In our modern, high-speed world, many of us find ourselves living in a state of perpetual “threat.” We are often our own harshest critics, and our brains seem designed to hold onto every mistake while letting the good moments slip away. If you feel like your “cup is empty” and you are longing for a way to restore your inner balance, science and nature offer a powerful path forward.

This August, we invite you to The Crichton in Dumfries for a transformative weekend: Compassion in Nature. Led by experienced tutors Jacky Seery and Karen Baird, along with nature expert Mike Pratt, this retreat is more than just a break—it is an evidence-based training for your heart and mind.

The Science of the “Compassionate Brain”

Why does compassion feel so difficult sometimes? Neuroscience provides a clear answer. Evolutionary psychologist Paul Gilbert explains that our brains possess a built-in “negativity bias”. As we evolved, it was more important for survival to remember “sticks” (threats) than “carrots” (rewards). Consequently, the brain acts like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones.

When we are self-critical, we activate our threat system, which floods the body with the stress hormone cortisol. This state switches off our positive feelings and leaves us feeling anxious and depleted. However, we also have an evolutionary heritage of soothing and affiliation. Compassion training is the process of intentionally activating this system to counter-balance the threat response.

The good news is that our brains are plastic. As the saying goes, “neurons that fire together, wire together”. Currently, your neural pathways for compassion might feel like “forgotten country lanes with potholes,” but through practice, we can build “compassion superhighways”.

Nature: The Unconditional Refuge

While we can practice compassion anywhere, the natural world provides a unique “unconditional refuge” from the complexities of life. Nature doesn’t demand anything from us; it doesn’t judge our successes or failures. As the poet Wendell Berry wrote, when we come into the presence of “still water” and “wild things,” we are freed from the “forethought of grief” and can rest in the grace of the world.

During the weekend, Mike Pratt will lead us on walks and gentle Qigong sessions. These practices ground us in the body, helping us move from the “upper storeys” of our busy, over-thinking minds down into the “lower storeys” of embodied experience. By practicing outdoors, we allow the cycles of nature—like the way autumn makes way for the renewal of spring—to mirror and support our own inner growth.

Embracing the “Compassionate Mess”

One of the most liberating aspects of this course is the concept of the “Compassionate Mess”. Many people avoid compassion training because they feel they aren’t “spiritual” or “perfect” enough. But as tutor Rob Nairn famously taught, “perfection is not a prerequisite for anything but pain”.

This weekend isn’t about becoming a “saint”; it’s about “descent”—the willingness to drop into our messy, unpredictable, and sometimes neurotic humanity. We will provide you with a “certificate of authority” to be human, imperfect, and even dysfunctional. It is only when we honestly face our “mud”—our difficult emotions like anger or jealousy—that the “lotus” of true compassion can begin to bloom.

What You Will Gain

The Compassion in Nature weekend focuses on the two psychologies of compassion:

1. Developing the courage and sensitivity to move toward our difficulties rather than running away.
2. Building the inner resources and skills to respond to that suffering with kindness and warmth.

Participants will leave the weekend with:

• Practical Self-Compassion Tools: Techniques like the “Self-Compassion Break” to use in the heat of stressful moments.
• The Power of Imagery: Learning how to use compassionate imagery to stimulate physiological systems in the brain that lower stress.
• Resilience through Gratitude: Using Rick Hanson’s “taking in the good” method to weave positive experiences into the fabric of your brain.
• A Refilled Cup: A deep sense of restoration that allows you to continue caring for others without burning out.

Join Us

Whether you are a complete beginner or looking for a refresher, this weekend is a perfect introduction to the life-changing practice of compassion.

• Dates: 15-16 August 2026
• Location: Crichton Central, The Crichton, Dumfries
• Tutors: Jacky Seery, Karen Baird, and Mike Pratt
• Price: £185.00

[Book Your Place Here via the Mindfulness Association Website]

Come and discover how the “sunshine of loving-kindness meets the raindrops of suffering” to create the rainbow of compassion in your own life. We look forward to seeing you in the wild.

You are very welcome! To help you get the most out of your promotional campaign for the Compassion in Nature weekend, here are a few “bite-sized” social media hooks and scientific “did you know” facts drawn from your sources that you can use alongside the video and blog:

Did You Know?

The Power of Imagination: Research shows that the images we deliberately create in our minds—like imagining a delicious meal or a compassionate colour—stimulate the same physiological systems as real-life events. This is why our compassionate imagery practices are such powerful tools for changing how you feel.

• The Three Systems: We often get stuck in our “threat system,” which floods our bodies with cortisol and switches off positive feelings. This course teaches you to actively stimulate your “soothing and affiliation system,” a biological potential wired into our mammalian heritage that helps us feel safe and connected.
• The 30-Second Rule: To counter our brain’s negativity bias, we need to “linger and relish” positive experiences for at least 20 to 30 seconds. This duration is key to helping neurons “fire and wire together,” weaving happiness into the very fabric of your brain.

The 22^nd April is the annual Earth Day which serves as a profound reminder that we do not own this world; we are merely renting it from future generations, and it is our sacred responsibility to protect the home we’ve been lent.

This year’s theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” helps us concentrate on personal agency, something that is so important because the scale of environmental change can feel overwhelming and can easily see us throwing up our ours in frustration and defeat. However, in these moments one must remember the advice of Lao Tzu: “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.

That one step to making more earth friendly choices can be a mindful pause.  It is in that pause we can be more conscious, more aware about the decisions we make that impact our carbon footprint. We often flick light switches or leave chargers plugged in without a second thought. Instead, bring mindful awareness to your usage. By being fully present, you might notice the sun providing enough natural light to delay turning on a lamp, or realise that unplugging electronics that we are not currently using is a simple way to start making your own impact.  From such small acorns, mighty oaks can grow.

And this can be just the first step. Whether we realise it or not, advertising and social media has championed the idea of “the new”, of the latest thing, of constant consumption.  This has led to environmentally disastrous concepts like fast fashion and an unceasing production of electronics, gadgets and other consumables for an already saturated market.

Being mindful of our impulses to purchase can help us ride out those impulse buy moments and help us to appreciate the inherent value of what we already possess. Before clicking “buy,” ask yourself “do I need this, or am I seeking excitement or avoiding a difficult emotion”? Choosing to renew, repair, or upcycle breaks the cycle of waste and allows us to appreciate what we already have.

Perhaps the most grounding way to support the environment is through mindful gardening. Tending to a small vegetable patch or even a window box connects you to the natural cycle of growth. Feeling the soil between your fingers anchors you in the “now” and if you are able to grow yoru own food, even if just a small amount, we can reduce food miles, packaging and the wider environmental cost.

By integrating these small, intentional choices into our daily lives, we transform “environmentalism” from a chore into a lifestyle of awareness. This Earth Day, let’s choose to be present for the planet we call home.

If you are interested in developing a more mindful and compassionate approach to life, then why not check out our Compassion in Action Weekend

Reflection on Humility

Humility is considered a crucial virtue in various spiritual and religious traditions including Buddhism and Christianity and cultivating humility is a way to live well, to age well and to die well. As we get older and move towards our death, we will all inevitably experience a diminishing in our ability, physical and mental, and will experience a loss of much of the status and power that we may have derived from our youth, our work and our salary. This can be a painful process made more difficult by ego-pride but eased by humility.

 

This week I have been studying humility, as an antidote to ego-pride and entitlement. Ego-pride and entitlement are rife in our culture and society and can arise from a belief that if we are successful then there is something special about us and therefore we are better than others. When we reflect deeply on our successes, then we can begin to see clearly that they are a result of myriad causes and conditions, many of which we did not chose and which are way beyond our control. This opens up the door to gratitude and appreciation for these causes and conditions and genuine compassion for those who do not have such good fortune.

 

I have been working with the destructive emotions, including ego-pride, for over a decade as part of the Level 3: Seeing Deeply Insight training, but until recently have found it difficult to recognise my own ego-pride and entitlement. It has been painful to experience as it required a letting go of the sense that I am special in some way that others are not. It required me to recognise that I am just one human being among billions, all struggling to be happy and to not suffer. The successes in my life have led me to think of myself in my life as a hero and not as a ‘normal’ person. This has been reinforced by my role as a meditation teacher, in which people tend to look up to me and project special qualities on to me. It has also been reinforced by the idea of being a Bodhisattva, a warrior of compassion, committed to relieve the suffering of all sentient beings over many lifetimes.

 

Over the years, I have identified with and cherished the glorious heroes of the stories I love. Frodo in the Lord of the Rings and the Gryffindor House heroes in Harry Potter. More recently I am beginning to cherish and wish to emulate Frodo’s constant companion Samwise Gamgee and the qualities of Hufflepuff House. Samwise Gamgee is defined by his unwavering loyalty, immense courage and selfless devotion to Frodo. As a down to earth hobbit he provides emotional strength, optimism and practical wisdom, acting as a sturdy, loving companion. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive of the four Hogwarts Houses, valuing a student’s loyalty, patience, fair play, hard work and willingness to learn, rather than specific aptitudes like brilliance or ambition.

 

What Samwise Gamgee and the Hufflepuff qualities have in common is the quality of humility, which is an antidote to ego-pride.

 

The etymology of the word humility comes from humilis, which literally means “on the ground” conveying a sense of Sam’s down to earth-ness. Humility is the honest assessment of one’s own abilities, limitations and worth, involving acknowledging imperfections, remaining open to feedback and treating others with respect. It is not a lack of confidence or self-worth, but instead is secure and grounded in honest self-awareness, open-mindedness and a recognition that all of us have equal value, regardless of our successes or accomplishments.

 

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Seven Points of Mind Training or Lojong, is taught to reduce ego-fixation, through following the teachings of the Lojong phrases and practicing Tonglen. It is a good training for cultivating humility. One of the practices we explore on the Living Well to Die Well training is Tonglen. So why not join us for our next Living Well to Die well course, you can find more information here