(to hear this poem spoken by the poet with images from the land around him, click here) Solace A poem for the time I met an old man on the path that runs above the sea, And as we passed I saw him smile and lift his eyes to me. There was such peace…
Us Brits are famous for our stiff upper lip and like many of us, I have been holding it together with as much optimism as I can muster through these weeks of lockdown. However, any emotions we are feeling need space to move through us, or else they get suppressed, they fester and then they…
I’ve just glanced at my notes headed digging deep, everyone in the world right now is digging deep. I sit here in my snug with silence around me on a Monday afternoon, the blue tit birdsong, my cat scratching the yoga mat. Satya, she is the flighty one and senses when things are different. She’s…
My dear auntie Jean in London has been sending me photos of rainbows she encounters on her daily walks; rainbows drawn on the pavements, pinned in windows and hung on gates; a spontaneous phenomenal creative response to the personal, local, national and global crisis we find ourselves in. The images themselves appear as symbols of…
I hope that you are all faring well as we settle into our fifth week of lockdown. I am curious about how adaptable we humans are and how many of us have now settled into a new more limited routine of life, with its pleasures and hardships. I have had many unexpected lessons in impermanence…
Today is my grandson’s birthday. He is 6. This is the first birthday I haven’t been with him. Usually I stay at their house overnight and surprise him in the morning when he wakes up. I’m usually helping out at his party. A photo on Facebook reminds me of the joy we felt at his…
So I am here at the start of week three of being home alone and it is going pretty well. This weekend I had an online meeting with my mum and my sister Helen and a long FaceTime chat with my daughter. Helen’s husband did a live DJ set on FaceTime on Saturday afternoon…
I was looking through some notes on intention and motivation this morning and I came across some notes from doing a Charlie Morley golden shadow exercise from his book ‘Dreaming Through Darkness’. The golden shadow is made up of our good qualities and best aspirations, which often we are not able to admit to ourselves.…
Where do I even begin. Last night I joined in the evening sit – it was the first time I had managed because usually I am cooking dinner then. I’ve decided that we will eat earlier and make sure I connect with this most precious offering from the amazing tutors at the Mindfulness Association.…