A jotter of ideas and thoughts on mindfulness and related topics, mostly written fairly quickly. Thoughts as traffic. Say you are out in the countryside, sitting on a wall by the road, looking at a pleasant scene – fields, mountains, […]
‘Water the good seeds’ is a Buddhist metaphor which recognises that a garden has the seeds of flowers as well as weeds. The weeds symbolise ruminating on negative thoughts about yourself and the world. To gain balance, we need to […]
My online course Easy Mindfulness can help you to develop a life-enhancing mindfulness practice. This link is for the May 2020 presentation of the course but you can opt to join the currently-running version instead – buy the May […]
Full, slow breathing is among the most relaxing mindfulness practices. An effective way to slow and deepen your breathing is to pay attention to your out-breath. While doing this practice, allow your out-breath to be longer than your in-breath. That […]
“Sometimes good, sometimes bad. That’s how today, tomorrow and the next day will be. Accepting that this will be so, removes a layer of anxiety. It also allows you to get on with whatever, if anything, needs to be done […]
My online course True Friend and my book Kindfulness can help you to develop self-compassion. Image by Haydn Golden
The mind wanders all the time, even when we are attempting to focus on a single object. It may even wander before you get to the end of this paragraph. That’s partly why neuroscientists describe wandering as the brain’s “default […]
We can’t get rid of worry altogether: it comes with the territory of life. What we need is to change our relationship with worry. Worry need not be a signal to run around squawking or to hide in the corner. […]
“ … the task … is to be clearly aware of what’s happening without pushing away those aspects of experience that you dislike and clinging to those you do like.” Vidyamala Burch, Living Well with Pain and Illness. The book […]
When our brain misinterprets the world, it can create over-anxiety or over-confidence. In my book Daily Calm I suggest imagining one side of your brain deals in facts and the other in stories. Ask ‘And what are the facts?’ to […]
