Hello and welcome back to the show. I was so happy it's a have Michael James Wong over

to my flat a few weeks back for plenty of tea waffles and the conversation that you're

about to hear. Michael is the founder of Just Breathe and a leading voice in the global

movement for modern mindfulness. He's an author, speaker and meditation teacher who

is dedicated to expanding the conversation around the mind and mental health.

Michael writes books about hope and is the voice behind the Just Breathe meditation app.

In his inspiring and beautiful new book, Sen-Bezuru, Small Steps for Hope, Healing and Happiness,

Michael shares a personal collection of short stories and teachings accompanied by

traditional hand-painted proverbs and prayers. Together these bring to life gentle wisdoms and

universal truths to guide a meaningful way of living. Shared throughout the book in 12

straightforward steps is also the powerful practice of Orozuru, the art of folding paper cranes,

a journey that will encourage you to slow down and create a hopeful perspective for the future.

This conversation is one to consume quietly and mindfully. I know Michael would want it any other way.

Let's start as we always do. I would love to hear if you have some kind of morning routine.

The short answer is yes, but if I was going to reframe it, if it's okay, I actually talk about

things in rituals because rituals actually gives us these beautiful insights when we have them

in our lives. For me, I'm a big meditator by nature. In the mornings, aside from my little puppy

who's in my alarm clock, which I don't obviously need a real one anymore, jumps on the bed, says,

hi, and actually it might seem a bit odd, but my first ritual in the morning is going to take the

dog out to the bathroom, taking Gus out to the toilet, which is actually really lovely because it's

kind of our little quiet time in the garden in the backyard, and he obviously does his business,

and I just kind of have three to five minutes to myself just to wake up. It's really interesting

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