In the land of words, I stand as still as a tree and let the words rain down on me. Come, rain, bring your knowledge and your music. Sing while I grow green and full. I’ll stand as still as a tree, and let your blessings fall on me. by Eloise Greenfield During these…
As we face another few months of restrictions I have been reflecting on life since Covid began affecting our lives – some 6 months ago back in March. I became aware that the news of tighter restrictions as cases of Covid soar again, was causing me some angst and this was manifesting as a tiredness…
One day this week I was looking at the news on my Guardian app. Relentless awful news: Covid rising again, young students confined to their rooms, new policy in schools to not teach anything anti-capitalist and a further undermining of the BBC and free journalism in the UK. I have friends who are facing the…
Where I live is very prone to days of fog. It furtively appears, seemingly out of nowhere. It can be hot and sunny with cloudless blue skies and then suddenly the whole landscape disappears into white nothingness. Even in my garden I can sit and watch the wet mist swirling around just feet away from…
There’s a route I walk a few times a week. The last part of the walk involves a mile-long uphill path through fields of ripened wheat. I call it the never-ending field. I’ve called it that because, at the end of the walk it is not only an uphill struggle, especially if it is raining…
Recently I have become aware of activities that I do that become a complete immersion, away from my habitual, incessant thinking patterns. Anything that is powerful enough to enable me to become totally present and not drown in my ruminations about the past, worries about the future and self-criticism comes along like a sigh of…
In our mindfulness training we learn how the mind has a tendency to be negative. Rick Hanson calls this a ‘negativity bias’. He explains how negative thoughts stick to the mind like Velcro, and yet positive thoughts slide off like Teflon. Over evolution, our minds were trained to react to threats more than opportunities. Rick…
I hope that you are all faring well as we settle into our fifth week of lockdown. I am curious about how adaptable we humans are and how many of us have now settled into a new more limited routine of life, with its pleasures and hardships. I have had many unexpected lessons in impermanence…
I am struck by contrast in my life at the moment. On a day to day basis, I experience a peaceful, retreat like existence. I practice and teach sessions of meditation; mindfulness, compassion and insight. I walk the dogs by the river in this beautiful isolated valley. I work at my computer contributing to…