JuiCy D.

I had no intention of writing this blog, but as I stepped out of the shower, I just had to sit down and put the pen to paper so to speak.

Please know that this blog will likely be very scattered as I dump my thoughts. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. I don’t see a counselor anymore, so this is my therapy.

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Truth is my head is spinning right now. I released LGN365 a few weeks ago – it was very well received. I’ve got another project I’m beginning to work full-tilt on starting tomorrow morning, and I just got a text from Roman letting me know about my first major magazine write-up coming up in a few months. Wow.

On that same note, the very day LGN365 came out, I got published on ZenHabits with my article titled Building Your Strength In The Present Moment. I remember a few years ago when I was just starting out as a writer… I used to read ZenHabits for motivation on how to improve my life, and maybe eventually follow Leo’s footsteps in doing something I enjoyed for a living. [Read more...]

So, I don’t have a ton to say in this post other than a few things I wanted to share that’s happening in my 30-day experiment as well as a video my friend Jon turned me onto.

Cool Things Happening In JC’s Life, Internetz Edition

1. Today over coffee, my best friend made a comment that I wasn’t checking my phone – I hardly looked at it the whole time. In the past, he mentioned that I was pretty stuck to it, constantly checking messages, social media, and emails. In the back of my head, I was aware of this, for months even – but I couldn’t seem to hack the habit.

Since I’ve been meditating, I notice that I’m more present in any given moment, especially those I’m spending with others, than I was before meditation. He said he was intrigued by it, and my response actually, ummmm, surprised me.

I said something along the lines of “dude, I just want to take in as much of this moment as I possibly can. I don’t know when/if I’ll see you again, so this time is important to me.”

Reading that back to myself makes me feel all weird, but I like where this is going.

2. I’ve made the decision to seek out a meditation group here in Nashville. I believe this is the place I’m going to start: Nashville Zen Center. Another place I may try is actually a Buddhist Temple. I don’t know if this will last, but I want to try it out at least.

3. Here’s a neat article on ScienceDaily titled Meditation Reduces Loneliness. As some of you may know, one of the main reasons I do meditation is to reduce stress. Part of that is reducing inflammation. Here’s a really cool quote from the article:

Remarkably, the researchers said, MBSR also altered the genes and protein markers of inflammation, including the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) and a group of genes regulated by the transcription factor NF-kB. CRP is a potent risk factor for heart disease, and NF-kB is a molecular signal that activates inflammation.

So what does this mean? Who knows… but I hope scientists continue to look into the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, though I feel this stuff is a bit hard to quantify. [Read more...]