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 It matters what we rest our mind on. When we rest our mind on difficult things- hurts, criticism, worries, or lack- the brain gets shaped in a certain way. It becomes reactive, vulnerable to the negative and zooms into a narrow focus on threat and loss.  I’m really excited to be offering a brilliant new take on Mindfulness this term. It’s called Savouring. The Savouring practice takes mindfulness to a whole new level. It provides a sparkling incentive, an instant gratification: it is so rewarding! It gives us a really good reason to bother practising Mindfulness. I promise you will find this practice really enjoyable. Personally, I have found it life-changing.  Sometimes life gets too busy. So busy that something has to give. Due to extra family responsibilities, I’m putting this monthly mindfulness blog on hold for now. With extra travelling and father-care, getting to my desk as often as I used to is a challenge! Meanwhile, my classes and workshops in mindfulness and yoga continue here in the Northern Rivers. And I’m putting time into creating an e-book version of my Beginners Yoga Guide. What fun! Stay tuned for the launch later in 2018. Thanks for your support … I’ll be back.  Want to know how Mindful listening practices could transform your classroom? It’s simple: The very act of mindful listening, or any sensory focus for that matter, strengthens attention. When children stop and focus intently on sensory input, be it seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching, the focusing systems of the brain get a workout. The attention muscle grows.  MEDITATION IS A DEMOLITION JOB I remember, as a teenager, loving a phrase that described demolition work as “putting back the sky”. “Wow” crooned my impressionable teenage brain “that is cool”. To this day, I still like that phrase. Yoga
Yoga is an enjoyable form of exercise with so many benefits. I teach a gentle style of yoga that is nonetheless surprisingly powerful in its effect. Pain and strain is definitely not encouraged! My motto: “more ease, less strain”. Sometimes, by doing less we even receive more. How can simple movements be so effective? It’s all about flow and stretch. Slow and gentle yoga stretches encourage a flow of energy and nutrients in the body via the bloodstream. Circulation improves as muscles are stretched and bones strengthened. The strength training of yoga comes from using our own body as a resistance force, albeit in a gentle way. Yoga stretches build and define muscle, increase bone mass, develop lean tissue, speed up metabolism, help with weight loss and improve balance. Joints benefit from careful rotation using breath and awareness, as they depend on action for their nourishment. When muscles pull gently on bones it stimulates bones to increase in density, as bones are living tissue that thrive on movement and resistance. Posture improves from yoga instruction. Good posture gives us more energy and both reflects and creates how we feel. The relaxation side of yoga is everyone’s favourite. Rests accompany all the yoga moves, in fact they are essential for yoga’s powerful effects. Due to the partnership of movement/rest and use of breath, yoga brings about a profound restoration of the nervous system in each session. Which is why yoga is famous for its calming effects.  Ordinary life presents countless small opportunities to brighten up our mind. Even the most humdrum days will benefit from a mindfulness practice called ‘mind the gap’, tweaking life for the better.  Sometimes FRANTIC turns up, crashes into my life, my day, my hour. In his razzle dazzle helmet and coat of steel. I’m real! he shouts. I’m powerful. And I believe him.  |
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