This week the Default-Mode Network that is my wandering mind, or undercurrent, has mainly amused itself by waiting for a strange blood clot to kill me after having the Oxford Vaccine on the 4th of April. Despite my ability to focus well on work, and to practice mindfulness – my mind is perpetually reminding me,…
We have had a lot of snow and ice in January and more snow and ice so far in February and for at least the next week. Thankfully my MAHQ friends bought me some snow boots for my birthday at New Year. They have been well used! However, I have caught myself moaning quite a…
When Kristine joined the Board of the Mindfulness Association, one of the tasks she was passionate about was bringing our equality, diversity and inclusion policy to life. I have been very keen to support her in this work as I think it is important that we all walk our talk, rather than paying lip service…
I led the free daily sit on Friday evening and we did a practice using a mantra of ‘Body like a mountain, breath like the wind, heart of compassion like sunshine and mind like the sky’. At the end of the practice an interesting discussion ensued about anger and fear. A first participant shared their…
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…
I am not I. I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see, whom at times I manage to visit, and whom at other times I forget; the one who remains silent while I talk, the one who forgives, sweet, when I hate, the one who takes a walk when I am…
One day this week I was looking at the news on my Guardian app. Relentless awful news: Covid rising again, young students confined to their rooms, new policy in schools to not teach anything anti-capitalist and a further undermining of the BBC and free journalism in the UK. I have friends who are facing the…
This morning in my practice I noticed a lot of thoughts about all I had to do and a lack of time in which to do it. It has been a busy time at the Mindfulness Association this September. We had a validation event last week and our new collaboration with the University of the…
I had the last weekend off and my mum and dad came to visit. We had a lovely weekend together and they set off back home to York earlier today (Monday). I was sad to see them go. Like many people I have visited family and friends over the summer after the Lockdown spring. We…