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…
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…
Hello again! I am back after my summer break, refreshed and ready for whatever new challenges emerge. Challenges are always good, an opportunity for cultivating more patience and compassion, at the very least! Challenges are hopefully an opportunity for insight, understanding and personal growth. Still I’m not asking for challenges, just welcoming them should they…
This week I have been swamped with work, or so I thought, and an uneasy feeling of creeping overwhelm has threatened to flood me. Lockdown had provided me with what felt like a dreamy safe haven, some of my freelance work had been on hold and I think I liked that a bit too much!…
It is possible, I suppose that sometime we will learn everything there is to learn: what the world is, for example, and what it means. I think this as I am crossing from one field to another, in summer, and the mockingbird is mocking me, as one who either knows enough already or knows enough…
Last weekend was our 10th anniversary celebration and I felt that the celebration manifested some key qualities of the Mindfulness Association: practice, presence, common humanity, compassionate messiness, kindness and joy. Qualities that Lana has captured beautifully in her documentary ‘Swimming Upstream: Ten Years of the Mindfulness Association’ that was premiered at the weekend. I am…
My heart is full. I write this in a fully mindful and awake state still feeling the buzz of the Members Weekend coursing through my body – it’s an energy thing, not from the coffee I had this morning but it feels similar! and I feel such gratitude flowing out from my lamp-lit heart; the…
Recently I have become aware of activities that I do that become a complete immersion, away from my habitual, incessant thinking patterns. Anything that is powerful enough to enable me to become totally present and not drown in my ruminations about the past, worries about the future and self-criticism comes along like a sigh of…
Life at the moment feels a bit like a dream, with the days falling through me. I have been practicing a lot because we have been facilitating the MSc year end retreat. This is great, as Choden and Kristine are co-facilitating. This means that when I am not teaching myself I get to…