Tag: meditation
-
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…
-
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…
-
The choices we make…
I am just back from the Festival of Writing and Ideas, which is a festival that brings together some of the leading minds, authors and artists of our time. Over three days, I soaked up conversations and inspiration, as well as the very wet landscape of Borris, County Carlow. My mind and my heart feel…
-
Thank you, no thank you…
Two of my oldest Canadian friends have been with me for the past week and it has been absolutely delightful. We have traversed the Wicklow hills, roamed the halls of Kilkenny castle, explored Dublin’s fair city and ventured to the most sun soaked spot we could find: Inch beach in county Kerry. It has been…
-
Embracing both/and
Recently, my daughter has been sending me gorgeous photos of spring time in Vancouver. She moved over there last September and just missed the long summer days and ocean breezes of July and August. Instead, she walked headfirst into the misty skies and darkness that can be associated with a coastal winter. Truthfully, she would…
-
Take your time…
Last week was my final days of university before the summer break. We were scheduled to be on campus for three days; however, with the blockades and protests of the rising cost of fuel in Ireland, we were moved online. This meant that I was able to turn off my alarm and turn in for…
-
Energy follows focus…
There’s a phrase that the Buddhist teacher Rob Nairn uses when teaching mindfulness: energy follows focus. This simply refers to the concept that wherever it is that our attention has gone to, our energy follows. In terms of our meditation practice, when we become entangled in our thoughts, we feed energy into the habit of…
-
Dawn is coming…
There is no denying it. I can definitely feel the days starting to stretch and lengthen. With the building of this increase in light, there has been the slightest whisper of warmth that has started to gently seep in when that north wind is not looking. These are the days described by the great Mary…
-
Rest come easy
I am just coming out of the most luxurious four days of rest. They were well deserved after what feels like 2026’s momentum of hit the ground running. I made sure to make no plans and to step back into a quality of ‘simply being’ in and around my home. The great Zen master, Thich…
-
Causes and conditions…
It’s Brigid’s weekend over here in Ireland. Whether one celebrates the Saint or the Goddess, it doesn’t matter. She’s definitely within the collective conscious. There has been much talk about putting scarves out on her eve so that they can be blessed and imbued with her healing powers for the year ahead. As well, the…
My Silent Place 