So, I am on the move again. But this time I am going on holiday. By the time you read this I will be on the island of Unst on Shetland, engaging in my hobbies of walking and photography. This morning I very quickly noticed that ‘holiday’ feeling. After a very intensely busy 6 months,…
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…
Heather Regan-Addis, lead tutor, author and head of the Mindfulness Association, shares her experience whilst teaching students studying the MSc Studies in Mindfulness on their retreat on Holy Island.
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…
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…
Mindfulness Meditation – Serendipity and Trust in my Values
From Mindfulness to Insight I thought I would write a little about how our book From Mindfulness to Insight came to be. The three authors – Rob, Heather and Choden – are co-founders of the Mindfulness Association which was set up in 2010 to run face-to-face and online mindfulness, compassion and insight courses. The original…
It’s the first of April. April fool’s day. And I feel like a fool. I woke up this morning just not right with myself. Hours later I had an unusual encounter with a seal on the beach. He wasn’t right with himself either and I didn’t have a clue what to do about it. My…
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…