I am in India this week for year four of a six or seven year training in Mahamudra meditation. The teachings are from Tai Situpa Rinpoche, the latest in a lineage of teachers that can be traced back to the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. The teachings were systematised 500 years ago, based on teachings brought to…
Building on mindfulness and self-compassion practices, this step-by-step guide to secular insight meditation shows the way to freedom from deeply rooted thought patterns.
On Saturday I travelled from Scotland to London for the People’s Vote march. I stopped on the way in Manchester to join my daughter Jen and my friend Jan. This is part of my commitment to ‘Engaged Mindfulness’. By turning to face this sometimes overwhelming issue, and from my compassionate motivation, I marched today for…
I have been beset by feelings of anxiety over the last few weeks. My recent blogs have described how my mindfulness and compassion meditation practice have helped me. They have enabled me to turn towards and experience the anxiety. They have enabled me to look after myself, in my meditation practice and in my daily…
On a recent retreat a well-intentioned participant informed me that my drive system was overactive. She was referring to the three-circle model of Prof. Paul Gilbert which is part of our Level 2 Compassion training. This model postulates three psychological systems: a threat system, which triggers the fight, flight, freeze response when we feel threatened;…
It is very early in the morning and I am struggling to sleep. I woke up with feelings of fear and overwhelm and have spent the last hour or so lying in bed practicing. Part of me wishes the feelings would go away and part of me is curious about what can be learned. I…
I have found myself travelling a lot over this past few weeks. Some of my journeys have been challenging, in various ways. During these challenging times I have been very grateful for my mindfulness practice. Interesting I have found that my practice has not only for my own wellbeing but, inadvertently, benefited others too. In…
Some weeks my blog just falls out of my mind, through my finger tips and onto the paper. Other weeks, it is a bit more tricky and this week is one of them.
Big blue skies and so much sunlight – it felt good to be alive and waving to my son as he disappeared into school. I turned to one of the grandparents to share my smile. She could not smile or make eye contact. I asked, “are you okay”. “Did you not know that Tom died…