Jamie Fellrath | Practical Mindfulness

Hey everyone - just a note that I added a new page to my menu, above, called " What is Mindfulness? " It struck me that I had this nifty title for my blog but had never really defined what I feel mindfulness is for myself or for the purposes of this blog. So... I did. :) Hope you enjoy, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.  

All my life, I've been sort of a rebel.  Not in the conventional sense (is there such a thing as a conventional rebel?), as in riding motorcycles and wearing black leather or dropping-out-turning-on types of ways, but in mindset.  As long as I can remember, I've enjoyed trying to think differently than everyone around me.  It's generally led to my living as a minority as regards many topics and mindsets. Just via my nature, I've been on the minority side of things a lot. I read the Communist Manifesto for fun when I was in high school, just to see what it was all about.   I used to wear kilts for fun on a pretty regular basis, and even organized a short-lived Columbus kilt-wearers group.   I listened to rap music back before it was in the mainstream.   I follow a very ancestrally-based diet - a variation of Paleo. That's led to some very interesting insights on life. One of those insights is that being a rebel against things that conventional...

Journaling was long a habit that I wanted to pick up but just never did.  And it was never because I didn't believe in its worth, it was that I just never built the habit or found the proper method that worked best for me.  I'd start it for a while, be enthusiastic about it, and then lose the habit when something else came up and interrupted me.   That's all changed for me now, as I look forward each morning and night to journaling in my newest tool I've found.  But that search has clued me in to a ton of great journaling tools that might help you as you're looking for that great push to get you into the journaling habit!   The Five-Minute-Journal:    This is obviously   the one I've adopted .  It's simple, it's quick, and it does the trick.  I won't expand into stuff I've already talked about with this in the two posts I've done on this fantastic tool.  But let's talk about some of the other aspects of the Five-Minute Jo...

Three weeks ago, I posted about the Five Minute Journal and how I was trying to use it to adopt some good journaling habits.  I mentioned how I'd tried tons of online or electronic versions and was ready to do something in a different paradigm, in this case the totally revolutionary and creative idea of actually writing stuff out with a pen, on actual paper. Guess what?  It's worked. Here's what I've discovered about going through the actual process of manually writing this stuff out into a physical journal. 1.  I have only missed two days of writing, and I've gone right back into after those days. I keep my journal right next to my clock radio next to my bed.  There's something about having a physical object sitting there looking at you when you get up in the morning. And, I've created a little ritual around my journaling:  when I go to bed (right after I write in the journal), I put my Kindle Fire HD with a pen/stylus attached to the case rig...

It's been a while since my last Standing Desk update and I thought it was time to let everyone know about this little experiment and my outcomes:  Basically, this has been a big success. As I mentioned, my neck and back issues have gone away - they weren't huge to begin with, but they're completely gone to the point that I didn't even remember them till I looked at the previous posts to see where I left off. Sore feet are not quite a thing of the past, but it seems that factor has a lot to do with the physical activities of the previous day or two.  And that's acceptable.  I am considering a mat for the floor, though, just to alleviate a bit of the soreness that does come up from time to time.   My only question is whether to get a normal padded mat or a pebbled mat of some kind with a texture to it. I've discovered that a simple walk relieves foot soreness, but that situation is even more improved if I walk on something with some terrain to it...

Point #1 today:  I listen to a lot of podcasts.  Probably more than I should.  I have a backlog of about 30 episodes I'm trying to catch up on (call it a project).  Those podcasts include two that are complementary but different:  Abel James's Fat-Burning Man and Dave Asprey's Bulletproof Radio .  I love them both - they both discuss lots of whole-life "hacks" and changes one can make to improve health; mentally, physically, and emotionally. And if both of them have a guest, and they both rave about that guest's product, I'm very likely to give it a look.  Case in point:   UJ Ramdas and his Five Minute Journal .  We'll get back to that product in a moment. Point #2 today: I have, in the past, been a horrible journaler.  I totally recognize the value of it, don't get me wrong.  And I would love to be one of those people who just do it regularly by habit.  But, for whatever reason, it's a habit that I just have had a hard...

"SET SOME GOALS!" The advice that we frequently see (and rightly so) to create a path to success, is to "set some goals and work toward them."  Totally awesome advice, no doubt about it.  But... there's a further problem.  What's the best way to create goals?   The acronym S.M.A.R.T. , frequently attributed to Peter Drucker and his management by objectives concept, is a great place to start with creating goals.  The five attributes of this acronym are:   Specific - nebulous goals like "I want to get my finances under control" are going to be less effective than "I will reduce my credit card debt by $2000 by March 1."   Measurable - the goals need to be something that can be defined specifically.  Saying "I want to lose weight" is not measurable, but saying "I want to be 180 pounds by Sept. 3" is.   Attainable - the goal must be something you can see yourself doing.  "I want to run a marathon" ...