Often in January we get a sense of a new year, a new start and set some New Years’ resolutions – drink less alcohol, eat more fruit and veg, get more sleep, be more active, etc. Sometimes these resolutions last, but often not. We lapse, relapse and give up. What is becoming clearer from psychological…
For some reason, I vividly remember a conversation I had with a friend when I was about 16 years old, where we discussed contentment. Tevredenheid in Dutch, and considering that word now, I can still taste the flavour of contempt we had for it. “Who would be satisfied with that?!” we wondered out loud. Wouldn’t it…
As we approach the end of the year and the associated festivities, for some of us it can be a wonderful time for joy, connection with loved ones and plenty of food, drink and presents. For others it can be stressful, with the extra burden of festive tasks on our to do list, a lack…
‘This may indeed be a pivotal moment for our species to come to our senses … mobilising in the mainstream world … the power of mindfulness” Jon Kabat-Zinn On the first day of a mindfulness teacher training I look around the room. I see a circle of people who are each on the brink of…
I was recently at Aberdeen University to spend a weekend with the third year students from the MSc in Studies in Mindfulness. This is a collaboration between the University and the Mindfulness Association. The students were just beginning their dissertations or work based projects. Each year we have a fabulous presentation by Dr. Jane Kellock…
Begin 2024 with a New Appreciation of your Life Practising mindfulness in daily life shows us many things about how to find wellbeing – here are my top two: Mindfulness doesn’t have to be time consuming You don’t have to have a perfect life to experience wellbeing Note the difference between these two experiences: I’m…
The majority of mainstream mindfulness courses on offer today have their roots in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979. It was initially developed to help people to manage stress and chronic health conditions. Jon Kabat-Zinn created MBSR to capture and embody key Buddhist teachings and to put the…
Patient: Doctor! I feel like a pair of curtains Doctor: Pull yourself together! This week a blog appeared out of an insight I had after I sat mindfully unstitching and then stitching some curtains. I saw how the mind tried to steal my bliss by making up a story to make me feel bad. But…
One of the areas of interest to the Mindfulness Association and the wider mindfulness fields is Engaged Mindfulness. By this we mean applying our mindfulness meditation practice to how we may feel about the state of the world on a social and environmental level and exploring ways of contributing positively through compassionate action. So, what does…