In a world full of distractions, that consist of notifications, phone calls, Facetime, emails, social media, conversations, arguments, decisions, to do lists, and never ending disturbing news coming at us constantly on small screens, medium screens, & big screens; then being told to be yourself; but not like that; be better, do this, want this, change that, and ultimately someone always vying for your attention; can I say - it feels quite rebellious to sit in stillness. I invite you - let's rebel; because our nervous systems need it. Our families need it. Our communities need it.
Meditation is the remedy to stress, tension and fatigue and the key to accessing more creativity, empathy & compassion. When taught & supported by a teacher; you will have a greater chance of sticking with your practice; and like anything in life - you have to “do the thing” to experience the results. When we sit; we are re-committing to ourselves; we are choosing ourselves over & over again each day. Long held & short term stress is released; subtle at times; other times not. We gift our nervous systems deep healing and pockets of calm. Here’s the thing; in the stillness (not the silence - it is rarely silent - we live in the modern world & if your mind is anything like mine; there’s a lot going on) we reconnect to our true selves. Often parts of us that have had little to no attention for many years. How can we ever truly know what our gut, our instinct is ever saying if the loud voice of our ego is always getting the opening, middle & closing act. So we sit & we learn; we learn to discern between those voices; we learn to see cycles of behaviours; our tendencies & patterns, truly getting to know ourselves. And from a place of compassion & gentleness; we have the spaciousness within to restore & to make different choices.
I have 3 group courses I run 3 times throughout the year. Sign up to my monthly musings newsletter to find out when registrations open.
> Defrag your Mind; a mini course (3 weeks; online)
> Upgrade your inner experience; a mini course (3 weeks online)
> Awareness Insight Meditation Foundation Course (3 x 1.5 hour sessions over 3 consecutive days) with monthly catchups & lifetime access to resit the course.
For people who are new to meditation & would like to give it a go in a friendly & supportive environment, the "Defrag your mind" mini course is the perfect introduction. It consists of 3 x 55 min live calls (that will be recorded too, if you can't make it live), you will also receive recorded guided meditations to keep & use at anytime, plus tips & tricks to access more clarity & connection. The follow on course - "Upgrade your inner experience", is 3 weeks long & includes 3 x 55 min live calls, and provides an introduction to Mantra meditation & breath work. It's also provides additional tools & techniques for less stress and more joy. If you'd like to then dive deeper & create your own self sufficient practice, a skill you can incorporate into your life, for the rest of your life, you can join the Awareness Insight Meditation Foundation Course; and this is lifetime access - you can re-sit this at anytime.
With a consistent practice so many wonderful things can take place. Yes, you would have heard of the reduced stress & anxiety & the overall increase in your health & wellbeing; and if that’s all it did - that would be bloody amazing - imagine living, breathing in & experiencing your life with reduced stress & anxiety - or perhaps that is even hard to imagine since it’s been a part of you for so long. When you practise regularly you also dip into & reconnect to a well of creativity; and build courage that propels you into new adventures. We cannot avoid or escape fear. We can only transform it into a friendly companion that accompanies us from time to time.
A meditation practice is the ultimate act of self care & kindness for yourself.