When the S*#! Hits the Fan, What Colour is Your Raincoat? The blow-up had been building for some time. It just needed the right spark to set off the explosion. Now, the shit was flying and if there was ever a time for some good protective clothing, this was it. I don’t like conflict and
What are our judgements based on? As you read the first paragraph, and all of this article, what conditions are influencing your judgement of the experience?
If our first responsibility is our own state, before we go fixing others’, then what does it mean to be in a good state?
There’s another benefit to a well-honoured space: it brings out all of our hidden fidgets, shining a light on our inability to sit still. When there’s clutter, anxiousness can hide under the auspices of needing to clean and tidy and organize.
My default state used to be anxiety, with some fear thrown in for good measure. I don’t know why. For whatever reason, I’m just prone to feeling anxious without any apparent cause. Over the last 20 years, though, my anxiety lessened as I learned and then practiced meditation. My first experience was a mindfulness meditation
If you’re wondering why we require a three-night minimum in our cabins, it’s to honor the process of retreat time. Three nights is still a very short retreat, but it does allow for the possibility of something magical to happen between arriving, settling in, and the “I’m leaving soon” thoughts.
Not everyone will agree with our priorities…
Sometimes it helps to remind ourselves why meditation is a consistent priority in the midst of our own busyness, or the opinions of our loved ones.
Do you find it tough transitioning from your working day back into your home life? Or going into work on Monday morning after a weekend with friends and family?
It’s a whole other shift of gears to transition into the energy of a retreat center.
After I’d done it, I realized that before, my ego had felt some sort of power and satisfaction from not wanting to do the task.
Does that resonate? How we randomly own a feeling and make it our reality, whether it feels good or not?
Recently, a friend came up to me and said, “something’s different with you”.
A little surprised, I let this sink in and then asked her what she thought it was. After some contemplation she said…
While on retreat one time, I noticed that going over and over my story about “me” in my head is not useful, calming, or satisfying, even though it may seem so.
We’re just not used to being so patient, and as our world gets faster and faster, it has become easy to think that anything we want should happen immediately, with the click of a mouse, or by downloading an app.
Does the above conversation resonate with you at all? Well, let’s try that differently this time, applying some mindfulness of what’s going on with me.
While it might seem relaxing to watch TV over a meal or think over something else while washing up, where’s the sense of FOMO for the present moment? When not fully present, we’re actually missing out on being alive in that moment, and missing potential insights that will lead to greater freedom.
Well, the black hole image (or rather, the image of its halo since the “object” itself is out of sight) just became one of my new mindfulness tools.
Creative moments, whether they happen as an individual or working with a team, are some of the most rewarding and enjoyable parts of our work.
Yet, it can be hard to be consistently creative, especially if we feel we are always running to deadlines and juggling a thousand things. So how can mindfulness help us bring more creativity into our work?
We can forget to take a few moments to breathe, go for a mindful walk, or try out any other of the nurturing and supportive ways we’ve learnt to be more present.
One thing I’ve learnt from my own explorations teaching and practising mindfulness, is that small changes in our environment can help us be much more present.
A simple meditative activity, or a chore you love to hate?
Our daily activities offer great opportunities for mindfulness of the senses, the body, and for attention to details. You know, meditation…
How can we maintain our ability to stay aware throughout the day, when so many things take our attention and we mostly run on automatic pilot? The modern word for this is mindfulness.
Here are some tips from one of our recent creative weekends.
One thing that can happen when you think there’s an unacknowledged stink in the room is that doubt can creep in. Nobody else is mentioning it, after all! Although I want to say something, I’m questioning whether it’s just my reaction and maybe there’s nothing going on at all.
I have a way of dealing with this.
* Personal Retreat Cabins:
We’ve redesigned our personal retreat packages. Check out our Practice and Integrate Retreat, which offers a supportive balance of formal meditation and mindful activity.
* The Kasinas (Meditation Retreat) – December 4, 2020 – December 19, 2020
Residential and Online – Kasina meditation is a concentration meditation (samatha, jhana) intended to settle the mind and create a foundation for liberation.
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