Category: Acceptance
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Doing something without doing something
If you have sat with me in a mindfulness session or two then chances are you will have heard the Tchich Nhat Hanh lines below. They strike a chord for me as they are ridiculously simple instructions and yet they hold all of what could be taught. Breathing in, I know I’m breathing inBreathing out,…
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Yes, yes but of course
Spring is here. No surprise. Happens every year. Happened before I was born and will happen long after I have passed. Change change and change once more. The Earth spins at 1,000 mph at the equator and orbiting at 66,000 mph and the next season is always full tilt upon us. “Time is a jet…
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New Year’s resolutions? Give good fortune a helping hand instead.
It’s New Year’s and all the talk is of the opportunity to throw out the old self and design a new and improved version. Markers like New Year are the most effective time to set goals; the brain is ready and open to see the opportunity for change. But resolutions are often underpinned by assumptions…
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Owning Up
The goodbye speeches have been made and applauded. I have a couple of cards, with some beautifully written words in them and just the present I needed. I’ve hugged people I haven’t even touched in years of working with them and I put a box of photos and other memories in a box and driven…
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Coming back
After a six month enforced lay off, I went for a run yesterday. Now I’m no Mo Farah; I had only been running for a couple or months before having to stop, so slightly dispirited I went back to week one of the BBC couch to 5k app. Once more I was listening to Michael…
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Slowing down mindfulness
It is difficult to fully understand and accept the idea that there are no intended outcomes from practising mindfulness. It isn’t going to fit on a performance management sheet. It won’t sit easily as part of a self improvement plan. Instead, the invitation is to let go of the idea of not being good enough,…
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The balance of mindfulness
You sit down, get comfortable, straighten your back, allow the attention to rest on the breath and within five seconds bang! away goes the mind. Normally you might either fight these thoughts and feelings or get washed downstream with them. In mindfulness though, the invitation is to notice this pulling away from the present moment…
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7 Attitudes to Mindfulness
“Full Catastrophic Living” by Jon Kabat Zinn is so frequently described as landmark or classic or masterpiece that there is almost an obligation to have it on your shelf if you are at all interested in secular mindfulness. But then it’s size at 600+ pages means it can be left untouched. So maybe, like a…
trustingmind 