Articles and blog posts written by team members, tutors and supervisors of the Mindfulness Association about how they bring mindfulness into their lives.

Is-this-the-real-life

Is this the real life?

As I was driving to the station this morning mulling on my blog, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody started to play on my playlist, with the starting lyrics: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality”. This resonated with an experience I had this weekend. I was walking…

Finding Our Community

Finding Our Community

One of the results of our social media lifestyles is that we all end up in little bubbles communicating with those who agree with our point of view. This came home to me this week reading about the social media storm around Chris Packham and licences to kill birds. We live in a rural community…

I have a Choice

I have had a very blessed Easter weekend. My daughter has been home from university, and the family have been sitting out together in our sunny garden. Lama Yeshe Rinpoche was leading his usual Easter retreat and so I have been bobbing over to Samye Ling each morning for teachings, practices and a refuge ceremony with Lama…

mindfulness of birds

Mindfulness of Birds

One of the things I love about my home in Scotland is the birds. The little birds that come to feed on sunflower seeds and peanuts outside my kitchen window. The crows cawing in the tall trees as I practice in the morning. The starlings that roll across the sky in their flocks. The birds…

homeward-bound

Homeward Bound

It is my last day in India. We have empowerments this morning with Tai Situpa Rinpoche and then our teachings for this year are ended. This afternoon we have a massage booked and then online check in, packing and hotel check out. I feel immensely fortunate to have received the teachings and to have spent…

from mindfulness to insight

from Mindfulness to Insight

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…

Mindful Musings in India

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…

ambling-along-in-engaged-mindfulness

Ambling along in Engaged Mindfulness

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…