In my weekly blog, Heather’s Musings, I write about what has been happening in my life and how I am applying my mindfulness, compassion and insight practice to it. The process of writing the blog is often an opportunity for me to gain more clarity and recognise what is happening and I find it highly beneficial. My wish is that it is also helps other meditation practitioners who are on a similar journey.
The opinions and beliefs that I express in this blog are my own and do not represent the opinion of the Mindfulness Association.
This weekend I had a day trip to London on the train from Lockerbie to visit the Mind Body Soul experience at Alexandra Palace. It was an interesting day, with the train filled with thoughtful, serious and at times jolly looking people on their way to London for the People’s Vote march. Many with children…
I am excited that we now have confirmation for our 10th anniversary celebration of the Mindfulness Association. Ten years seems like a long time but seems to have passed in an instant. I vividly remember my first retreat teaching with Rob Nairn and Choden on Holy Isle in June 2009. For me this was a…
I have been working on a new Online Compassion Course, to go with the Online Living Mindfully Course and the Online Rob Nairn Insight Course, which both run over ten weeks. The home practice during the first week of the course includes the nurturing and depleting activities exercise. This exercise is set out in Chapter…
I am feeling anxious today. My life is in a period of massive and unexpected change. Just over two years ago I experienced a period of massive, but expected and planned change. One big change was that my daughter finished school and began a gap year on her way to university and leaving home. The…
This last weekend I have been with the second year Mindfulness MSc students on their first weekend of insight training. It was an awesome weekend with insights coming thick and fast. It struck me how this approach really works in enabling us to become free of our individual and complex set of habitual patterns that limit…
Yesterday I took my daughter back to University. Last night I experienced a scary and quite gruesome dream. This morning I woke up feeling sad. My body felt heavy, there was a pain in my heart and a heavy and pre-tear feeling in my eyes. So when I woke up, my inclination was to stay…
This last weekend, I was fortunate enough to be working on mindfulness weekend one of our Masters degree in mindfulness studies, which is a partnership between the MA and Aberdeen University. This was our tenth cohort of students beginning or continuing their journey of mindfulness, compassion and insight. They were a lovely group bound by…
I had another experience of impermanence this weekend. I was anticipating a weekend at home, but then I found out on Thursday afternoon that I might be needed to stand in for the first half of the Insight weekend three which was taking place at Samye Ling. This was confirmed after lunch on Friday, with…
Firstly, I have to thank everyone who sent me kind wishes in response to my blog last week. I feel truly blessed by the love and support I have received. Secondly, I want to tell you about an exciting retreat I am leading in Scarborough, Londesborough Lodge, YO11 2PW next summer. It is a compassion…