Barefoot in Thailand. A Rake. And the Start of Something Big.
Why Most People Quit Meditation—and What Helped Me Stay
Morning in southern Thailand. The sun already pressing down, warm even in December. I’m eighteen, barefoot, and raking patterns into the sand of Meditation Hall 5—the main hall, the heart of the retreat. My daily job. The wooden teeth scrape through grit, erasing the faint outlines left by meditation mats—ghost marks from those who’d had enough and quietly packed out.
By the halfway point, nearly half the retreatants had left. Not because they didn’t care. But because it was hard. Concrete bed. Wooden pillow. No dinner. Hours of meditation before lunch. For some, the stillness felt unbearable. For others, the silence did.
I stayed. Truth is, I’m wired for discipline. I don’t say that to sound virtuous. More like… compulsively punctual with a spiritual twist. Brush teeth, pay rent, meditate. Same shelf. That kind of wiring helped me build a practice that’s changed my life—and it's why I’ve spent the last decade helping others find their way in.
But even back then, rake in hand, I kept wondering:
If meditation’s supposed to feel like coming home, why do most of us feel kicked out at the welcome mat?
That question followed me for years. Through college. Through yoga teacher trainings. Through stress research at Harvard. Through my PhD at Berkeley.
Until one day, I stopped just asking it—and started testing it.
135 undergraduates. Randomly assigned to one of two groups:
One group got the first micropractice I ever developed—Self-Compassionate Touch—and was invited to try it for just 20 seconds a day, for a month.
The other group? A finger-tapping placebo.
The results? They floored me.
Stress? Down.
Well-being? Up.
Self-compassion? Way up.
All from just 20 seconds a day of self-compassionate touch—compared to the control group.
And not just for seasoned meditators—but for people who’d never tried this stuff before.
I hit “submit” on the manuscript and went back to work. I didn’t expect much. Maybe a few downloads. A colleague mentioning it in passing. Nothing more. I never imagined what happened next.
When the study was published in Behaviour Research and Therapy in February 2024, it was picked up by more than 100 media outlets within months, including the Los Angeles Times, CNN, BBC, CBS News, ABC News, Daily Mail, Hidden Brain on NPR, Forbes, Inc., Psychology Today, CNBC, New York Post, FOX News, Ten Percent Happier, The Science of Happiness Podcast, Mindful, The Telegraph, Parade, Women’s Health, and more—becoming both the most media-mentioned and one of the most downloaded articles of 2024 in its peer-reviewed journal. It even earned recognition from Greater Good Magazine as one of The Top 10 Insights from the “Science of a Meaningful Life” in 2024—selected from nominations by nearly 400 researchers worldwide.
But the part that really stayed with me? The messages. Dozens of them. Hundreds. From people who said the same thing in different ways:
“Finally. Something I can actually do.”
That sentence has echoed in my mind ever since. Because for all our talk of self-care and well-being, most of what’s out there either takes too much time, too much discipline, or requires rearranging your life to fit someone else’s idea of peace. Even the best books tend to treat integration into daily life like an afterthought—if they mention it at all.
Meanwhile, the research says something quietly radical: it’s not how long you practice, but how consistently you do it that matters most. And yet almost no one’s talking about that. Not in the mindfulness world. Not in the habit world. Certainly not in a way that feels doable when your phone’s buzzing, your pasta’s boiling, and your brain is juggling seventeen open tabs.
And now—ten years after that barefoot morning in Thailand—I get to share the next chapter. That humble, zero-budget grad school study? It became the foundation for something I never imagined I’d say: I got a book deal.
Micropractice will be published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House—the legendary team behind Atomic Habits (James Clear), The Book of Joy (His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Desmond Tutu), and Daring Greatly (Dr. Brené Brown). Foreign rights have already sold in eight languages (and counting).
Out Fall 2026. Preorders open early 2026.
It still feels a little surreal to type that. But then again—so did the idea that 20 seconds could change anything.
Because well-being isn’t just about what to do. It’s about how to actually live it. How to make it stick.
Micropractice is the first book (to my knowledge) that brings together ancient contemplative wisdom and modern habit formation science to ask one central question:
How do we make well-being a way of being?
The answer isn’t more willpower. It’s less friction.
Micropractice offers research-backed tools that take 30 seconds or less—and actually last.
Fourteen research-backed practices to steady your nervous system in the time it takes to wait for a coffee, reboot your laptop, or breathe through a red light.
I wrote it because those vanishing footprints in that Thai forest monastery weren’t just marks in the sand—they were reminders: the path means nothing if no one walks it.
Here’s the truth:
We live in a world that glorifies doing more, faster.
But wellness? It doesn’t have to mean waking up at 5am to journal for 45 minutes while your matcha froths.
It can start with three breaths. A single exhale. One human moment.
What is Micropractice?
It’s not a hack.
It’s not a watered-down version of “real” mindfulness.
And it’s not a replacement for meditation if you already do that.
It’s a scientifically grounded approach to well-being—built for real life.
For everyone who’s ever struggled to find the time—or to make the calm last once the cushion’s gone.
And this book doesn’t just drop a few techniques and call it a day.
It offers:
A clear, compelling framework for why micropractices work—grounded in neuroscience, habit formation, and trauma-informed care.
Four core elements (Move, Touch, Breathe, Feel) that help you find the right fit for your life, whether you're stuck in traffic, petting your cat, or staring at your newsfeed.
Fourteen science-backed practices designed to fit into the cracks of your day—each one grounded in research, with habit-formation tools to help them stick.
A roadmap to turn moments of calm, connection, and purpose into a way of being.
Who’s this for?
If you’ve ever felt like mindfulness was for someone with more time, fewer tabs open, or better lighting—this is for you.
If you’ve ever finished a meditation retreat, only to lose the peace before you finished your email backlog—this is for you.
If you’ve ever said, “I know what helps me feel better… I just don’t do it”—this is especially for you.
This isn’t about adding more to your plate.
It’s about using what’s already on it.
Because the moments that can help the most?
You’re already living them.
Why this matters now
The science is clear: long-term well-being doesn’t always require long blocks of time.
It just requires something most of us rarely give ourselves—permission to pause.
With Micropractice, that pause becomes a practice.
That practice becomes a habit.
And that habit becomes a thread of calm, connection, and meaning running through your day—not in spite of the chaos, but right in the heart of it.
Some practices don’t even ask you to pause. Some practices are simple mindset shifts—small reframes you carry into what you’re already doing. Stirring soup. Listening to a friend. Writing one more email. No cushion required.
If that sounds small, that’s the point.
Because it’s the small things—done consistently—that change everything.
✨ This isn’t just a book.
It’s a movement in the making.
And you’re here at the start. ✨
If someone came to mind while reading, this might be exactly what they need. Feel free to send this their way.
More behind-the-scenes coming soon.
Stay subscribed for book updates, new tools, and small ways to feel more human in the middle of it all.
With care—and self-care,
Eli
Founder, The Micro Memo
Micropractice.com
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Let’s make well-being a way of being.
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Your story is an inspiration, especially to those of us who meditate and who write! The power of taking risks, passionately…
Congratulations 🎊 This is a wonderful stepping stone for you... it will soar even higher.💙🧡❤️