How will this support my mindfulness practice?
Until I learned to ask the question, “how will this support my mindfulness practice” in everything I do, I had a really frustrating time. In fact, I had two patterns that drove me crazy.
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Mindfulness
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want!
When I start a meditation retreat these days, I know it takes me quite a while to calm the system down from living and working with technology. In those first few days, the levels of nervousness and agitation for those first fews days is much more than it was for me 16 years ago. And it’s because I’m on the computer and on social media much more now
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Learning To Integrate Mindfulness
Learning To Meditate Off The Cushion It’s amazing when you enter a clear and radiant state on the meditation cushion. But can you keep it as you put the cushion away? How about during difficult times? In 2019, I participated in Clear Sky’s Karma Yoga program (Three-Month Intensive). During the program, the founding teachers Qapel
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When the S*#! Hits the Fan, What Colour is Your Raincoat?
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
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Why Anxiety is Worth Getting Excited About
Do you ever feel anxious? I do, quite often. But, it’s turning into a lot of fun. I’ve realised my baseline anxiety is actually a reservoir and asset, for a really really exciting life.
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That ‘bad day’ doesn’t exist
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?
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What Does it Mean to Be in a Good State, Anyway?
If our first responsibility is our own state, before we go fixing others’, then what does it mean to be in a good state?
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Why You Should Zen-Up Your Space
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.
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How I Stopped Being an Anxious Person
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
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How to Get the Best out of a Three-Night Cabin Retreat
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.
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Is it selfish to meditate?
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.
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Are You Using Transitions as a Meditation?
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.
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How to not let negative emotions own you
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?
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Feeling lonely? Here’s how to shift it.
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..
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Can it really be this simple? Yes.
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.
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When it comes to changing habits, be a shark
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.
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Let’s Try That Conversation Again
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.
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Mindfulness, Washing Up, and the Fear Of Missing Out
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.
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Black Holes, Mindfulness, and a Sense of Wonder
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.
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Blog: Mindfulness and Creativity
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?
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How do you find the space to remember to be more mindful at 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.
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