How I try to stay mindful everyday

I’ve been reading Japanese books about zen.

I want to share some of the things I learned and realized.

A Japanese monk from Kenkoji Shunmyo Masuno advised to have a small habit you do every day.

By repeating it gives a good habit of taking action rather than overthinking and ending up not doing anything.

By taking small actions and repeating, you start finding small differences, which leads to different results, which leads to improvement. This becomes a base for other and bigger challenges.

So, I made a list of the things I developed as my good habits.

How I stay mindful everyday

1. Brewing Coffee

One habit I do every day is hand dripping coffee.

I keep my equipments as portable as possible so I could keep doing it every morning wherever I am.

I start off from grinding the coffee, then when brewing it gives off a really nice coffee aroma. I try to drip it the same way every day, but the way it’s brewed is slightly different.

It’s imperfect but it’s ok. But I try to work to go back to the basic procedure of brewing good coffee while I engage with the smell, the taste...

It’s a lot easier to brew from the machine, of course, but I love living in the moment and spending a good 5-10 minutes to start off the day.

2. Having matcha

This is quite similar to coffee, but I would say matcha is less common even for a Japanese. I don’t do it every day but I would like to develop the habit, so I will list it here.

I do prefer to drink coffee than green tea or matcha because I could only get the tea leaves and the equipments in Japan while it’s easier for coffee.

A tea specialist I met in Hokkaido told me Japanese used to take a lot of nutrients from tea before we became a wealthy nation. 

“If you don’t have the time or money to eat enough vegetables, just drink green tea.” He said.

Green Tea is brewed from the tea leaf, while matcha is a powder of the tea leaf dissolved in hot water.

Thus a small cup of matcha carries a lot more nutrients than the same amount of green tea.

I would feel that after having matcha. I can feel the nutrient flowing into my head and I can concentrate much better.

It’s a challenge to make matcha, too. A good one that is whisked properly will have a rich thickness, slightly identical to the crema of a good espresso.

I can’t make it the same every day. But it’s a good habit to try, but accept the imperfection.

3. Going for a walk 

The first time I heard about “zen” is actually from an American professor in Kyoto, when he talked about Zazen (座禅）which means sit and zen. I had a long image of needing to sit and mediate in zen, but it isn’t true. 

A different type of zen introduces to walk as well.

Being an ADHD the sitting down zen didn’t really work well with me. When practicing yoga, which has similarities with zen, it’s easier for me to practice it when there is more movement.

• How I have a better relationship with ADHD.

The more tired I am, the more I felt going for a walk is a waste of time. I could be doing more things and more productive.

So I started by listening to podcasts or investment tutorials on YouTube while I walk, then as it became a habit I naturally began to walk without the devices on my ears.

The sound of the wind, the birds, the river, and the insects... I try to do it for an hour every day. 

It’s interesting how I loved the rock garden in Ryuanji when I first started my studies in Kyoto.

All the moments are just dots. There really is no meaning in judging them. Just live today to the fullest, be content and fulfilled with whats around you, and you look back at the dots in the future and see it connect.

4. Taking Notes

This might be because of ADHD, but I have so many things that randomly pop into my head during the day. Then I would forget it 10 seconds later. This resulted in small frustrations that “I wanted to do something but I forgot.” Then I would remember the same thing randomly in the future, sometimes already too late.

So I carry pens and paper most of the time. 

Good ideas seem to pop more frequently when I’m making drinks or meals, when walking, or in the shower.

If I’m not carrying paper, I stop whatever I’m doing and put it on my smartphone.

This helped me to only focus on what’s essential that day, and postpone the rest.

No point being mindless and busy, which will attract a vicious cycle.

Take notes on my thoughts, organize them, prioritize, and complete it one at a time in small steps.

Small good habits lead to fulfillment

I think the more simple and easier the habit, the better. 

By repeating it, it later compounds, and it gets easier to continue.

The mind and the body learns to do it without me thinking about it.

It wasn’t really pleasing at first, of course. Sounds boring to do what I listed.

But I later began to find out excitement doesn’t necessarily equal happiness.

Living in Malaysia helped me realize this.

What I loved most about living in Malaysia

I’m happier when I’m fulfilled enough that I don’t need need anything, instead of being bored and wanting new excitement.

This is really big. I want to end today with the quote I found from the author of Atomic Habits, James Clear.

Happiness is simply the absence of desire... Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure(which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state.”

Related: 

•  What I started to do after reading the book "Atomic Habits" 
• How I used Atomic Habits to lose weight. 104→81kg in a year.
• The 4 youtube videos that were most inspirational to me

In the next post I want to share some zen teachings that I read from books in Japanese. Til next time!