I’ve been meditating for years but I guess you could say that at times I wasn’t really meditating as much as just having conversations with myself while sitting still.
Continue reading “When you no longer have to finish the arguments in your head.”The deeper I go into restlessness, the longer I sit with that feeling of being chased around by a to-do list or random thoughts in my head, the more I realise that underneath that feeling is a more profound emotional discomfort.
Continue reading “Restlessness as a symptom”Sometimes during my morning meditation I get this sense of urgency to feel that calm centredness I often associate with being present.
Continue reading “Chasing Presence”
Just as rushing (read that post here) takes one out of the present moment, so to does waiting.
Continue reading “Waiting”It often seems like so much of our lives are spent rushing. Rushing to get something done, or rushing to get to a particular place. Whether that place is a physical location or some idealised life in our head, we think that being there will make us feel better.
Continue reading “Rushing”
People often tell me that they just can’t meditate. They say they simply can’t switch their minds off. But the goal of meditation isn’t to switch off the mind. It’s too hard, especially if you’ve never meditated before. I once heard Eckhart Tolle say that he could stop thinking for 7 minutes. I had to pause and wonder, Is that even possible? I’ve meditated for years and I don’t think I can get to a minute. Of course as soon as meditation becomes a chore, or something where you have to strive for some goal, it kind of defeats the purpose.
Continue reading “The goal of meditation”Have you ever wondered why we see depression as a “mental” disorder. Depression is felt in the heart—not the head. You don’t go to a psychiatrist because you have a headache. You go because you’re experiencing overwhelming emotion. You might be feeling a deep sense of sadness or heaviness in your heart. Or a constant sense of fear in your gut.
But psychiatry sees all emotional issues as mental disorders. You have to wonder if western psychiatry even knows what it is that they are treating when they’re treating mental disorders.
Every year, at the start of the year, people ask me about my new year’s resolutions. Usually, I mention a few, like running regularly, eating better, etc. But this year I have no resolutions, only a few intentions. Those include: being mindful, starting slow, and staying consistent.
There might be many reasons, but for myself I’ve discovered one main reason: usually I try to escape the present because I’m experiencing too much emotional discomfort. An escape into the fixer (problem solving mental) mode avoids the discomfort in my body.
We don’t often believe that mere awareness can change things. We want to fight and grapple with the thing we’re trying to change. Whether it’s something relatively easy like getting up earlier or something difficult such as quitting smoking.
Continue reading “Breaking patterns and the power of awareness”