Articles and blog posts written by team members, tutors and supervisors of the Mindfulness Association about how they bring mindfulness into their lives.
“You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough.” Joanna Macy Is it possible to make a difference in a way that gives inspiration and fulfilment and doesn’t cost us too much? Can we fill rather than drain our batteries,…
I always remember a quote from the Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, which says that a wise person who wants to be happy learns to practice compassion. In essence he is saying that a compassionate person is a happy person. As you hear this idea, do questions come up? Maybe you have questions that…
Before I started practising yoga, I had no idea about the power of the breath in regulating the body. This changed twenty two years ago when I began to practice yoga and then within a couple of years trained to teach yoga. I became aware of the yogic practice of pranayama, a practice of breath…
This topic has interested me for some time. How do we live well and in the living well prepare ourselves to die well, support those that we love to die well and navigate our own process of bereavement when we lose a loved one? My own Buddhist practice of reflecting daily on the ‘Four thoughts…
“How well we have lived How well we have loved How well we have learned to let go” ― Jack Kornfield So why might we want to begin to consider death in our lives? Unfortunately, like it or not, we are going to see loved ones die and come face to face with the…
At this time of year, after the festivities of the year end, dark nights and spring being a while away, we can feel a bit low. One way to address this is to spend some time reflecting on activities that raise our mood and activities that lower our mood. Then get a blank piece of…
Often in January we get a sense of a new year, a new start and set some New Years’ resolutions – drink less alcohol, eat more fruit and veg, get more sleep, be more active, etc. Sometimes these resolutions last, but often not. We lapse, relapse and give up. What is becoming clearer from psychological…
A growing body of research tells us that the busier we are, the more we may need mindfulness. But this is a catch 22 you might say? Because the more busy we are the less time we have to practice. Well I have many answers to that! Did you know that you can deliberately shift…
For some reason, I vividly remember a conversation I had with a friend when I was about 16 years old, where we discussed contentment. Tevredenheid in Dutch, and considering that word now, I can still taste the flavour of contempt we had for it. “Who would be satisfied with that?!” we wondered out loud. Wouldn’t it…