This last weekend I have been teaching weekend three of our Mindfulness Level 1: Being Present course. This weekend we focus on preference and acceptance. One of the big things that comes up over this weekend is a habitual pattern that many of us have that we are not good enough. This habit can be…
I guess you knew it would come at some time. My obligatory January blog advocating the advantages of adopting a more vegan lifestyle. Well here it is – Veganuary! I’ve not been watching much TV or listening to much radio, but vegan friends who have been tell me they are despairing over the mis-information that…
Similar to Heather, sometimes I write my blog about joyful events or everyday life stuff and reflections on how I use my mindfulness practice. Sometimes I write about difficult things where I have been challenged to the extreme and how my mindfulness and compassion practice has supported me. Such events are difficult to share but…
Having a young grandson enables me to do some cool stuff. I have recently noticed that my relationship with him also allows me to be authentic. Just yesterday whilst disco dancing in my kitchen with this 5-year-old, made me realise that I am totally myself with him. I am not shy, reserved, embarrassed or inhibited. …
I have not been able to write my blog for the last two weeks, which is strange for me, as the words usually come quite easily. However, my life has been in a very uncertain state of change. My old home was sold, I didn’t know where I was going to be moving to, and…
Last week I had a lesson in mindful listening. It was half term. I noticed that it transformed the usual places I inhabit and the activities I do from one of relative calm and spaciousness, to one of noise and busyness. I observed the chatter of children of all ages, some happy, some not so…
Dublin I’d never thought of myself as a writer, yet there I was, at a book launch at the notorious Irish Writers Centre in the centre of Dublin. I was to give a short talk and read from the chapter I had written for the book Mindful Heroes. It was one of those surreal occasions…
You know when words slip out of your mouth and cause chaos? They cause an argument or some disruption. The words are often spoken without thinking, without consideration. You seem to hear them as if someone else said them. Then afterwards, the turmoil it has caused to yourself and others subsides. And there are no…
On Monday I went for my routine hygienist and check-up appointments at the dentist. Having suffered trauma as a little girl from intense, sometimes unnecessary and sometimes brutal, dental treatment, going to the dental surgery for any type of treatment is not exactly fun. It became worse when a trusted dentist completely wrecked my teeth…