A friend of mine, who’s also a long-term meditator, recently fessed up that she’s often a bit embarrassed to admit when she is feeling stressed. If mindfulness helps with stress (and it does, as has been shown in research studies countless times), then shouldn’t she be continuously cool and ‘zen’ by now, rather than let…
“Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.” Friedrich Nietzsche Autumn is announcing its arrival in many forms. I am observing changes in colour – leaves just tinged with gold, a different feel in the air – maybe a coolness, different sounds as the migrating birds start to fly…
The insight training is about to start again in September. This will be the third year that I have led the training online in the evenings and I have found it an excellent format for supporting participants through the path of insight meditation over six months or so. I see the group bonding and I…
I’ve been contemplating the question – how does poetry deepen our practice? I want to share with you something a friend said to me recently. She had been reading poetry mindfully and subsequently, when she did the bodyscan, she experienced her body in a very fresh and free way. She, like most of us, had…
Over the last 7 years I have delivered many of our Level 1 Being Present Mindfulness Courses both online and in person at Samye Ling in Dumfriesshire. I calculated that I have shared Mindfulness with over 300 people. The Level 1 course begins with a standalone introductory weekend at Samye Ling or 4 evening sessions…
Since the middle of December I have been working as a hospital chaplain, visiting patients who are seriously ill. I have never worked in a hospital before and my main worry was that I would be distressed and not know how to cope with some of the suffering I would encounter. It turns out that…
The UK Social Attitudes Survey Report on Dying is based on the premise that discussion about and preparation for dying will lead to a ‘good death’ with reduced distress for those involved – the person dying and their family and friends. This report demonstrates a trend towards growing openness to the topic of dying, but…
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…