Inner work frameworks, practices, and questions – all in a five-minute read. Delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning before you even wake up. Written and curated by Andrew Lang.
3 Components of a Presence-Filled Practice: The Wednesday 1-2-3
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This past week, I found myself muttering a phrase many of us know from Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming, just keep swimming… When life gets hectic and the to-dos begin to stack up, I’m often tempted to fall back into a “just keep going” mindset. Just keep working, just keep pushing, just keep giving, just a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit– And, if I don’t find a practice that offers me some space to breathe, I inevitably crash and find myself feeling adrift and purposeless. So…the practice is really important. Casper ter Kuile teaches that practices with the power to deepen our sense of presence, meaning, and experience have three common traits:
A practice that has all three, ter Kuile says, has the power to “make the invisible connections that make life meaningful, visible.” If you’re interested in creating a practice like this for your own life, I’ll be guiding folks (and myself) through the process at a workshop later this month! More details below. Questions
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The Wednesday 1-2-3
Inner work frameworks, practices, and questions – all in a five-minute read. Delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning before you even wake up. Written and curated by Andrew Lang.
Hey Reader, At one of the monasteries grounded in Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings, there’s a beautiful tradition: Throughout the day, and at seemingly random intervals, a bell chimes across the entire campus. It’s an invitation (and a norm) that everyone, including guests, pause what they’re doing and settle in for a moment of mindfulness. In the middle of a bite? Pause. In the middle of a conversation? Pause. In the middle of a lecture or teaching? Pause. It’s meant as a sometimes-gentle,...
Hey Reader, In the conversations I've had with friends the last couple days, there has been one prevailing and overwhelming theme: This week has been emotionally brutal for many of us. I'll just pause and speak from my experience here: since watching the attempted assassination of former President Trump, I've felt myself in a space of sadness, frustration, and – more than anything else – anxiety. It feels like a heaviness and a dread in my chest that just won’t let me go. And given my...
Hey Reader, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I refer to as “the gift percolating up from within me.” Some folks call this a “calling.” Others call it our “daimon” or reference the Japanese concept of “ikigai.” Gay Hendricks calls it our “Zone of Genius.” I think of it as the quality of living that is uniquely ours to nurture and bring forth in the world. And, when I’m present to my life, I notice this quality more and more. I notice when I’m engaging in work that doesn’t feel like work. Or...