Weeding out Unworthiness

So, this is a tricky one – it’s present, so here goes.  Recently I have noticed my sense of unworthiness coming up more frequently than I’d like to admit! Tara Brach talks about “the trance of unworthiness” that we can find ourselves in! My teacher, Lama Yeshe tells me to “keep doing the weeding”.  What…

meeting the menopause

Dare to Fear

I find it equally frustrating and amusing – my mind’s habitual pattern of imagining in the future. Having a conference to organise isn’t helping. Last minute arrangements, coordinating speakers, planning my sessions. The merchandise has arrived and hopefully the conference booklets will be ready in time. I am there in the future anxious about all…

finding equanimity

Finding Equanimity

I like the following definition of equanimity which I use in our compassion training: “A warm engagement with the world without being troubled by it.” The definition needs some unpacking as some of the things happening around us can be deeply troubling. If we allow ourselves to become distressed – aka troubled – by what…

masters retreat on Holy Isle

Masters retreat on Holy Isle

I am on the beautiful Holy Isle this week delivering the year end retreat for the first years of the University of Aberdeen’s MSc in Studies in Mindfulness. There can be no better place on the planet to practice mindfulness! It is a pilgrimage to get here. A wonderful journey, at each stage meeting up…

being on holiday

Being on Holiday

I am in the sky, on an aeroplane, on my way for a week’s holiday in Zante. My friend Claire is staying there for a month and asked me to join her for a week. The decision was easy! We flew from Liverpool. It is an early flight. So I drove down from Scotland the…