Morning practice · 12 minutes
How to practise Wabi-Sabi in the morning.
Wabi-Sabi — a practice from Japan is The beauty of imperfect, impermanent, incomplete things. Here is how to bring it into your life before the day takes a single thing from you.
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Step 1
Before the phone — the first three minutes
Eyes open, feet on the floor, no screen. The first information of the day decides the day. Wabi-Sabi wants the first slot, not the last leftover.
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Step 2
A small physical anchor
A glass of water. A bow at the window. A hand to the heart. The body needs a signal that the practice has started before the day floods in.
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Step 3
Hold the day's intention
Bring the teaching to mind: The beauty of imperfect, impermanent, incomplete things. Ask: where in today is this likely to be tested? Name the place. Now you have somewhere to look.
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Step 4
One thing on the calendar in service of it
A meeting you will enter differently. A reply you will write more slowly. A walk you will take instead of a scroll. Mark it now or the morning loses its claim by noon.
The hardest part of Wabi-Sabi is letting the practice be small. Small is the whole point.
Other contexts for Wabi-Sabi