Sharmi

Sharmi is the writer behind The Zen Journal. After years in the travel industry and a burnout that changed her priorities, she found her way back to herself through yoga and mindfulness. She writes about calm living, slow travel, gentle wellness and the books that shaped her.

In-Flight Yoga: Simple Stretches to Survive Long-Haul Travel Comfortably

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In-Flight Yoga: Simple Stretches to Survive Long-Haul Travel Comfortably Survive Your Next Long Flight Without Arriving Stiff and Exhausted Long-haul flights are brutal on your body. Hours of sitting in a cramped seat leave your back aching, your legs stiff, and your energy completely drained by the time you land. If you’ve ever stepped off

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Yoga

Ikigai by HĂ©ctor GarcĂ­a & Francesc Miralles – The Japanese Secret to a Long, Purposeful Life

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Ikigai by HĂ©ctor GarcĂ­a & Francesc Miralles – The Japanese Secret to a Long, Purposeful Life Ikigai by HĂ©ctor GarcĂ­a & Francesc Miralles – The Japanese Secret to a Long, Purposeful Life What if the secret to living longer had less to do with diet or exercise and more to do with knowing why you

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Book Review

The Silent Wellness Killer: How Phone Anxiety Hijacks Your Nervous System

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The Silent Wellness Killer: How Phone Anxiety Hijacks Your Nervous System You pick up your phone to make a simple call, and suddenly your heart races, your palms sweat, and your mind goes completely blank. Sound familiar? You’re not alone — and no, you’re not overreacting. Phone anxiety is quietly affecting millions of people, and

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Wellness

The Art of Mindful Travel Journaling: Capturing Memories Beyond Photos

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The Art of Mindful Travel Journaling: Capturing Memories Beyond Photos You’ve got hundreds of photos from your last trip, but somehow they still don’t capture how it actually felt to be there. The smell of that street food market. The exact thought you had watching the sun set over the water. The conversation with a

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Travel

Saying No Without Guilt: The Boundary-Setting Method That Protects Your Energy

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Saying No Without Guilt: The Boundary-Setting Method That Protects Your Energy Saying No Without Guilt: The Boundary-Setting Method That Protects Your Energy I used to say yes to everything — and I paid for it with my time, my energy, and honestly, my peace of mind. If you dread conflict, feel responsible for everyone else’s

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Wellness

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn – The Original Guide to Everyday Mindfulness

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Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn – The Original Guide to Everyday Mindfulness I picked up Wherever You Go, There You Are during a stretch of my life when my mind felt like a browser with 47 tabs open. I wasn’t looking for a self-help fix — I just wanted to feel

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Book Review

Off-Season Travel: Why Autumn Is the Best Time to Explore Europe

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Off-Season Travel: Why Autumn Is the Best Time to Explore Europe If you’ve ever walked through a European city square shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of strangers, you already know summer travel has a downside. Autumn flips that experience completely — and if you haven’t tried off-season travel in Europe yet, you’re genuinely missing out. This guide

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Travel

Yoga Nidra: The Effortless Practice for Deep Rest Without Even Moving

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Yoga Nidra: The Effortless Practice for Deep Rest Without Even Moving There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to touch — the mental kind, the one that lingers behind your eyes even after eight hours in bed. Yoga nidra was designed for exactly that. Sometimes called “yogic sleep,” it asks

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Yoga

Emotional Granularity: The Simple Skill That Instantly Improves Your Mental Health

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Emotional Granularity: The Simple Skill That Instantly Improves Your Mental Health There’s a difference between saying “I feel bad” and knowing exactly which shade of bad you mean — disappointed, overwhelmed, lonely, or simply tired. That difference has a name: emotional granularity, the ability to identify your feelings with real precision instead of lumping them

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Wellness

The Back of the Napkin Book Review – How Visual Thinking Solves Real Problems

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The Back of the Napkin Book Review – How Visual Thinking Solves Real Problems Some books hand you information. Others hand you a new pair of glasses. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam is firmly the second kind. I picked it up expecting a business book about diagrams and sticky notes — what I got instead was a quiet, almost meditative case for slowing down and

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Book Review

Beginner’s Guide to Solo Mindful Travel: Your First Trip Alone

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Beginner’s Guide to Solo Mindful Travel: Your First Trip Alone There’s a moment on every solo trip — usually somewhere between landing and finding your accommodation — when it hits you: no one is waiting for you to catch up. No one else’s itinerary to negotiate. Just you, a new place, and however you choose

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Travel