Inward Reality, How We Grow, and a Simple Practice I Do Every Day
Published June 29, 2026
Reading Time: 1 min 24 sec
I hope the next 17-ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.
4 THOUGHTS
1. Inward and Outward Reality
“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”
— Attributed to Plutarch
We’ve heard a bunch of variations of this quote over the years. But it’s always a welcome reminder: our inner state determines how we interpret our outer reality.
2. A Practice I Still Do Every Day
Rub your palms together to generate heat, and then gently place them over your closed eyes. I learned this in Pranayama Teacher Training from Yoga Education College, and I still end every contemplative practice this way.
Try it out and see if you enjoy it as much as I do.
3. How We Grow
“We grow spiritually much more by doing it wrong than by doing it right. That might just be the central message of how spiritual growth happens, yet nothing in us wants to believe it.”
— Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
This one is always worth revisiting. As much as we wish we didn’t ever mess up, our mistakes are actually critical to our spiritual development. They’re how growth happens.
4. Spend All Day Looking for It
“Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.”
— Richard Whately
This isn’t just about morning routines. It’s about how we start anything.
When we begin in a rush, we often spend a lot of time trying to make up for it later. A little intention at the beginning can save a lot of time later.
1 QUOTE
“Do laugh. It is humanity to laugh.”
— Richard Steele
1 GOOD BOOK
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
This is one of about four fiction books I’ve read in my life, lol. But it’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s short, simple, and incredibly inspiring. If by some miracle you haven’t read it, check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
Get the Book HereIn good breath,
Nick
P.S. all projects
The Anxious Person’s Breath Manual
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