Mindfulness

In practising mindfulness we learn to take our thoughts less seriously. That can seem strange if you’re used to seeing your thoughts as always right and some people do, indeed, see them that way. But ur thoughts are often less […]

‘Happiness Is a feeling, not an outcome. When you understand that happiness is nothing more than a feeling, you can help it to grow and maintain itself when you do feel it.’ (Richard Carlson, You can be happy no matter […]

“Once we fall into the trap of believing that things are ‘supposed’ to go well, we tend to think something has gone terribly amiss when they suddenly don’t.” So writes Dr Kristin Neff in her book Self Compassion. It’s a […]

Mindfulness is often thought of as ‘being in the moment.’ It’s more about returning to the moment again and again. That’s because our minds wander by default – so we have to keep bringing them back. Returning again and again […]

A key aspect of self-preoccupation is the tendency to judge everything in reference to ourselves. I call it Radio Me Me Me. Suppose you hear that it’s going to rain for a day and a night in your city of […]

“We have a strong need to be on the way to some better moment, some better time when it all will come together for me. We can so easily become impatient and driven. Of course, this prevents us from being […]

This question can bring you straight into the practice of mindfulness – so long as you don’t answer it. By asking the question, you step out of habitual responses for that moment – out of the wandering mind and preoccupations […]

Acceptance means, among other things, acknowledging the reality of situations – but it isn’t the end of the story. Often acceptance tells us what to do next and can even lead us down new and interesting paths. If you get […]

The nervous system seeks to come back to balance, a sense of equilibrium. One way it does this is by releasing a substance called GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) which halts or slows down the buildup of stress in our emotional […]