A small handbook of breath, light, tea, and the kind of unhurry that a Tuesday morning rewards.
BY SARA EK · QUIET PRESS96 PAGES
PAPER · ISSUE 04CONTENTS02
CONTENTS
Six small chapters.
i.On waking before the post.A short note on the first quiet hour.p. 04
QUIET PRESSp. 02
CHAPTER ONEPAPER03
i.
On breath.
CHAPTER 01 OF 06p. 03
CHAPTER 01 · 1.1A SMALL FIGURE04
ONE NUMBER
4 / 7 / 8
The four-seven-eight breath, in seconds. Once is plenty.
Four in through the nose, seven held in the chest, eight out through the mouth — slowly. A small reset for the body, available wherever you are.
CHAPTER 01 · 1.1p. 04
CHAPTER 01 · 1.2FOUR MORNINGS05
FOUR MORNINGS · ONE WEEK
A small accounting of the week.
CUPS OF TEA14Mostly genmaicha. One night-time camomile.
CHAPTER 01 · 1.2p. 05
CHAPTER 01 · 1.3A PASSAGE06
“
Mornings, when treated kindly, return the favour with interest. The trick is to spend the first hour as if it were the last.
— Sara Ek
FROM A NOTEBOOK · MARCH
CHAPTER 01 · 1.3p. 06
CHAPTER 01 · 1.4TWO MORNINGS07
Two mornings, same hour, different person at the end.
A NOISY MORNING
Phone in hand by 6:42.
Two news scrolls, three messages answered. The first decision of the day is whose problem to solve. Your own arrives, neglected, at lunch.
A SLOW MORNING
Window, kettle, kettle, page.
Twenty minutes of light through the window. Tea. A line in a notebook. The first decision of the day is your own.
CHAPTER 01 · 1.4p. 07
CHAPTER 01 · 1.5THREE RITUALS08
THREE RITUALS
Three small things, before anything else.
i.Open the window.Even when it's cold. Especially when it's cold. The room wants morning air; you do too.
CHAPTER 01 · 1.5p. 08
CHAPTER 01 · 1.6A SHORT CHECKLIST09
A SHORT CHECKLIST
Five things, before nine o'clock.
To do quietly, in order, without rushing.
i.Sit by the window for ten minutes.No book, no phone. Light is enough company.
CHAPTER 01 · 1.6p. 09
CHAPTER TWOPAPER10
ii.
On tea.
CHAPTER 02 OF 06p. 10
CHAPTER 02 · 2.1A SMALL STORY11
A SMALL STORY · TUESDAY
A kettle, and then nothing at all, for nine minutes.
The kettle takes nine minutes on the smallest hob. I have learnt, over many Tuesdays, to spend those nine minutes doing nothing at all. They are the most useful nine minutes of the week.
image · 4 : 5
CHAPTER 02 · 2.1p. 11
CHAPTER 02 · 2.2A SMALL STORY · II12
image · 4 : 5
A SMALL STORY · II
The cup you keep going back to, week after week.
Mine is small, slightly off-round, the colour of wet sand. Once you find such a cup, your morning has a destination. The tea inside doesn't change. You do.
CHAPTER 02 · 2.2p. 12
CHAPTER 02 · 2.3A MORNING · IN MINUTES13
A MORNING · IN MINUTES
One morning, minute by minute, in five lines.
06:30Wake. Don't reach for the phone.It can wait. So can you.
CHAPTER 02 · 2.3p. 13
CHAPTER 02 · 2.4FIGURE 114
FIGURE 1 · A WEEK OF TEA
Cups of tea per day, in one ordinary week.
— figure 1 · sunday, when nothing was scheduled, was the most generous to itself.
CHAPTER 02 · 2.4p. 14
CHAPTER 02 · 2.5FIGURE 215
FIGURE 2 · BREATH RATE
Breaths per minute, before and after twenty minutes.
— figure 2 · breath rate measured at one-minute intervals · n = 28 sessions.
CHAPTER 02 · 2.5p. 15
CHAPTER 02 · 2.6BREWING · FOUR STEPS16
BREWING · IN FOUR SHORT STEPS
A small ritual, kept the same.
i.Warm the pot.A splash of just-off-boil water, swirled, poured away. The pot is now ready to listen.
CHAPTER 02 · 2.6p. 16
CHAPTER 02 · 2.7A SMALL TABLE17
TABLE 1 · A WEEK OF TEA
Six teas, six mornings, one quiet table.
Day
Tea
Time
Temp
Mood
Monday
genmaicha
6:42
82°
quiet
— kept in a small green notebookp. 17
CHAPTER THREEPAPER18
iii.
On light.
CHAPTER 03 OF 06p. 18
image · full-bleed
A PHOTOGRAPH · TUESDAY · 7:14
The first three minutes of light, on the kitchen floor.
PHOTOGRAPH · LINNEA SUNDQVIST
CHAPTER 03 · 3.1READER NOTES20
FROM READERS · UNPROMPTED
Notes left for the press, kept on a wall.
“
I read it on a Sunday with the windows open. My week began on a kinder note for it.
Margit HalászBUDAPEST · MARCH
CHAPTER 03 · 3.1p. 20
CHAPTER 03 · 3.2THE EDITOR21
portrait · 1 : 1
“
The mornings we write about are not different mornings. They are the same mornings, treated differently.
— Sara EkEDITOR · QUIET PRESS · TWELVE YEARS
CHAPTER 03 · 3.2p. 21
CHAPTER 03 · 3.3RETREATS22
A MAP · QUIET HOUSES
Four houses, all within a slow train of one another.
Small places, kept small on purpose, run by people who answer the post by hand.
CHAPTER 03 · 3.3p. 22
CHAPTER 03 · 3.4THE KEEPERS23
THE KEEPERS · SIX PEOPLE
The people who answer the post by hand.
3:4
Sara Ekeditor & keeper
CHAPTER 03 · 3.4p. 23
CHAPTER 03 · 3.5FRIENDS OF THE PRESS24
FRIENDS OF THE PRESS · TEN HOUSES
Small houses we keep good company with.
Norrlight Press
CHAPTER 03 · 3.5p. 24
CHAPTER 03 · 3.6A SUBSCRIPTION25
A SUBSCRIPTION · THREE WAYS
Three ways to keep the press going.
A LETTER€18monthly · by postA four-page letter on real paper, posted to your door. Includes a small loose-leaf surprise each season.
CHAPTER 03 · 3.6p. 25
CHAPTER FOURPAPER26
iv.
A short envoi.
CHAPTER 04 OF 06p. 26
CHAPTER 04 · 4.1QUIET QUESTIONS27
A FEW QUIET QUESTIONS
Questions readers send, gently answered.
Q · 01Must one wake at 6:30 to have a slow morning?No. A slow morning is the first hour, whenever it begins. Wake when you like; spend the first hour kindly.
CHAPTER 04 · 4.1p. 27
CHAPTER 04 · 4.2FOUR SMALL THINGS28
FOUR SMALL THINGS, FOR THE WEEK
If you remember nothing else.
i.Open the window before you do anything else.
CHAPTER 04 · 4.2p. 28
A LAST NOTEPAPER29
Write back,if you'd like.
We answer every letter, slowly, by hand. There is no email.
Quiet Press · Norra Hamngatan 8 · StockholmQUIET-PRESS.SE
CHAPTER 04 · CCOLOPHON30
A COLOPHON
Thank you, kindly.
This issue is set in Avenir Next, with italics in Iowan Old Style. Printed on FSC-certified Munken Pure, in Stockholm, in a quiet edition of one thousand.