Simple Frugality Blog

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.

What I’ve Learned in 10 Years of Zen Habits

Unbelievably, this month marks 10 years since I started Zen Habits. I’ve had an amazing decade, and I’d like to reflect on those years today. I’ve seen so much change in the last 10 years that I can’t possibly reflect on all of it.

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 […]

minimalism with kids

I’ve often been asked, “How can you be a minimalist with six kids? I only have two kids, help me!” It can be pretty hilarious calling yourself a minimalist when you have six kids … but 1) I didn’t become minimalist until after I had the kids, and 2) anyone can be a minimalist, it’s […]

Filter Out the Noise

By Leo Babauta It can seem like our lives are filled with busyness, noise, distractions, and often meaningless activities. What if we could filter out all that noise, and focus on the meaningful? What if we could find stillness instead of constant distraction? I believe that most of us have that power. In my experience, […]

Mindfully Free of Wanting People to Be a Certain Way

By Leo Babauta One of the biggest sources of difficulties for every single human being is the desire for people to be a certain way. We can’t seem to help it: we want the world to be the way we want it. Unfortunately, reality always has different plans, and people behave in less-than-ideal ways. The […]

5 Tips For When You Have Too Much to Do

By Leo Babauta Too much to do, not enough time. This is a perpetual problem for a lot of people, but it seems to be especially pronounced during the holidays. With holiday events, shopping, travel, family visiting … things tend to pile on top of our already busy lives. But no matter what time of […]

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 […]