The Sunday Best Round Up #13 - Taming My Grumpy Inner Toddler, Dancing in the Rain, and Wim Hof Breathing
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Hi there,
Hope you’re well and have enjoyed the last few days of August.
I had the immense good fortune to attend a 3 day music festival last weekend, and my new found interest in all things mindfulness helped me to enjoy it even more. Starting with:
Taming my Grumpy Inner Toddler
Let me start-eth with last day 1 of the festival; I took a 1/2 day off work to go. However various family issues occurred which meant that we didn’t get there until 6pm (about 4 hours later than I’d really quite desperately bloody wanted hoped).
A tad grumpy was I.
My lovely, and long suffering, wife tried to cheer me up with some positive, fun chat.
Which made me even more of a miserable, spoiled brat didn’t really help.
Then after about 5 minutes I decided to stop behaving like an extremely small and grouchy toddler.
I excused myself and went for a short walk; spending time nasal breathing and focussing on each stride I made.
Then I sat down for a few moments.
Eyes closed.
More breath focus.
Clearing my mind.
My brain said “thank you very much kind sir”.
After that an apology was issued to my wife, which she graciously accepted, and all was well again.
We had a great night, capped off by the magnificent Fatboy Slim playing a highly entertaining set of Djing extravaganza-ing, which you can view briefly on the video note below:
Loving the Elements
Switching to Saturday night (day 2 of the festival).
I’m at the dance stage with my middle daughter; the one who made me climb many trees last week, if you read my newsletter.
We were raving with Groove Armada who played flawless techno toons with a lightshow to boot, on a stage which looked out over the ocean making it SO special.
Then the weather whipped up a bit - wind with a little rain accompaniment.
In amongst all the fevered dancing I stopped.
Stood still.
Closed my eyes.
Felt the rain and wind on my skin.
REALLY felt it.
Goosebumps and deliciously sensual nature kisses all over my skin.
‘Twas amazing to just tune into the senses and think of nothing else.
Almost euphoric (and before any suspicious minded people ask; I was 100% sober and straight - just loving the mindful moment).
Of course my daughter side-eyed me and said “what are you doing you weirdo?” (but that’s what teenager daughters are there for 😂)
Getting My Wim Hof on
Day 3 (Sunday) we saw Becky Hill - a British singer with drum ‘n’ bass tracks. I could literally feel the bass through my body as we were close to a gigantic speaker. At one point I had a little moment when I wondered if I may be having a heart attack as my vital organ was pounding so much. But no… so all good
I thought, for the lolz, I’d try some Wim Hof breathing in the middle of all this, to see if it would further amp up my experience.
(For the uninitiated Wim Hof breathing is a type of fast breathing, with breath holds, that the Dutch Ice Man Wim Hof advocates for all kinds of mental and physical health benefits. There’s a nice little article by on it here if you’re interested.)
So I did my inny & outy breathing with pauses, and it REALLY tuned me in on an other level to all that was going on.
Like REALLY.
The big screen with lighting and graphics, the pounding bass, the powerful vocals of Miss Hill, and the darkening sky with clouds a swishin’ and a swashin’, were all amplified in sound, vision and feelz.
Marvellous stuff indeed.
Which just goes to prove the old saying (that no one has actually probably uttered before):
”A little bit of breathwork and mindfulness can go a long way when applied at a festival.”
Article I Wrote on Substack This Week:
“The Strange (and actually quite bloody fascinating) Truth About Trees” - because trees are great and need repping 😊.
A Note I Shared on Substack This Week:
Article I’m Writing for Next Week’s Substack:
My new piece comes out September 4th and it’s called “The Dangers of 'Phony' Behaviours” and will ask you some interesting questions about your current relationship with your electronical portable telephone.
5 Health and Wellness Articles I Enjoyed on Substack This Week:
A mindful approach to your phone - This piqued my attention as I am really digging deep into mindfulness at the moment, and this thoughtful piece from
offers practical mindful tips for phone use.- offers 3 simple, yet effective, tips how to be kind to yourself. There’s also a short podcast on the subject if listen-stacking is your thing (although thinking about it I’m not sure if listen-stacking is actually a thing, to be anyone’s thing?)
Life Lessons I've Learned from My Yoga Practice
for the win with this great list (and we all lurve lists) of how to be kind to your mind and body, to enjoy life more.The Cat In The Hat Wore A MAGA Cap! Don’t worry this is not some deep dive into current US politics. Not my cup of darjeeling, so not something I’d ever likely share. Nope this insightful writing by
looks at the great contradictions we all live with, and how if we saw this in others to we might all get on a bit better (I know heady stuff for a Sunday right?) There’s also some fascinating Dr. Seuss facts, so what’s not to love?Blood This is a cool little poem dedicated to the red liquid stuff what flows through our body (you can see I’m not the poet 😊) . Read it, enjoy it, and then thank
on his page.
I hope you enjoyed today’s little compendium. If you did, please do me a favour and re-stack it, or add a comment below. I’d REALLY REALLY appreciate it.
To Lazy Sunday Afternoons,
JFT Beach
PS Thanks to the following for… well… following!
Yep this week the following lovely people have started following me on Substack thanks to all of you
Yet again, my favorite partner to my Sunday morning coffee is your Sunday round up. I love how you show that breathing (and a short walk) can do wonders for the inner grumpy toddler. I have also heard that Wim Hof breathing can create a psychedelic state similar to that of taking mushrooms (without the effect of having to wait for them to metabolize before going back to “normal”) You may have achieved a level of that
I liked the Wim Hof breathing part the best, but I could certainly relate to the grumpiness when all hadn't happened on the “correct” timeliness. I'm put together a little differently, however, and a rave would have overwhelmed me really quickly. Cheers!