She Let Go

This really touched me today.  Floated into my awareness and stayed with me all day .. and so I am sharing with you.  The reading in the video is by Michiko .. the poem is ..

She Let Go
by Reverend Safire Rose 

She let go
She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go. She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. She didn’t call the prayer line. She didn’t utter one word. She just let go.

No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad. It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore.

*In meditation we are constantly learning to 'let go' .. and that is all we need to do .. just. let. go.

2 Favourite TED talks on Mindfulness

#1 - Former Buddhist nun Diana Winston is the director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA Mindful Awareness Center, and the author of several books on mindfulness and meditation. With more than 20 years in the study and practice of mindfulness, Diana explains how routinely taking the time to be in the moment can have a profound impact on our everyday lives and relationships. I have followed Diana for a number of years ... and you can enjoy many of her guided meditations on the UCLA website.



#2 - Andy Puddicombe, is a former Buddhist monk and co-founder of Headspace, a project to make meditation more accessible to more people in their everyday lives. In this TED talk, Andy describes the transformative power of Mindfulness: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment. 

Only Breath

So inspired today with .. 

the warm breeze

the conversations

the giving

and the lessons we learn in sharing our unique life experience .. 

the oneness

and this ..

"I belong to the beloved, have seen the two

worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that

breath breathing human being."

Jalal al-Din Rumi

3 of my favourite video introductions to meditation

I have chosen three lovely, brief and engaging video introductions to meditation from my bag of tricks (ie. blog posts).

While I may wish and dream to have the technical and creative ability to design my own video .. as this is unlikely to happen (in the next 20 years).. I want to share these great introductions to the ancient practice of meditation ..

#1 Firstly, I am a little infatuated with Dan .. and here he is with another inspiring meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg with a Meditation for Beginners guide.  What a delightful collaboration.

#2 I loved this video which present more on the Scientific Power of Meditation from ASAP SCIENCE

#3 A fun animation by Martin Boroson, author of the One-Moment Meditation program .. which shows you just how easy it is release a little stress and to find 'a minute' ...




Meditation is what I consider a life skill that everyone can learn.

If you have enjoyed these videos and would now like to learn more .. then please have a look through our website or consider joining one of our regular classes . or perhaps participating in our next eCourse (starting again on 1st September).

All it takes is a moment ..

Street Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg

A beautiful video sent to me today .. presented by the amazing Sharon Salzberg.

Loving Kindess meditation is heart breaking .. literally.  This practice breaks us open and fills us up again ~ with love.

I have written often about this beautiful meditation.  At times when the futile nastiness, pain and suffering in the world slams hard into my heart .. I will shift to a Metta (Loving Kindness) meditation.  

Sometimes that is all we can do.

This is the only balm I know to heal a heart hurt by the hardness in the world.

As Marianne Williamson said in a recent article, she is "deeply convinced that there'll be no outer peace until inner peace becomes a more consistent goal amongst more of us".

Let us practice now.

Video welcome & challenge ahead

Good morning!

Yesterday the sun was shining and I was enjoying my coffee while soaking up the warmth in my new office (love my new office) .. and looking through my 'wish-to-do-list'.  It is a long list. And I realised, that I had consistently written on my list ..

make some videos .. 

But in the past there seemed to always be a reason to put it off .. to wait until I had the right equipment (thinking I needed a proper microphone and lighting and software), or that I should get my hair done, or write a good script.

But the sun was shining .. and I decided to just DO IT!

Like I am always saying in meditation class .. just DO IT and see.

SO here is my off-the-cuff introduction to Quiet Mind Meditation.  

AND now that I have met that challenge and taken the leap of faith .. I am excited to share that I have started making the video content for my 

FREE 7-Day Meditative Exercises Challenge 

This is a 7-Day introduction to Meditative Exercises for those who are to busy to learn meditation!

A 7-Day FREE course that will give you real life tools to self manage stress .. learning five meditative exercises that are practical, straightforward and immediately beneficial for releasing stress and tension .. right in the middle of a busy life!

Be the first to hear about the Meditative Exercises Challenge with our sign up below..

Sign up for our FREE 7-Day Meditative Exercises Challenge

Love this Intro to Meditation

I think I have a little bit of a 'thing' for Dan Harris - so I was quick to take a look at this gorgeous video introduction to meditation (like super quick, drop everything and ignore my morning coffee!) .. and Sharon Salzberg, well she was one of my first meditation teachers who grabbed my attention-wandering teenager brain and made me want to meditate, and her books continue to grace my library with their wisdom and clarity.

Today I wanted to share this delightful collaboration.

Dan is just superb (as always when talking about meditation) .. funny, engaging, endearing + Sharon .. clear, graceful, insightful, wise.

What a gift .. just wish I was part of it's production but I am delighted to share it around .. and in summing up .. 

"You should be meditating every day - 5 to 10 minutes a day - that's it.  It doesn’t require some giant investment, I don’t care how busy you are you have 5-10 minutes to give this a shot" (that's from Dan & Sharon).

Join me down by the river ..

A momentary PAUSE in your day .. 

come join me down by the river.

awareness and focus

An amazing visual presentation of mindfulness and deep inner stillness.

Finding (and resting) at that point of complete balance .. displaying gentleness, focus and awareness to the present moment.