Category: Mindfulness

Why I’m Always in a Hurry, & What I’m Doing About It

Why I’m Always in a Hurry, & What I’m Doing About It

By Leo Babauta I’ve come to realize, more and more, that I’m always rushing. I rush from one task to the next, rush through eating my food, impatient for meditation to be over, rushing through reading something, rushing to get somewhere, anxious to get a task or project finished. What’s the deal? This coming from […]

A Guide to the Basic Anxiety of Life

A Guide to the Basic Anxiety of Life

By Leo Babauta Underlying much of what we do is an uncertainty, an anxiety, a fear, doubts, dissatisfaction … And we react to these anxieties, dissatisfaction and uncertainty in so many unhelpful ways: we seek distraction, we eat unhealthy food, we procrastinate, we get caught in a cycle of anxiety and unhappiness, we lash out […]

Letting Go of Distractions

Letting Go of Distractions

By Leo Babauta Today I deleted several apps from my phone: Twitter, Reddit, Feedly, Snapchat, the N.Y. Times app, and more. I’m letting go of distractions, or at least learning to. In fact, I made a list of things I’m letting go of: Twitter (except to post my latest articles) Reddit Favorite blogs & websites […]

Stepping Out of Old Habits & Deeper Into Mindfulness

Most of our lives are spent following unconscious, habitual patterns. We wake and start immediately with our usual distractions, fall into regular eating habits, interact with people reactively out of old mental patterns, procrastinate and put off exercise.

Approaching Life with Beginner’s Mind

Approaching Life with Beginner’s Mind

By Leo Babauta A lot of our troubles could be solved by one simple practice. A lot of joy could be found with the same practice. And it is simple: practice seeing life with a beginner’s mind. I’m stealing this of course from Zen Buddhism’s shoshin and Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind, and I’ve […]

Finding Stillness

I’ve heard from many people who say, “I think too much,” or “I can’t get out of my own head.” This is pretty common.

How to Cultivate a Year of Mindfulness

How to Cultivate a Year of Mindfulness

By Leo Babauta In 2016, I practiced mindfulness more than I ever have before, after 10 years of sporadic practice. I meditated regularly, practiced with a local Zen group, did a great one-day sitting, went on a retreat, took courses, read books, practiced mindful eating and exercise, learned some great new practices, and taught several […]

Zen of Busy: Continual Letting Go When You’re Overwhelmed

Zen of Busy: Continual Letting Go When You’re Overwhelmed

By Leo Babauta These past two weeks have been hectic and exhausting for me. My wife’s father passed away, and I’ve been in non-stop planning, coordinating, cooking, cleaning, driving around mode. Yesterday was the funeral, and it was a long, tiring and busy day. Incredibly sad, but busy. In the midst of this busyness, I’ve […]

Video: How We Get Hooked, & How to Unlearn Our Patterns

Video: How We Get Hooked, & How to Unlearn Our Patterns

By Leo Babauta In more ways than we often realize, we get caught up in our stories, and get latched into mental patterns that leave us frustrated, angry, full of resentment … or cause us to procrastinate. In other words, getting caught up is the cause of lots of our problems. I recorded a webinar […]

The Path of Fearlessness

The Path of Fearlessness

By Leo Babauta The more I work with people who are struggling with habits or life problems, the more I see how fears are holding us back. Fears stop us from building healthy and productive habits. Fears cause us to procrastinate, keep us from finding work that is meaningful (or doing that work if we’ve […]