Category: Non-Striving
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My favourite chapter in any book on Buddhism or meditation
How I love Pema Chodron’s teaching and writing on meditation
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Amongst the trees
“Go to the forest, to the foot of a tree” the Buddha I lay on the slope upon the shiny ivy and snappy twigs. I was under a fuchsia bush showing the last of its lipstick red cups to the October air. The fuchsia itself was beneath an ordinary maple that was just about keeping…
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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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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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Happy Christmas. May you be ready for the joy and everything it brings
A month ago there was a beautiful poem being shared a lot around social media. It is called ‘Joy Chose You’ written by Donna Ashworth. You can read it below. I liked it that much I used it as part of a Quiet Tuesday practice. It speaks so well of gratitude and of not letting…
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Encouragement
I couldn’t say with any honesty that I enjoy running, but it does give me a sense of satisfaction and, if I am honest, smugness as well. Whilst I was certainly pleased to complete the couch to 5k app a month ago, I feel more gratification that I am running or that I go running,…
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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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Now is enough
“I had a great mindfulness practice this morning, I felt really calm afterwards…….” (2 days later….) “My mindfulness practice was awful today. I had no calm or peace at all and was just away with the fairies. I wish I had a quieter room to sit in” Expectation is a sneaky feeling: the expectation that…
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Slow walking, Mindful walking
We all have those times, the times when the busy-ness envelops and fills us and there seems to be no time to take even a single breath. This has happened to me recently. So waking on Saturday morning I decided to be in NO RUSH AT ALL. Instead of my usual sitting meditation, I opted…
trustingmind 