-
The joy of creating…
I was teaching this past weekend at the Sanctuary on the Art of Rest. We were exploring day 6 out of seven, which is Creative Rest. It’s interesting how many of us don’t consider ourselves to be creative. When in all reality, all human beings have a creative streak in them. We may not be…
-
Mind the hooks…
Recently, I was reminded of a teaching by the renowned Buddhist teacher, Pema Chodron on the Buddhist concept of Shenpa. Shenpa is what she calls ‘the hooks’. These are the triggers in our lives that can send the mind into a spin. It’s almost as if they tap the ego on the shoulder and say,…
-
Seeing the clouds…
I am currently writing a lecture for the University of Aberdeen’s Masters in Mindfulness and I wanted to include a passage from War and Peace. The passage describes a scene from the Napoleonic wars in which Prince Andrei is lying on the battlefield, and he’s wounded, and there’s chaos happening all around him, and he…
-
Working the edge…
I want to talk about tolerating discomfort. And how oftentimes we perpetuate unhealthy loops, unhealthy patterns, unhealthy behaviours, all because we can’t, or should I say won’t, tolerate discomfort. And I think this is what our struggles boil down to. All of our knee jerk reactions are in place so that we move away from…
-
The practice of joy
It’s that time of year again- the time to return to routines and resets. Somehow, September can bring a quality of fresh starts and an opportunity to shift our mind set, take stock and look ahead. My son and I are both starting back to university and having been touching in with one another as…
-
Living within my psychological means…
Last week I was having a conversation with a friend in which we were detailing all the summertime comings and goings, including family visits, holiday adventures, and the day job. Summertime is a funny one- unless you are a school teacher, or are incredibly fortunate with your annual leave, working through the dog days of…
-
Forest lessons…
As part of my working day, I have been taking my coffee breaks outside. And while I am currently at my cabin in Canada, this means that I have been sitting and watching the forest. Only, I am not the only one doing the watching. There is a wee squirrel who has been slowly moving…
-
Are you listening?
One of the things that I love best about summer is sleeping with my windows open. When I am home in Ireland, I don’t always feel that I can do this, as I live in a town and in a single story house. I mean, who knows what marauders are out there at night? Things…
-
Our inner wilderness
I have arrived! I am at my cabin in Northern Canada where I will spend the next few weeks writing manuals for the Sanctuary’s brand new Nature and Healing programme. Where I am is a wild space. And no, I do not mean that I am feeling out of control- well at least not all…
-
Embracing change…
Yesterday, I was in the Sanctuary recording my practices for the October 31 day meditation challenge (if you’ve never taken part, make sure to keep an eye out for it). One of the topics that I was given was ‘embracing change’. I had been teaching on the Art of Rest all day and delivering various…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
