November 13, 2025
From tension to flow: Writing with a Tai Chi mindset
By Kimine Mayuzumi “Qi is soft like water — it can only be led, not pushed.” (Yang, 2018, p.481) This quote reminds me that true power lies in softness. In both Tai Chi and writing, I’ve discovered that the gentlest energy often leads to the most powerful results. In this reflection, I explore how Tai Chi principles – particularly yurumi, or softness – might offer a different way of approaching (academic) writing. Perhaps by
By Riyad A. Shahjahan My recently published conceptual paper “Am I a Scholar” began with a keynote invitation. I’d been asked to deliver a keynote at an international forum I hadn’t attended in some time. The theme was “I Am a Scholar.” But as I sat with that phrase, it didn’t settle in very well. The certainty of it felt out of step for me. My experiences have been shaped more by ambiguity, deferral, and
By Riyad A. Shahjahan When graduate students and early career faculty struggle to clarify an argument, I always give the same advice: find a model to follow. Look for an article, proposal, or dissertation that resonates to help articulate and organize your own ideas. Study how it builds its case, what kinds of evidence it uses, and how it structures its ideas. This is exactly what helped me develop a concept I call decolonial
By Kimine Mayuzumi https://lazyslowdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/writing_meditation_20250602.mp3 It’s been quite a while since I created my first guided meditation audio for writing. Since then, I’ve received so much positive feedback … and, in fact, it’s been one of our top three most viewed blog posts ever. That’s why I thought it was time for a refresh. So I asked our listeners what they’d love to see (or hear) in an updated version. Through a recent survey, I
By Kimine Mayuzumi At Being Lazy and Slowing Down, we often talk about creating space – for rest, for reflection, for remembering what matters. But what happens when the world feels anything but spacious? When news headlines feel like they’re closing in, and being informed feels necessary but overwhelming? This post grew out of a question someone asked during a recent webinar that I was delivering. It stopped me in my tracks… and felt important