system, and rewrite the stories that shape their lives.