Breathing Glossary: the Gateway

If you want to think better and feel better, if you are curious about how to start a wellness routine, if you just want to reduce some of the internal stress and external anxiety, breathing can be the gateway. You can start today, right now. And all you have to do is change one breath.

Wellness is a loaded word. Mindfulness too.

These words can seem complicated and empty at the same time, no? Let’s simplify this. Let’s strip this process way down.

The path to thinking better and feeling better starts with this one, simple action: slow down a single exhale today.

Think about just one breath today, and you will have taken your first step toward less anxiety and more peace of mind. And in our book, less anxiety and more peace of mind qualify as wellness and mindfulness.

Over the next few days, maybe you think about breathing for two minutes, or five minutes, or however much time you have to focus on your breath. Even just 30 seconds will make a difference.

“Mindfulness requires letting go of judgement, returning to an awareness of the breath and body, and bringing your full attention to what is in you and around you.”

- Thich Nhat Hahn

1NE | TW2 | THR33 | F44R | F5VE

 

‍1NE: The Art of Concentration

On average, we check our phones every 12 minutes.

“The impact of interruptions on individual productivity can also be catastrophic. In 2002, it was reported that, on average, we experience an interruption every eight minutes or about seven or eight per hour. In an eight-hour day, that is about 60 interruptions. The average interruption takes about five minutes, so that is about five hours out of eight. And if it takes around 15 minutes to resume the interrupted activity at a good level of concentration, this means that we are never concentrating very well...

This is a simple way of learning to concentrate better. It goes like this: whenever you feel like quitting – just do five more – five more minutes, five more exercises, five more pages – which will extend your focus. The rule pushes you just beyond the point of frustration and helps build mental concentration. It’s a form of training as well as being a way of getting something accomplished.”

TW2: FutureMe: Write a Letter to the Future

THR33: Why Calmness Can Be Contagious

F44R: Why being bored is good.

F5VE: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Like the Art of Tidying Up, but designed for our digital clutter.

“digital minimalism as a “philosophy of technological use,” centered upon three fundamental principles: clutter is costly, optimization is important, and intentionality is satisfying. By turning on its head the “there’s an app for that” mindset — generating endless technological solutions for faux problems — we can rely on our real, embodied selves to decide whether and how we want to use technology for a very small set of real hurdles.”