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Yoga is a good example of exercise that is meditative. Or rather, it’s the other way around: yoga is more like meditation that is also good exercise. Or at the very least, when we talk about yoga as exercise, we’re usually referring to the āsanas (i.e., poses) and vinyāsa style yoga (i.e., sequences of poses) that are part of the practice. But yoga is much more than that. It’s a philosophy, a way of life, a spiritual practice. And it’s all of these things at once.

There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Few have mastered the art of walking it, and fewer still have the wisdom to know when to step back. People with enough self awareness to recognize their infallibility are–in my experience–a rare breed.

I think a lot of the self-help advice about how we should love ourselves and be confident and yadda yadda tends to be correct on the surface, but in practice it gets deployed incorrectly. Confidence is great, but ignorance combined with too much confidence leads to arrogance.

At some point in recent history it became very trendy to travel. I think, however, most of the traveling people do this days is of the performative nature. The point of travel to most people is to take photos for Instagram and be able to boast to their friends about it, so far as I can tell. I suppose there are some folks who enjoy the thrill of airports, airplanes, and hotels. For me however, spending unnecessary time in an airport, airplane, or hotel is the last thing I want to do.

You’ve heard of the mind-body connection, and maybe also the brain-gut connection, but have you heard of the mind-body-gut connection? I just made it up for this blog post, but I think it’s something interesting to noodle on.

I think the term “mind-body connection” has existed in the minds of health and wellness folks for quite some time, but the gut-brain connection is a somewhat newer concept. Only in the past few decades have we began to scratch the surface of how the gut and brain communicate with each other.

I think most people are artists, in one sense or another. We don’t generally do much to cultivate artists as a society, aside from the occasional optional art class in school. I like to cosplay as an artist, but I don’t think of myself as particularly talented or skilled when it comes to making art.

I have a saying, or perhaps a mantra, that I like to repeat to myself: “High hopes, low expectations”. I think I could do a whole stand up comedy routine about this subject. Some people, I suspect, go through life feeling disappointed for the simple reason that they expect too much. Whether in their relationships, careers, or personal lives, they set themselves up for constant disappointment by setting their expectations far too high.

When it comes to personal growth, if that’s something you care about, it’s worth thinking about your blind spots, your biases, and anything else that might be holding you back. I tend to have a lot of conversations with strangers, and lately I’ve been making more of any effort to listen rather than speak. It’s quite a simple yet powerful way to learn about others, and yourself too, in the process. People will reveal a surprising amount if you simply give them space and keep your mouth shut. A few questions here and there to move things along helps, but the questions matter less than giving others time to speak (and you’ll find that people will often fill the gaps themselves).

It’s surprisingly easy to form habits. And it’s less difficult to break them than it may seem at first, with some exceptions (nicotine, for example, is notoriously addictive and hard to quit).

I read Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, and I found it to be a lot of words to say something that could be summarized in a few sentences. But the core idea is solid: start small and slowly build up until a thing becomes habitual. Breaking habits is the same but opposite: quitting cold turkey often fails, but slowly reducing the habit can be effective.

Rejection always stings, and it may or may not get easier to handle over time as you age and experience more rejections. Why it stings is complicated because sometimes we anticipate rejection, but when it hits, it still feels bad.

I think of myself as an expert in rejection. I’ve been rejected by colleges, jobs, friends, family, and romantic partners. I’ve been rejected by people I’ve admired and respected, people I’ve loved and trusted, and even people I’ve never met.

Writing is not easy, and it’s easier for some than others. Personally I don’t find it hard to write about things that interest me, but I know some do. I suppose some types of writing are easier for me than others, i.e., I find writing fiction difficult, so I don’t do that. Perhaps I should try harder.