Mindful Matter
A holistic approach to Wellness.
According to the The National Wellness Institute, “Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.” I love how this definition acknowledges both the awareness and the proactive effort required. Our holistic health is important, but often we don’t prioritize it until we notice something is seriously wrong. This month’s Digital Wellness Guide includes a self-check across six dimensions: Mind: I am aware of my emotions. I engage in creative and stimulating activities. Body: I am physically active, eat mostly whole foods, and prioritize my sleep. Soul: I feel both a sense of awe and connection to the world around me. Work: I gain personal satisfaction and fulfillment from my responsibilities. Play: I make time for activities that spark joy in me. Love: I nourish and am nourished by the people in my life. Here is peek at how this self-check looks in this month’s Digital Wellness Guide: These wellness dimensions are not something we do or don’t have — they always exist on an ever-changing continuum. By bringing self-awareness to each dimension, you can get closer to feeling whole. We share this practice annually, and encourage you to revisit it as often as you feel called to do so — wellness is not a goal, it's a practice. Wishing you wellness by every measure, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee & Reflection.app P.S. Thanks to Holstee’s talented designers, Nicole and Carrie, you can have these six dimensions, as well as many other concepts, in beautiful, bitesize infographics. P.P.S. We believe that this wellness practice is so important that we’ve made it a cornerstone of our Reflection.app. Every month, in your Monthly Review, you are prompted to reflect on each dimension — with the app automatically surfacing your journal entries tagged by dimension. Reflection.app and these built-in Monthly Reviews are free, and you can access the app on web, iOS and Android.
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Q&A with Maggie Chiang
In March, we partner with Northern California illustrator, Maggie Chiang. Some of Maggie's hobbies include gaming, gardening, and taking care of her fresh water aquarium full of shrimp and fish. Maggie's art for our theme of Wellness "...represents, a snippet of daily life, an appreciation for the little things." Maggie says, "Taking breaks, watering my plants, doing yoga and creating art all help my physical and mental wellness. I think it’s important to do things that make you happy." For a little more about Maggie, here's a short Q&A: Where is home for you? California. What is your definition of a successful life? Living a happy comfortable life, with good friends and a healthy family. Describe your perfect day. A beautiful sunny day with a light breeze, and going out for a cup of tea at a relaxing cafe. How did you get into design? I’ve always loved drawing as a kid, and decided in high school to pursue my hobby as a career. Where do you find inspiration? Inspiration comes from everywhere. It could come from a conversation, something that I see while driving, or a past memory. What's your dream design project? I have thought about this question for a long time, and I don’t really have an answer, but I will say that I have been very fortunate, and super grateful, for the career that I’ve had so far. All the projects I’ve done, I never thought I’d get the opportunity to do so. Which designers or thinkers influence/inspire you? As cheesy as this may sound, my friends really inspire me. Seeing the work theycreate and the drive that they have is really inspiring. I recommend checking them out! There’s Leonard Santamaria, Lisa Kogawa, Sally Deng, Alycea Tinoyan, Lina Yu, Aj Dungo, Amy Matsushita-Beal. What was the inspiration behind this design? Like many people, I love indoor plants and yoga! So, I drew this piece in celebration for those things, an appreciation of the little things in life. At the moment, what is your favorite… Color: Light Indigo Food: Fries Song: The Weeknd - In Your Eyes Remix feat. Doja Cat Quote: Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art. - Andy Warhol Thanks for sharing with us, Maggie!
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What was your favorite physical activity as a kid?
When I was a kid, I distinctly remember loving to climb, especially in places that were not meant to be climbed. Whether it was going up a staircase without touching the stairs, scaling to the highest branches of a tree, or finding ways to get onto the roof of our house — the bigger the challenge, the better. Fast forward 25 years to last weekend. I visited Joshua Tree National Park with David and Fabian. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it — the park is filled with beautiful walking trails, massive boulders, and mountainsides. Kid Mike would have been in climbing heaven. But to my surprise, that hunger to climb up and jump off everything in sight was mostly replaced with unsteady feet and a serious case of nerves. At the top of some boulders, I found myself suddenly experiencing a fear of heights. I had the not very legitimate worry that a strong gust of wind might come and suddenly make me lose my footing. And maybe it’s my new fatherly instincts (Mala is now 9 months!) but I really wanted Dave and Fabian to not climb to the top of a narrow point or jump between the boulders. At one point, I realized that 11-year-old me and 36-year-old me were at odds — these were all things I loved to do. My childhood self was fearless, ready to scale any obstacle with a sense of energy (and maybe a little bit of naivete). But my adult self is more hesitant. He knows what it means to climb and fall. To try and fail. More experience, but also more baggage. Today, I am discovering more wisdom from that younger me. The “Mikey” who was not just willing but EXCITED to go outside his comfort zone. While I’d like this story to have a heroic and tidy ending where I faced my fears and did some sweet flip off a boulder and everything was all right, this isn’t that story. I didn’t do any wild climbs or jumps. But I did leave Joshua Tree with a realization of my fears and an acknowledgement that the irrational ones will take practice to overcome, and the others may be there for a good reason. What was your favorite physical activity as a kid? Do you still do it? If not, why not? Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. This question is one of the journaling and discussion prompts we included in this month’s Wellness Guide (Digital and Print).
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Weekly Wins
When Mike and I first started Holstee, we learned a simple lesson the hard way. Much like today, we had endless to-do lists. Logging 10-12 hours each day, we were just two young and scrappy 20-somethings trying to do it all. But we felt like we were hardly making a dent in our work. So we dialed it up even more — more cups of coffee, later nights, earlier mornings — determined to get on top of our workload. But every time we crossed 10 things off those lists, 10 more popped up — the modern equivalent of Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill for eternity. Despite doing a lot, we never got the reward of feeling like we were moving forward. We never felt fulfilled. Inevitably, we’d end the week feeling defeated. It took a few months before we realized that this was not sustainable — not for our minds, our bodies, or our business. So we put in place a tradition that we still practice today, 10 years later. Every Friday, each Holstee team member identifies their highlights and accomplishments from the past week. They then share this list in a dedicated “Wins” channel on Slack, our team communication platform. While the length of our to-do lists hasn't changed and we still burn the midnight oil on occasion, we now feel we can end the week reflecting on how far we’ve come and acknowledge the small steps it takes to get there. This helps us enter the weekend feeling accomplished. So much of how we feel is informed by our outlook, which can often be skewed. Sometimes all we need to do is create a practice to reflect on our days and weeks to see how far we’ve actually come — to fire up that sense of fulfillment we all deserve to feel. It's easy to see what's yet to be done, but don't forget to celebrate all you’ve accomplished. Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. We have brought this tradition to our member community, with members sharing their Weekly Wins every Friday in our online group. Become a Holstee Member and join us in this weekly practice for yourself!
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Listen to your body.
When it comes to taking care of our bodies, there’s no shortage of opinions on how we should be living. Recently, I realized that I’ve been part of that noise. You see, I love sharing things that bring me joy — especially when it comes to health and wellness. One example is with yogurt. For many years, I’ve loved starting my day with a dose of really thick yogurt. If at any point in the day I don’t feel great, I turn to yogurt. It gives me energy and makes me feel fantastic. So naturally, I started telling all my friends and family how great yogurt is and how everyone should be eating more yogurt. It wasn’t long before I started getting pushback from people telling me that yogurt made them feel the opposite. It made them ill, or gave them a stomachache. Initially I would think, “Oh well, maybe they aren’t having the right yogurt.” But then I thought back to the source — what was it that made me so convinced that yogurt is that great? It was my body — the way yogurt made me feel. But everybody — and every body — is different. So even if something makes me feel my best, that doesn’t mean that everyone will have the same reaction. This was an “aha moment” for me about the importance of being in touch with and listening to our own bodies. Our bodies communicate with us in a variety of ways. Some are visible, like a rash or a stuffy nose. But others are more subtle, like a slight tummy ache, or having a cloudy-headed feeling. In recent years, I have come to appreciate that a powerful way to improve our personal wellbeing is to fine-tune our ability to listen to our bodies. The more we practice this skill, the more easily we realize when our bodies are trying to tell us something. Being mindful of the small ways my body communicates helps me understand and prioritize my health in a holistic sense. This month's Wellness Guide provides a framework to reflect on how you feel in different areas of your life to help you connect with your current state of wellbeing. To your health, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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Wellness is awareness.
Each month in our Holstee Guides, we include a few questions intended for self-reflection or group discussion that are inspired by our monthly theme. I recently shared one of these questions with our private member Facebook group: “True or false? Wellness is something that can be achieved.” One response particularly stood out. It was from Katie in Portland: “I think of it less as an achievement and more of a continuously changing state. What may be a good choice for me one day, may not be the next. It requires a lot of checking in with myself to know what wellness means for me today. Sometimes a nap may be more important than hitting the gym. Or splurging on that piece of cake might be just what the doctor ordered.” What I love about Katie’s response is that she acknowledges that wellness doesn't just vary by person but it also continues to vary moment to moment. It’s a fluid state, and the only way to really know where we stand is to be aware of what our mind, body, and soul are trying to communicate to us. What do you think — is wellness something we can achieve? Join the conversation in our private members Facebook group. Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. We just launched Maslow. A new feature for Holstee Members to easily access all member content (Art, Guides, and more) quickly and easily on the go. Explore the awesomeness that is Maslow at: Holstee.com/maslow
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