I watched four episodes of a show last Tuesday and felt guilty about it for the rest of the week, given the recent rave about mindful entertainment digital leisure. Which is absurd. I’d had a long day, I chose something I wanted to watch, I enjoyed it, and I went to bed at a reasonable…
There’s a weird guilt that wellness culture puts on entertainment, which makes an entertainment leisure mindful life look like an excess. Like if you’re truly mindful, you should be meditating, journaling, or hiking at sunset — not watching a show on the sofa or playing a game on your phone. As if screens automatically cancel…
Somewhere along the way, we decided that rest is laziness and play is for children; essentially that finding balance productivity rest play isn’t important. That the correct adult response to any free time is to make it productive: learn a language, optimize your morning, side-hustle your evenings. And if you’re not doing that, you should…
The average person checks their phone 96 times a day. I know this because I read it on my phone, ironically, at 11pm when I should have been sleeping. This is what makes digital detox mental health extremely important. I don’t think phones are evil. I’m not going to tell you to delete all your…
I’ve failed at morning wellness routines more times than I can count. The 5am wake-up. The two-hour miracle morning. The cold shower followed by journaling followed by a green smoothie followed by somehow still being late for work. None of it stuck. What did stick was building something small enough that I couldn’t talk myself…
Breathing is the only thing your body does automatically that you can also control deliberately. Which makes it the most accessible stress tool you have — no app, no equipment, no quiet room required. You can do this on a crowded train. I’ve tested a lot of breathing techniques over the years (occupational hazard of…
Here’s the truth about starting a meditation practice: it’s boring. Not always, not forever, but in the beginning — when you’re just sitting there with your eyes closed, trying not to think about what to have for dinner — it feels like nothing is happening. That’s normal. And it’s not a sign that you’re doing…