Category: mindfulness

Daily Routines: What They Are, What They Aren’t, and Why They Matter

Daily routines are deeply familiar territory here at This Wondrous Life and an integral piece of my slow living journey. Maybe you’re reading this and agree. Maybe you’re reading this and have no context around daily routines. I feel you and that’s why I’m here. Before we dive in I do want to say this:…


The Benefits of Creating More and Consuming Less

Over the past year, I’ve discovered the simple art of baking bread. The process of making freshly baked rosemary bread that’s been rising all day long, then topped with a dollop of butter and enjoyed around the dinner table has allowed me to see how life-giving it can be. I’ve learned the basic skills needed…


Spoiler Alert: Your Child is Not a Virtual Angel

For good reason, parents think the best of their children. Parents unconditionally love their kids and, while that helps our children’s development thrive, it also means that sometimes parents can be blinded to their childrens’ hearts and capabilities. And nowhere is this more evident than in the virtual worlds where our kids are spending so…


The Three Boy Basics!

A parent recently asked: One day my son follows directions fine – but then the next, it’s like he never learned our rules. Anything to help keep us all more on track – to be more consistent? What this parent describes is classic in young boy development. Their skills seem to magically show up one day,…


Freeing Your Mind to Improve Your Actions

For millennia, people have understood that they can cultivate themselves. At the most basic level, people can cultivate their physique through exercise, or their knowledge and skillsets through education. At a deeper level, people can cultivate their mind and character in ways that make them stronger in a more profound and essential way. In modern…


We Need a New Paradigm for Final Wishes

For decades, Americans have been urged to fill out documents specifying their end-of-life wishes before becoming terminally ill—living wills, do-not-resuscitate orders, and other written materials expressing treatment preferences. Now, a group of prominent experts is saying those efforts should stop because they haven’t improved end-of-life care. “Decades of research demonstrate advance care planning doesn’t work….


What Focusing on the Breath Does to Your Brain

Slow down, and pay attention to your breath. It’s not merely commonsense advice. It also reflects what meditation, yoga, and other stress-reducing therapies teach: that focusing on the timing and pace of our breath can have positive effects on our body and mind. A recent study in the Journal of Neurophysiology may support this, revealing…


The Other Person is Never the Problem

In countless little ways each day, we blame other people for our frustrations. They irritate us, don’t do things the right way, are incompetent, rude, inconsiderate, bad drivers, too slow, not tidy, boring, uncaring. And yet, we will always be frustrated if we stick to this mindset. We will always be angry, offended, hurt, disappointed….


In the New Year, Imagine Your Best Possible Life

When I was in my late 20s, I was living in Santa Barbara, California, and wondering about the course of my life. I had a job that was interesting enough, but it came with a terrible boss who actively sabotaged my work. I’d been in a few serious relationships, but none of them panned out….


How to Structure Your Day to Feel Less Stressed

Even though there is a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, chronic stress still rules the day. Those of us lucky enough to be employed are working harder than ever; an analysis of 3.1 million people’s emails found that lockdown increased the length of the average workday by almost an hour. Widespread uncertainty…