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.

01/15/2026

Every time you care for yourself
instead of forcing yourself,
you’re reshaping your brain
to learn through kindness, not criticism.
That’s neuroplasticity in action.

01/14/2026

Prairie voles do something extraordinary.
When one gets stressed—say, from a mild shock—others nearby, even those who never saw it happen, rush over and gently groom the shaken friend.
They sense distress—and soothe it.
That’s compassion—etched so deep in our biology it predates language.
It’s not something we learn.
It’s what’s left when we stop armoring ourselves against it.

01/13/2026

Ever noticed how rushing changes your warmth?
Not your efficiency. Not your productivity.
Your warmth.
Four studies. 722 people.
The faster we move, the colder we get.
But there’s one thing that keeps kindness alive—even under pressure.
Link in the comments.

01/12/2026

You don’t need to become a monk
to love like one.
Try this:
1 breath
1 hand to heart
1 kind phrase
—every time you judge yourself.
Repeat daily. It compounds.

01/09/2026

Self-compassion sounds soft,
but sometimes it whispers the hardest word: no.

01/08/2026

The nervous system learns like nature grows—
through care, not control.
You can’t force a seed to bloom,
but you can keep showing up with water.

01/07/2026

You don’t regulate by finishing more tasks.
You regulate by remembering
you’re not the task.

01/06/2026

January 1st gets all the hype.
But it might be the worst day to start a habit.
A massive study of 397,456 real-world attempts found:
• 4× more people start on New Year’s
• Those starts fail more often
Your best day to start a habit?
Not January 1st. Not Monday. Not your birthday.
Just… today.
This week’s post breaks down:
• Why resolutions collapse so fast
• The 5 ways “fresh starts” backfire
• 10 science-backed strategies that actually stick
Curious why your resolutions fizzle—and what to do instead?
Full story in comments.

01/05/2026

Excited to see my research on micropractice featured in Forbes this week.
The piece—beautifully written by Bryan Robinson—is framed around job interviews, but the insight applies to just about any high-stakes moment.
A small reminder that tiny, repeatable moments can matter more than we think.
Sharing the link in the comments in case it helps someone you know.

01/02/2026

In Sanskrit and Pali—the languages where mindfulness was first named—mindfulness means to remember.

Not perfect focus.
Not flawless calm.

Just remembering when you’ve drifted—
and returning kindly.

That’s the practice.

01/01/2026

One breath you’ll actually take beats a routine you’ll skip.

12/31/2025

Some of the best things for us don’t have a price tag—just a practice tag.
🌀 Regular movement
🫁 Slow, deep breathing
✋ Hand on heart
💭 Acknowledging how you showed up in line with your values
Free—but not effortless.

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Berkeley, CA
94530

Website

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

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