Micropractice

By Eli Susman
PhD candidate at UC Berkeley studying micropractice—powerful well-being tools that take 30 seconds or less.

Featured in CNN, BBC, CBS, Forbes, LA Times, Mindful, and named among Greater Good Magazine’s Top 10 Insights of 2024.

10/07/2025

Among the most common habit myths:
“Start with one.”
It feels safe.
But in the long run, it can keep you stuck.
In a massive real-world dataset (244,313 people, 397,456 attempts), those who started with multiple habits—though harder at first—ended up sticking longer.
Why does doubling up work?
Full story + how to test it yourself in comments.

10/06/2025

I’m a psychologist, and here’s my controversial take:
Your nervous system doesn’t care about hacks.
It cares about repetition.
🫁 Breathing slow
✋ Hand on your heart
☀️ Sunlight on your face
❤️ A real moment of connection
🚶 A walk you actually notice
The best practices are the ones you actually do.
Change can start 30 seconds at a time—or less.
That’s micropractice.

10/03/2025

Attention is how love shows up in the present tense.

10/02/2025

The other day, I caught myself rushing through dinner—already thinking about emails I hadn’t sent.
Then I looked up.
My partner was laughing, eyes crinkled in that way that made me fall for her in the first place.
Presence is fragile.
It disappears the moment we take it for granted.
Joy isn’t something we chase.
It’s something we notice.
And the difference between an ordinary night and a beautiful one is often just remembering to look up.

10/01/2025

The other day, a hummingbird hovered outside my window.
Just a flash of green and gold, wings beating faster than my eyes could track.
I almost missed it.
Almost kept typing.
But for ten seconds, I stopped.
And in those ten seconds, life felt bigger than my inbox.
Presence isn’t built in hours.
It’s hidden in stolen seconds.

09/30/2025

What if you could build empathy not just through words—
but through how you move with someone?

Before the conversation even begins, your body might already be saying:
I’m with you.
Or not.

And that tiny shift?
It could change how you connect.

Full story + the 30-second micropractice that makes connection easier—link in the comments.

09/29/2025

Scientists are finding something stunning: awe isn’t just for mountains and music halls.
It’s for acts of kindness.
We call it moral beauty—the goosebumps when you see someone give up their seat, or a stranger leap to help.
And here’s the wild part: studies show it makes us want to be kinder, too.
Your goodness doesn’t just belong to you.
It rewires the people who witness it.

09/26/2025

Practice primes patterns.
Practice primes patterns.
Practice primes patterns.
Your nervous system is always listening.
It wires in what you do most—
scrolling or breathing, stress or presence.
The question isn’t if you’re rewiring.
It’s what you’re rewiring for.

09/25/2025

We’re always told: slow down.
But what if you can’t?
Kids to drop off. Emails pinging. Train leaving in 3 minutes.
Here’s the secret: even in a rush, you can rush mindfully.
🚶🏽 Feel your feet land on the ground as you walk fast.
🍽 Enjoy the flavors—even while wolfing the sandwich.
📱 Notice your shoulders as you send that text.
You don’t need extra time.
You just need to catch one moment inside the hurry.
Unhurried isn’t always an option.
But unscattered is.

09/24/2025

We’ve normalised exhaustion.
• Proud of “running on empty”
• Treat rest like weakness
• Wear busyness as a badge
• Call stress “just the way it is”
Exhaustion isn’t a status symbol.
It’s a signal.
And the bravest thing you can do is listen.

09/23/2025

I used to think the key to a consistent meditation practice was discipline or motivation.

Turns out, it might be what we believe before we even sit down.

A new post just dropped—on why some practices stick, why others don’t, and the quiet mindset shift that changes everything.

It’s not what you think.
But once you see it, you won’t unsee it.

Link to full story in image.

09/22/2025

A trap no one talks about:
You’re chasing validation from people…
…who are also chasing validation from others.
It’s a hamster wheel of approval, and no one’s actually satisfied.
Here’s a micropractice I’ve been leaning on:
👉 Pause before you post, speak, or say yes. Ask yourself: Am I doing this to connect, or to be approved of?
That tiny check-in takes 5 seconds. But it’s enough to change the trajectory—from performing for applause to acting from alignment.
Because the best way out of the validation spiral isn’t to win the game.
It’s to stop playing it.
💡 Curious: what’s one small way you remind yourself that your worth isn’t up for likes?

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Berkeley, CA
94530

Website

http://www.micropractice.com/, http://micropractice.substack.com/

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