a 30-day journal · by peter walters

Again.

A 30-day journal for starting over — on the mat, in life and beyond.

30 days, one move a day. Some on a mat. Most in your actual life — in line for coffee, on the phone with someone you've been avoiding, in the half-second before you say the thing you'll regret.

one-time · digital PDF + audio · arrives in your inbox

what it is

A book, a journal, and a thirty-day practice — all the same thing.

You don't need a fresh start or another self-help book. You also don't need to go on a 30-day silent meditation retreat or a massive dose of psychedelics — though they probably won't hurt.

You do need permission to take the one you keep putting off. That's what this is. Thirty days. Four chapters. One move a day.

Each entry has a short read, one practice to actually do, and one question to write into. Audio meditations open each chapter. Do it by hand if you can — slow is the point.

the four chapters

Four verbs. Begin. Soften. Notice. Offer.

Each is a verb, because the practice isn't a noun you have — it's a thing you do. Or maybe it does you. I'm honestly not sure.

I
Begin
days 01–07
Seven days of starting before you feel ready. The unglamorous, daily, slightly-embarrassing skill of putting a foot on the floor while the fear is still talking.
II
Soften
days 08–14
Seven days of letting the armor down without losing the spine. What it takes to stop fighting your own life long enough to be in it.
III
Notice
days 15–21
Seven days of attention. The thing you've been looking at every day and never seeing. The shape of your habits, your reactions, your love.
IV
Offer
days 22–30
Nine days of turning toward someone. Service. Sangha. The karma of putting your practice in motion — for someone else, for the world, for free.

a sample · day 01

day 01 ·

You Don't Have to Be Ready

"Today is another great opportunity to start over."— Peter

Nobody who started anything that mattered to them felt ready. That's not a motivational quote (or is it?). It's the simple fact, and the sooner it stops surprising you, the sooner your life gets bigger.

Ready is a feeling, and feelings are weather. If you wait for the feeling you'll wait forever, and you'll call the waiting "being responsible." I did that for years. I had excellent reasons. They were all just fear in a nicer outfit.

"The work" (god I hate that phrase, but it… works) isn't to feel ready. The work is to begin slightly before you feel ready, on purpose, while the fear is still talking. The fear doesn't have to stop talking. It just doesn't get to drive…

anti-bypass clause

No streak. No prize. No chain to protect.

If you miss a day or five, you don't owe anyone penance. You open the book and you begin again. When something's hard, I name it as hard before I say anything hopeful about it. If a day lands heavy, let it. We'll get there together or not at all.

one-time · digital

Again.

$19once

30-day journal — web reader + a 77-page fillable PDF
Four chapter-opening audio meditations
Every device. Yours forever. No subscription.
Updates land in your inbox when the book ships a new edition.

from peter

I'm not writing this from a mountaintop. I'm writing it from inside the same messy and miraculous human life you're in. I forget the practice constantly and remember it just often enough to keep going.

The phrase begin again came to me from my teacher, Rusty Wells, as part of a prayer: I am ready to begin again. For you. For me. For all of us. I've carried that line for years. Everything in this book sits on top of it, and at the feet of my teachers.

— Peter

questions

A few things people ask.

Is this a course or a book?
Both. It's a 30-day journal — one short read, one practice, one prompt per day — that you can do at your own pace. There's also an audio meditation for each of the four chapters.
Do I need to do it in 30 straight days?
No. Do it in thirty straight days, or thirty days spread across two months, or two years. The book doesn't care. If you miss a day or five, you open the book and you begin again. That's the whole instruction.
Is this a yoga practice?
Some days, yes. Most days the move happens in your actual life — in line for coffee, on the phone with someone you've been avoiding, in the half-second before you say the thing you'll regret. The mat is part of the work, not all of it.
What if I'm not into the woo-woo stuff?
Good. This isn't a manifestation book. There's no streak to protect, no app to log, no chain. When something's hard, I name it as hard before I say anything hopeful about it. Anti-bypass clause, in writing.
How do I get it?
When checkout is live, you'll get a PDF + the audio files immediately after purchase. Until then, drop your email and you'll be first to receive it the moment it ships.

Again.

A book, a journal, and a thirty-day practice — all the same thing.

Four verbs. Begin. Soften. Notice. Offer.

Begin

Soften

Notice

Offer

Again.

A few things people ask.

Is this a course or a book?

Do I need to do it in 30 straight days?

Is this a yoga practice?

What if I'm not into the woo-woo stuff?

How do I get it?

One book. Thirty days. Begin again.