Publish fragment on mindfulness

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content/fragments/mindfulness.md

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+---
+title: Mindfulness
+published_at: 2017-11-24T00:54:13Z
+hook: On the importance of slowing down in the age of
+  Slack and social media.
+---
+
+While relaxing in an Onsen the other day, my mind wandered
+to what I wanted to do later in the day. I'd leave the
+hotel, go and find something to eat and a frosty Asahi,
+come back to the room for a writing session, and just
+before bed, return to the Onsen for a late-night session. I
+found myself idly looking forward to food and beer, but
+even more so to that next trip to the Onsen.
+
+Suddenly, the absurdity of the thought hit me like a ton of
+bricks: I was _sitting in an Onsen_ looking forward to the
+_next time_ I'd be able to sit in an Onsen. It was hard to
+imagine a more pathological example of cognitive
+degeneracy.
+
+I'd like to say that this kind of thinking is an uncommon,
+but it's not. Like many people, most of the time my mind is
+a frothing cauldron of erratic thoughts -- constantly
+boiling over and rarely focused on anything useful. Some
+moments in the day are worse than others; I can often get
+in periods of extended focus during early mornings when the
+world is calm. After extended multi-tasking, concentrating
+on anything is next to impossible.
+
+My feeling is that the age of Slack and social media is
+making this state of continuous distraction ever stickier.
+Even if it's just juggling work and a few open conversation
+windows, multi-tasking is ubiquitous and ever-present,
+making serious periods of work increasingly scarce. Lately,
+I've been trying to counteract it with _mindfulness
+meditation_.
+
+[_Mindfulness_][mindfulness] is the process of bringing
+one's attention into the present moment. During meditation,
+it's practiced with techniques like "noting", where
+fleeting thoughts are briefly acknowledged before being
+allowed to pass, and "body scanning", where the state of
+each part of the body is considered as attention moves from
+head to toe. Meditation has deep roots in Buddhism, but is
+just as useful for secularists, with the goal being better
+mental well-being by reducing depression and anxiety, and
+increasing happiness and relaxation.
+
+These days it's a savior for my frazzled mind. I commit one
+dedicated slot every day, but have also found that it's a
+useful habit to pick up for the countless idle moments in
+between. While sitting on a bus, waiting in a line at the
+store, or watching the status bar on CI, a few slow breaths
+and a moment of concentration does wonders for recovering
+some semblance of serenity. That trip later to the Onsen
+will be great, but the present moment should feel good too.
+My goal is to slow down and live it.
+
+[mindfulness]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness