Mindful Matter

January 27, 2018

My eulogy.

January 20, 2018

Mokuso.

I recently started going to a small Muay Thai kickboxing school here in Amsterdam. It has been a new experience for me in many ways — my first time engaging in a competitive sport since high school, my first exposure to Muay Thai, and a language immersion as the classes are mostly in Dutch. The founders of the school trained in Japan, and every class begins with the students kneeling in a straight line across from the teacher. The teacher says the word “mokuso” and everyone exhales deeply and closes their eyes. For about a minute, the room is silent. For weeks, I assumed that mokuso (pronounced "mohk-sou") was a Dutch word that I didn’t know. Finally, I Googled it and learned that mokuso is actually a Japanese word, which roughly means, “to prepare one’s mind”. Indeed, this one-minute micro-meditation at the start of each class had helped slow me down, mentally prepare, and help me set my intention for what I am about to do. The teachers’ purpose is to ground the class and each individual student so that we can bring our full awareness to the training about to begin. It’s a tradition that I have taken with me outside of the class as well. Before I begin a big task, a presentation, or a meeting, I close my eyes and say to myself slowly, “mokuso” and exhale. It’s a way of preparing my mind and setting my intention for what’s about to begin. Always start with intention, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. Speaking of awesome words in other languages, here are a few past reflections you may enjoy: Arete, Sonder, Kintsugi, and Shokunin Kishitsu. P.P.S. Looking to dive deeper into setting your Goals and Intentions? Take a look at our Intention Guide PDF (available to all Holstee Members).

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January 15, 2018

5 Things We Learned About Living With Intention This Month

Jennifer Lioy, Creative and Communications Lead, Holstee

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January 13, 2018

Won't you take me to… Funkytown?

Yesterday I was cruising through the easy streets of Ventura, dropping off my wife at work. We came to a stop light, and a great song came on the radio. So naturally, I had to dance. Belted into the driver's seat, my moves were limited to shoulder shakes and hands up in the air, but I was grooving. One moment later, the light turned green. The driver in the car ahead of us threw up his hands, looked back, and glared at us, shaking his head angrily. I think he assumed I was waving around my arms in impatience, mad because he wasn’t moving right when the light changed. Little did he know, I was moving to the disco beat. And honestly, I was so deep in dance mode, I hadn’t even realized the light had changed. So I tried to clear the air. Using hand gestures, I tried to explain that my movements were for the song, not for him. But in our complicated web of non-verbal communication, I only added to the confusion. As we went our separate ways, two things occurred to me: Maybe my signature dance moves are a little too erratic, and So much of our lives are shaped by our perspective — how we interpret what we experience. We often don't get the chance to understand the intentions behind others’ actions. We usually just get one side of the story. At Holstee, January is our month of exploring Intention — the purpose behind our actions. In the Intention Guide, you’ll find intention and goal-setting exercises inspired by thinkers like Gretchen Rubin, Leo Babauta, and W.H. Murray. Dance safely out there, Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. The song that caused all the confusion (and ultimately insight) was the disco-funk classic Funkytown by Lipps Inc. Honestly, is it even possible to listen to this track and not dance?

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January 6, 2018

Life goals.

“Your audacious life goals are fabulous. We're proud of you for having them. But it's possible that those goals are designed to distract you from the thing that's really frightening you — the shift in daily habits that would mean a re–invention of how you see yourself.” - Seth Godin I was recently reflecting on what success looks like in my life. If I were to die in a week, a year, or a few decades, what would it take for me to be able to say, “Well, I did it — I accomplished everything I wanted. I lived a successful life.” In considering this question, I realized that there is nothing particular I feel I need to achieve or complete. There are just ways in which I want to live. I want to live with honesty, with health, with love, and with generosity. I want to have spent meaningful time with the people I care most about. None of these are things I could earn or buy, they are only things I can do — and things I need to keep doing. None are the types of things I can cross off a list and be done with — they are ongoing ways of being. An outlook, an attitude, a habit — a way of life. So when it comes to goals, I realized that it’s important not just to think about what I want to achieve, but also to think about how I want to live. This month’s Intention Guide was designed to facilitate reflection on the role of habits and goals in your life, with a framework for helping you reflect on what goals are right for your definition of success. The journey continues, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. We completely revamped the look, format, and content of our guides for 2018, starting with January’s Intention Guide — take a look at the printed version!

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