We are taught by the mindfulness movement that meditation is about stilling the mind, but that is only one type of meditation. This one is known as single-point meditation (sometimes also referred to as samatha), focusing on one object (which could be the breath) to train the mind to still and quieten. This is the … Read more
This is the third post in a series of posts, reflections on photos chosen for the 365 day photo challenge which I completed a few months ago. A meditation cushion, my own, waiting for me. Each morning I aspire to meditate. I set a target of 7 minutes, just 7 minutes. That’s less than 20 … Read more
We can read, we can watch and listen to the world outside us. We can spend time in nature looking for inspiration. We may look for guidance from others, looking for truths as we go. We may find answers in the music that we listen to late into the night. None of this has the … Read more
I wake up and I look at my iPad. Drifting from Facebook to email, looking at the daily newspaper, Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s as though everyone wants a piece of me. Except they don’t: no-one is waiting for me to give them this attention, and when I have looked and replied to something there is … Read more
I am just back from a weekend retreat. The retreat was actually a week long retreat, but we could only manage to be there for the weekend. It was still an incredibly valuable experience – and I use the word valuable with mindfulness. Over the last couple of months I have been exploring ways to … Read more