Peace to you!

After attending Oxford and Harvard and working in investment banking, I had a spiritual experience that led me to leave the path of success to live in monasteries for over 7 years.

Through this newsletter, I share practical wisdom from my experience in the monastery. I hope it’s fruitful for your journey!

Each week, the Monk Mindset newsletter comes with:

Monk Mindset for Living Well

Monk Mindset 4
Personal Wellness: Refresh without Indulging

Reflection on the Monk Mindset and Quote

I was surprised how much emphasis was placed on proper physical care in the monastery. I met monthly with my formator, a senior brother in charge of my progress. He typically started our conversation by asking these questions about my personal wellness habits. Shocker, right?

As long as we’re on this earth, we have a body and we need to properly care for it in a loving way while also trying to minimize our indulgence of things that may be detrimental to our wellbeing. 

So, getting proper sleep, eating well, and consistent exercise are all part of ascesis (Greek for “training”) in monastic life. There may be periods of fasting where you deprive yourself of one or all of these – or other things for that matter. 

But, as a baseline, especially for those living a lay life, finding harmonious rhythm of exercise, diet, and sleep is an important foundation for living a monk mindset. 

Put It Into Practice This Week

Close your eyes and with your mind’s eye look back at your past week. 

What area of life do you feel least refreshed in? What’s one thing you can do before the week is done to be more refreshed in this area?

Wishing you abundant peace this week,

John

Full Monk Mindset Course Ready for the New Year!

Do you feel like you lack the harmony and order in your life and yearn to find it?

The full Monk Mindset course organizes my 7 years in the monastery — and the entire monastic life — into 7 principles and 98 lessons so you can implement these practices into your day-to-day. 

Great for building a plan for the New Year or a gift for the holidays!