Hello and welcome to our latest blog which looks at why we need to develop a kinder, more appreciative attitude towards ourselves, and suggests some ways to do this.

“There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer… It makes no difference how deep set the trouble: how hopeless the outlook: how muddled the tangle: how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all.” Emmet Fox

In meditation, the tradition of ‘loving kindness’ is a way of cultivating positive emotional states such as acceptance, patience, kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others. And, like most things that have worth, this practise needs to be applied to ourselves first. (more…)

Hello and welcome to our latest blog post which looks at why we all need calm in our lives in order to maintain balance in health and well-being.

Calm is the tangible quality at the core of someone or something that goes beyond relaxation. In these unsettled times we need to resource the power of calm more than ever.

So how can we become calm? A good start is to look at how we organise ourselves in our daily lives and whether our environment and our habitual patterns support us to be in a state of calm or a state of stress. (more…)

Hello and welcome to our latest blog which continues to look at ways to create states of wellbeing.

Focusing on the positives rather than the negatives in our lives makes a real difference to how we feel on a day-to-day basis. It motivates us, enables us to feel inspired, brings hope, nurtures healthy self-esteem, builds self-confidence and makes us happy. Its effects are far reaching: research in Psychoneuroimmunology shows that positive thinkers have a healthier immune response and are less likely to catch things like (more…)

Hello and welcome to our latest Audio Meditation Blog entry. Today we look at the benefits of using the present moment as a place ‘to be’, rather than ‘to do’.

The Present Moment – a place ‘just to be’

In this fast moving, multi-tasking world, we always seem to be rushing ahead of ourselves with “What’s happening next? ”at the forefront of our minds. Forever on the front foot, we organise ourselves around a constant readiness to ‘do’.

As well as using up a vast amount of energy, there’s something fundamentally unsettling about this state of constantly being ready to do the next thing. It doesn’t allow us to stay long enough in the present to fully engage with it and take in the benefits. (more…)

Hello and welcome to our latest Audio Meditation Blog entry. Today we look at how regular use of affirmations can bring about positive changes in the way we think, feel and behave.

Affirmations – the power of self-talk

Did you know that the things you tell yourself on a regular basis are likely to become your reality? It has been said all that we are is the result of what we have thought. For instance, if you’re in the habit of telling yourself you’re no good at something it’s very likely you won’t be, because you’ve trained yourself to be that way by repeatedly giving yourself that negative message. Our beliefs create the behaviour to create the reality in which these beliefs come true. (more…)

Hello and welcome to our latest Audio Meditation Blog entry. Today we look at how learning to respect your body’s needs and regularly release stress is a way of valuing yourself.

Lighten the load

It can sometimes feel like we carry the weight of the world on our back. We soldier on until the load becomes unbearable and we surrender to exhaustion or malaise in some form or other. Most of us don’t know any other way but to keep on going until we are forced to stop. Prolonged periods of stress generate consistently high levels of the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol, which makes it difficult to slow down even if we know we should.
There is another way: we can learn to identify, understand and respect the early warning signs before things reach crisis point. (more…)

Hello and welcome to our latest Audio Meditation blog.  Today we look at how changing the way you engage with everyday life can lower your stress levels, and why it’s necessary to give yourself permission to rest.

A softer way

Stress comes in many forms, from a sudden crisis to the slow drip-drip of life’s daily demands.  Acute or chronic, it creates tensions and imbalances within our system that bring an intensity to the way we engage with everything. (more…)

A warm welcome to our first Audio Meditation blog.  Every few weeks we’ll be looking at a particular aspect of meditation and how it fits into the context of day-to-day living.  We aim to present meditation as a set of natural skills that can be easily adapted to everyday life.

And today we look at the practice of grounding.

Both Feet on the Ground

Just as a house needs solid foundations to withstand the ravages of weather and time, there’s a lot to be said for keeping both feet firmly on the ground in this fast moving 21^st Century. We’ve developed a virtual world on the internet that’s changing the way we live. (more…)