START
TODAY

What you need to improve your health and well-being, you already have with you right now.  

Modern culture is full of things that are not good for us, like screens, processed food, continuous work demands, and it’s missing things that are good for us: in-person contact, adequate sleep schedules, healthy challenges.  

Starting this company came from our personal experiences in trying to make our lives better, our attempts to stay healthy in a world that is full of unhealthy conditions. We’ve ended up talking to friends and strangers about those efforts, and we were drawn to share what we’ve learned and give real people a place to start.

Yes, there are directed and specific medications, diets, classes and self-help books that are supposed to lead us to the promised land of stress-free happiness. No doubt that some of those things have benefits (we’ve tried many) and some merely benefit the provider with the sale of the book or the seminar.

But, the “answer” - as much as there can be one - to the stress, disease, disfunction and unhappiness, is that we can improve our health and well-being from within ourselves. Our bodies, our minds, our spirits hold the keys to our improvement, through being mindful, present, and paying attention to ourselves in the moment. We hope to give people a place to start, a way to find what works for each one of you.

In starting this company, we’ve often talked about the idea of “many paths, one mountain” - there are an endless variety of ways to start up the mountain of better health and well-being, and in some ways, it doesn’t matter how you start, but just that you start.

Studies show that even a few minutes a day of some sort of mindful awareness builds new neuron pathways in our brains, and just that slight shift of presence means that we’re less likely to be found skipping workouts, plotting revenge on our co-workers, or standing in the dark kitchen, past our bedtime, eating Ben & Jerry’s out of the container. Just a few weeks of being deliberately mindful for a few minutes a day gives us a better chance of thinking before we speak or react, making better decisions and taking care of ourselves more.

It starts with one single breath, which is why we chose that as the name of the company. Watch, be aware, feel, just one single breath, and you have started down a path of being healthier in all aspects of your life.

The important part is that you start. The practice of being present is exactly that, a practice. In the same way that we unconsciously enter our phone’s passcode, unlock the door to our house, or carry a bag, we benefit greatly from the habit of being present. The easiest and most effective way to start? Set aside some time, even a few minutes, every day, to do nothing but listen and feel your breath.

Promise yourself that you’ll do it for 30 days, every day, and it’s easiest if you do it at the same time each day.

Find a quiet place. It doesn’t have to be the peak of the Himalayas at sunrise, it can be as simple as the inside of your car, the spare bedroom, the park bench. The idea is to make the decision to momentarily step away from any common distraction - pets, phones, children, spouses or computers (especially with audible notifications). Sit or stand with good posture. If you can sit without back support, all the better.

Close your eyes, feel your breath enter your body. Feel, in a very simple way, how your body breathes. If after taking a few breaths, you find yourself arguing inside your head with someone, worrying about something ahead of you or reacting to something that’s already happened, just breathe, and notice it. Be where you are, and nowhere else.

For some people, the malas, bracelets and beads that we offer here will become a sacred part of their daily meditation practice, to others, the beads will be something of a token or a reminder of a decision to be more mindful. Either way, they serve the purpose of being part of that decision, part of the input your mind receives, something to distract us from the distractions of texts, social media alerts and ringing phones.
 
I wear a bracelet, and my connection to it is that when I see it or feel it, there’s a split-second recognition and reminder of the decision I made to be present.

Start today.