Wonder Is the Doorway: Simple Micro-Mindfulness Practices for Everyday Awe
One Quote - Two Tools - Three Journal Prompts
Welcome to the One Micro-Mindful Minute, your guide to weaving micro-mindfulness into your day without adding one more thing to your calendar.
Hi y’all,
Sometimes, life can feel like a blur of obligations and expectations.
In the rush of emails, deadlines, caregiving, and endless to-dos, it’s easy to lose sight of yourself. When that happens, we forget that presence is in the texture of the ordinary.
I’ve walked with many women and allies who feel disconnected, tired, and overwhelmed, believing mindfulness requires more time or energy than they can give.
Micro-mindfulness meets you right where you are, in the pause between breaths and the honesty of one simple journal line.
My years of practice, both in religious community and in the busy world of work, taught me this: wonder is a lifeline.
And when you learn to touch that wonder in the smallest of ways, life opens back up with clarity, calm, and meaning.
Micro-Mindfulness Tips
1. Quote to Ponder
Wonder is the basis of worship.
~ Thomas Carlyle
Reflection and Journaling for this week: Wonder as a Threshold to the Sacred
Wonder is the doorway to presence.
When we allow ourselves to be astonished by the ordinary, we brush against the sacred.
Notice the curve of a leaf, the pause between breaths, or the light shifting across the floor.
Worship is not always for grand cathedrals or rare occasions.
It is also the tender practice of noticing.
The more we cultivate wonder, the more life becomes a living prayer, a rhythm of reverence woven into our days.
Your mindful journal prompt today:
Where did wonder visit you today?
Write down one moment, big or small, when your breath caught, your heart stilled, or your spirit widened. How might you honor that moment as an act of worship in the fabric of your daily life?
2. Mindful Tools
Try one actionable tool for practicing micro-mindfulness this week: a brief activity that takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
Mindful Tool of a Different Perspective: Walk backwards slowly and feel the shift in awareness.
Mindful Tool for Centering: When you feel scattered, check in, not out. Pause and ask a simple self-question: “How’s my heart today?”
3. Journal Prompts
Take a moment to reflect on your day before journaling. Be mindful of what grabs your attention. (Choose one that resonates with you.)
Journal Prompt: What story are you telling yourself about productivity?
Journal Prompt: What boundary could you honor more firmly this week?
Journal Prompt: What are you afraid will happen if you stop for a while?
Bonus: Micro-Mindfulness Tools to Try
Think You’re Too Busy for Mindfulness? These 3 Tiny Habits Prove You’re Not
You can find calm even on the busiest day.
As a nun, I noticed how even the simplest chores happened with quiet attention, such as sweeping a floor or washing dishes. No rush, no multitasking, only presence in the task at hand.
That rhythm taught me that mindfulness is about entering life wholeheartedly.
Micro-mindfulness meets you in the cracks of your day, and you don't need to be a nun or monk to practice these techniques.
Here are three small tools that take less than 7 minutes and restore more than you’d expect:
1. The One-Sentence Journal
Write one honest line about your day: a feeling, a win, or even just “I’m tired.” Truth clears clutter.
2. The 3-Breath Reset
Stop. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat three times, slowly and with a long breath. Feel your nervous system loosen its grip.
3. The Meaningful Object
Carry a token, such as a stone, a shell, or a ring. When stress appears, acknowledge it and ask, “What matters most right now?”
Start with just one. Your clarity is waiting in the smallest breath.
Wonder is already waiting for you in the cracks of your day.
Every moment of awe, every pause for breath, every small act of noticing is an invitation to worship with your life, to live in alignment and unhurriedness.
Start with just one of the practices here. Let it remind you that your soul is spacious, your heart is steady, your life is sacred.
Want more ways to cultivate your presence? Get my book Burn Without Burning Out: 7 Micro-Mindfulness Habits for Clear Thinking, Decisive Action, and Recovery from Burnout, your guide to clarity and calm, one slight pause at a time.
That’s it.
Thanks for reading. I appreciate you being part of the journey. I look forward to seeing you next week.
Denise
I'm a former nun who, at midlife, pivoted to corporate life with zero business experience and became an award-winning program manager.
I help overwhelmed professional women and allies reclaim clarity and calm through my Micro-Mindfulness GPS so they can show up with presence and peace.
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