A timely Zen guide for those seeking emotional stability, self-compassion, and inner peace in an anxious and perfection-driven world A new book in the Zen Ways series from the hosts of the popular The Way Out Is In podcast In an age marked by climate anxiety, social fragmentation, and unrelenting pressure to perform, Calm in the Storm is a much-needed anchor. This deeply compassionate guide invites readers to cultivate inner stability in a world that often feels on the brink. Rather than offering quick fixes or bypassing pain, Zen teacher Brother Phap Huu and spiritual mentor Jo Confino draw on timeless teachings to help readers meet the chaos of modern life with grounded presence and resilience. Through intimate stories, mindfulness practices, and heartfelt reflections, the authors gently guide us back to ourselves—back to a place where we can breathe, feel, and respond with clarity rather than react with fear. Whether facing personal overwhelm or collective grief, Calm in the Storm offers a path toward rooted compassion and meaningful engagement. Readers will learn to: • Cultivate emotional balance, belonging, and self-compassion • Navigate perfectionism, self-judgment, and burnout with mindfulness • Connect with the wisdom of their ancestors and inner child • Integrate Zen teachings into everyday moments and social change • Find their center in a time of polycrisis, climate fear, and global uncertainty Grounded in wisdom yet deeply relatable, this book is not just a guide—it’s an invitation to step fully into your own humanity. If you’re ready to break free and live with greater ease, this is your roadmap. "Brother Phap Huu and Jo Confino—cohosts of the Plum Village podcast The Way Out Is In —have collaborated to explore healing through practices like reconnecting with the inner child, expressing gratitude, navigating perfectionism and competition, and taking the middle path. Spiritual nourishment and practical encouragement … guidance for weathering life's storms." — Lion's Roar "Reading Calm in the Storm feels like sitting beside dear friends, listening to their steady, loving voices as they guide us back to what truly matters. Brother Phap Huu and Jo Confino offer the rare gift of presence—not just in their words, but in the integrity of how they live. I’ve known Brother Phap Huu since he was a child, before he became a monk, and it is a delight to witness the depth of his practice and embodiment now. Jo, too, brings great heart and insight to this book. Together, they share the fruit of decades walking alongside the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community, helping us all remember that even in the most turbulent moments, we can return home to ourselves—one breath, one step at a time." — Kaira Jewel Lingo , Buddhist teacher, author of We Were Made for These Times and coaauthor of Healing Our Way Home Brother Pháp Hũu (Dharma Friend) first encountered Zen Master Thich and the Plum Village community as a child when his father, a former refugee from the war in Vietnam, took his family from Canada to visit Plum Village France in 1996. From the age of twelve, Brother Phap Huu knew that he wished to become a monk, and in 2002 when he turned thirteen, he was ordained as a novice, receiving full ordination in 2006. He has been the abbot of Plum Village Upper Hamlet since January 2011. Mindfulness advocate, spiritual mentor, coach, and journalist Jo Confino has worked closely with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and his monastic community in France since 2009. Specializing in sutainability, he has partnered with the UN Development Program on a consciousness and systems change initiative and held senior editorial positions at The HuffPost in New York and The Guardian in London. Your true home is not an abstract idea; it is something you can touch and live in every moment. No one can take it away from you. Other people can occupy your country, they can even put you in prison, but they cannot take away your true home and your freedom. —Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh Preface: Arriving Welcome, dear friends, to this guide to coming home to ourselves and coming home to life. Many of us have traveled a long distance from our center, the place where we can accept ourselves as we are and feel stability in an often chaotic world. We live in an age of anxiety; our nervous systems are overloaded. Many of us juggle complex lives and face pressures to do more and be more. Navigating our own lives is difficult enough, but we do so in the context of a world in turmoil. Exponential changes in technology alongside the fraying of political consensus and institutions that have for many decades helped to create social cohesion are challenging our stability and trust. As if this were not enough, we face threats of runaway climate change, eco-system degradation, and increasing social injustice. This heavy emotional load generates grief and despair—the possible collapse of civilization as