5 Ways to Stay Mindful over Christmas and New Year How are you feeling about the approaching festive season? For some of us it is the best time of the year and for others it can be a challenge. For many of us, there is time off work, additional socialising and travel, all of…
When one is able to overcome the romantic and emotional attitude, one discovers truth even in the kitchen sink. Chögyam Trungpa This morning, with my bare feet planted onto the kitchen floor, flat and smooth, my small brown earthenware coffee cup warms my hands as I look into the windswept garden. It’s really blustery outside.…
I am moving house again to live on the coast in Yorkshire. I made the decision at Christmas when I was there staying with my sister Helen (my support bubble). I have loved living in Scotland, just up the road from Samye Ling, and have been quite happy and content. However, with Samye Ling shut…
‘The only way to take care of the future is to be present now.’ This year has been a year of solitude and of connection for me. In January I moved into a remote cottage, on my own, after 20 years of living a happy family life. Then lockdown arrived in March. And I…
I spent some of my weekend writing about the three emotional system model, based in the Compassion Focussed Therapy work of Prof. Paul Gilbert. According to this model there are three emotional systems, threat, drive and soothe and they tend to be out of balance for most of us, due to our evolved brain, our…
Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself…
One of the jobs I get to do is to come up with the monthly themes and phrases for the MA monthly calendar. Then I send them on to Lisa, who works her magic and creates the beautiful calendars. For Christmas I chose a theme of connecting at Christmas because often this can be emotionally…
I recently had an experience which triggered some trauma from earlier in my life. It resulted in a rather spectacular and intense display of memories connecting together and some emotional distress, which lasted for a couple of days. As a result of my years of practice, while experiencing the coming and going of thoughts, emotions…
The consequences of the current pandemic have been devastating for many people, with much death and serious illness, leading to many being bereaved or having more caring responsibilities, but also with much economic hardship, with many losing their jobs and businesses and finding an inadequate safety net. These consequences should not be under-estimated and we…