L E T T E R – The Difference Between Planning And Surrender
The Letter I wrote the other day about the need for planning and our common misunderstanding that planning depletes our […]
L E T T E R – Being What’s Right Over Concerned With Who Is Right
I had a really interesting conversation the other day with a long term meditator who had become disillusioned with spirituality, […]
L E T T E R – The Balance Between Desire and Satisfaction
I find this one of the most challenging of all the opposites we experience, the balance between simplicity and happiness […]
L E T T E R – Conditions on Behaviours
Being only a few short days to Christmas, I thought this quote was utterly perfect, as soon most of us […]
L E T T E R – Pouring Out Patience
Conscious and Patient are not two words I have always been excellent at embodying in my life. I have been […]
L E T T E R – Which Would You Choose
This quote has been playing around in my mind like a Zen koan for some time. It can be viewed […]
L E T T E R – The Privilege Of A Life
I was standing on the shore of the beach the other day chatting to Gabriel. Gabriel is Argentinean and I […]
L E T T E R – Pioneering Your Future
I absolutely adore this quote and have had it pinned above my desk for years. When I am stuck, feeling […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N – With Kate Pascoe Squires
This Weekend Edition we are proudly introducing you to Kate Pascoe Squires, who has been making some significant and inspiring […]
L E T T E R – The Chasing of Perfection
When Emily or I teach Integrated Meditation, we both drill into our students to not chase perfection. You will never […]
L E T T E R – Planning Means Presence
This is the time of year we all sit back and start to either feel incredible gratitude for the year […]
L E T T E R – The Monk and The Boat
My wonderful friend Jeff Kober included this in his daily newsletter last week and I loved it so much I […]
L E T T E R – Inwards Honesty First
It’s so much easier to look at someone close to us and see their flaws. Their unrealistic nature in certain […]
L E T T E R – Say No, Immediately
There is a downside to living a full and abundant life. I mean at first you’re like, seriously, could there be […]
L E T T E R – Conscious Conversation
I really wish to use The Broad Place to share important messages. Erin Lovell Verinder who was recently interviewed at […]
L E T T E R – The Unending Creative Process
Last weekend, I hosted with my insanely talented friend Kim Amos a Creativity and Consciousness Workshop at her property, River […]
L E T T E R – Your Choosing
I am trying hard to help my daughter be empowered to make the choices that are right by her. To […]
L E T T E R – Too Much Movement
When we are constantly moving, it’s so hard to be still. Not still in meditation, still in life. When we […]
L E T T E R – The Two Wings
As an enthusiast (someone with obsessive tendencies coupled with deep excitement), Arran is always nervous when I start getting into […]
L E T T E R – Constant Failure
I looked after our friends’ little boy called Sonny the other night, the whole night and morning while they went […]
L E T T E R – Constant Clinging
I am up in glorious Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia preparing for our Retreat, studying tea, spending […]
L E T T E R – The Simplicity of Meditation
Meditation these days is a name for a lot of different things, a lot of which is not meditation. Something […]
L E T T E R – Expanding Our Consciousness
Consciousness is defined in so many different ways, sometimes as a state of awareness, or the quality of that awareness. Sometimes as […]
WEEKEND EDITION with Emily L’ami – Bodha Modern Wellness
Bodha was created by one of our very loved friends Emily, and her partner in everything Fred. It’s the true […]
L E T T E R – Burn Bright vs Burn Out
One of the examples I use when teaching in workplaces is this: Last day of work before a holiday; everyone […]
L E T T E R – The Creative Path
Charles and Ray Eames have been an endless inspiration to me. When I was 19 and studying interior architecture, one […]
L E T T E R – New Beginnings
I meet a lot of people who comment they’re too scared to learn meditation because of what they might discover […]
L E T T E R – Shadow and Light
When living a conscious life, it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. People sometimes think that they can walk a conscious […]
L E T T E R – How To Proceed
I used to play a game many years back, that I nicknamed Ram Dass Roulette. I listened ferociously to Ram […]
L E T T E R – No Really, Who
I still remember reading The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand’s pivotal book. I was maybe 21 at the time and it fried […]
L E T T E R – The Bigger Questions
Around this time of year, Arran and I start formulating our ideas for the following year. 2018 was massive for […]
L E T T E R – Your New Vital Daily Tool; Power Down Hour
We have been preaching this from the rooftops for years, it’s a tool within our 7 Day Mind Cleanse and […]
L E T T E R – A Gift For You Of Our Key Clarity Tool
Today we are going to gift you something special, because trust me, you need it. Everyone, especially at this time of the […]
L E T T E R – Smoking In A Zen Monastery
Grounding is about being connected to within, to the earth, and to nature and taking our heads out of the […]
WEEKEND EDITION with Amanda Talbot
Amanda is a dear friend of ours, and we have not only worked together, (you might remember Hiro her little […]
L E T T E R – The Broad Aspect to Consciousness
What’s fascinating about consciousness is that it’s hard to describe, hard to quantify and yet everyone wants more of it. […]
L E T T E R – The Never Ending Jigsaw
We are so good most of the time at looking back, and admitting, sometimes admiringly, that everything was for the […]
L E T T E R – Our Creative Capacity
Frequently people think ‘creativity = art’ and it’s time for us to broaden our horizons around this. Creativity is at […]
L E T T E R – The Heart
I often ponder why it’s so hard to follow our hearts and even harder sometimes to hear what they have […]
L E T T E R – What Will You Think
There is so much talk of the power of positive thinking, so much science to back it up, yet I […]
L E T T E R – Clean, Simple, Distilled Thinking
I used to have a terrible aversion to saying no to people. I had, (and still do) a big fear […]
L E T T E R – A Commitment To Adventuring
My Dad was a very renowned chef, winning best restaurant in Australia as well as three hats. His brother, my […]
Sydney Gathering with Kirsten Shanks November 2018
This is our gift to our existing Integrated Meditation students, and for anyone else wishing to attend (non-student fee $55) […]
L E T T E R – The Ways Of The Mind
This quote is for me literally something to live by ‘Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything […]
L E T T E R – Excuses Keep Us Small
I had a catch up the other day with someone and it was like I was in overdrive. I left […]
L E T T E R – Some Thoughts On Overwhelm
Wow, this weeks’ Letters seem to have really triggered a lot of thought and reflection from many of you!! So, […]
L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 3; Overwhelm
If you haven’t read the first and second part of this Letter series, you can check Part 1 and Part […]
L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 2; Bravery
If you haven’t read the first part of this Letter series you can do so here. Continuing on from yesterday! […]
L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 1; Adopted Fears
Arran, Emily and I get so exhausted by all the ‘Be Fearless’s self-improvement mush that is shoved down everyone’s throats […]
L E T T E R – It’s So Bothersome Being Bothered
In Buddhism, Dukkha, which is originally a Pali word, is translated most frequently as suffering. Specifically the suffering of the […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 21
Photo from our India Retreat in Rishikesh Oh my lord is it excellent to be home! So emotional! So wonderful! […]
L E T T E R – Truth Telling
Having a teenage daughter, the essence of telling the truth is really up in our grill at the moment. And […]
L E T T E R – Working with True Knowing and Dealing With Disappointment. Part 2
If you missed yesterday’s Letter, Part 1, you can see it here. After changing my flights and wrapping up the […]
L E T T E R – Working with True Knowing and Dealing With Disappointment. Part 1
Our recent trip to India took a year to plan. The major component was our Broad Place Retreat which had […]
L E T T E R – A Net Free Bird
The only thing we are really trapped by is our thinking mind, with its limitations and prejudices and biases that […]
L E T T E R – Revelling in Beauty
Beauty can be so underrated in our modern way of life. Tiny moments of beauty can light me up for hours […]
L E T T E R – We Are All Judgemental Assholes
We can’t help it a lot of the time. It’s automatic. Our egos are constantly sizing everything up against that […]
L E T T E R – There’s Always Something Better Happening
For our recent India Retreat, I had it all mapped out. Tightly organised, planned to within an inch of its […]
L E T T E R – The Material World
A student messaged me last week saying she felt disgusted with herself and angry, as she still longed to buy […]
L E T T E R – Thinking Kills Creativity
If you’ve ever been working on something and loved it, then over thought it, then doubted it, then felt ill […]
L E T T E R – What Spirituality Means Part 2
Yesterday, I wrote in the Letter about re-framing spirituality and you can read it HERE. It’s a big topic and […]
L E T T E R – What Spirituality Means Part 1
There is so much confusion when we decide to live ‘spiritually’. It’s really a nonsense idea because everyone is trying […]
L E T T E R – Real Power
Being a recovering control freak and perfectionist, OCD, a Virgo and aaaall the other labels I could apply to my […]
L E T T E R – Building Stillness and Acceptance
In the Vedic view, there are three things present at all times. Creation, maintenance and destruction. The Vedic view of […]
L E T T E R – Self Acceptance
This Letter today stems from the Letter I wrote to you a few days back, What Might You Be If […]
L E T T E R – Committing To The Important
Years back I had to really ask myself why were the unimportant things and people in my life getting so […]
L E T T E R – Gaining Clarity On The Lack Of Clarity
Educating ourselves is fascinating and frustrating at times, as the more you learn, the more you realise you don’t know. […]
L E T T E R – Expanding Curiosity
I couldn’t agree more that curiosity in all aspects of life is needed for creativity and flow. Arran told me […]
L E T T E R – What Might You Be If You Just Let Go
Before I left for India, I sat with my friend and student, Uyen, in Whale Beach drinking tea and we […]
L E T T E R – Celebrating 200 Letters!!!
There are days when I sit to write these Letters to you and I feel physically ill. I am overcome […]
L E T T E R – Choosing Your Path
Well, this week’s letter’s have certainly taken on a slightly serious tone! I didn’t mean them to, but they do […]
L E T T E R – How Will We Choose To Really Live?
There is so much programming involved, in how we think we should be living. Paradigms created by so many people […]
L E T T E R – It’s All Just Grist For The Mill
I got a text from a friend the other day, reporting something insignificant on another friend that I had a […]
L E T T E R – Dealing With The Criticism of Others
There is feedback, and there is criticism. There is moaning, and then there are witch hunts. I posted last week […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 20
READ I adore this book by our friend Josh, his approach to creativity and consciousness continually inspires me. I interviewed Josh […]
L E T T E R – Can We Embody What Nature Knows?
We have a huge tree in our garden, and when we moved in became very fond of it as throughout […]
L E T T E R – The Wild Fevers
I have so many interests and creative outlets I sometimes can’t breath for the joy of it all, and I […]
L E T T E R – We Are All Going To Be Dead, Sooner, Later, Who Knows
Some people come to learn meditation because they are keen to be their best selves, they feel unreal and want […]
L E T T E R – Saying ‘I Don’t Know’
When did we lost the art of saying, ‘you know what, I don’t know’ or ‘wouldn’t have a clue’. When […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 19 – Restore and Renew
For you to try . . . EAT We are eating mostly plant-based at the moment, and 75% of the […]
L E T T E R – The Creation of Time
Time is something that expands and contracts, as it’s all a perception. Stay with me, I know it sounds a […]
L E T T E R – A Path To Authenticity
Our daughter is doing a speech for school and had to incorporate a bunch of keywords including resilience and respect. […]
L E T T E R – A Sequence Of Small Choices
My dear friend Jen was recently telling me a story about a conversation she had with her teenage son. He […]
L E T T E R – Knowing Our True Nature
Sometimes people think spirituality is all mung beans and hand holding and unicorns. Sometimes people think spirituality is a word […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 18
LISTEN Sri M recently did a talk in LA that Jeff and Adele helped organise, and it was recorded and you can […]
L E T T E R – The Freedom To Make Mistakes
As a recovering perfectionist, I have had intense experiences around making mistakes. It makes no sense as part of the […]
L E T T E R – Fluidity
I was once taught an analogy that I have carried around with me since from Taoism. It is that when […]
L E T T E R – Getting Off Our Arses
The Buddhists say the root cause of suffering is our attachment to desires. It’s not our actual desires. But our […]
L E T T E R – Dissolving That Which Divides Us
Long lasting change doesn’t come in a silver bullet, a bandaid or a quick fix. I was interviewed by our […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 17
This Weekend Edition is going to be all about the weekend. I’m also going to trim them down in size […]
L E T T E R – The Privilege Of A Life
Life is so fragile. We never know when it will come to a close. As humans, we can be bitter […]
L E T T E R – Creating Space For Creativity
I don’t mean physical space here. But emotional space. Conscious space. Creative space. Working stuff out space. A sacred space […]
L E T T E R – To Create And Be Of Service
Over the weekend we put out a survey, which was answered by SO many which make me SO very pleased […]
L E T T E R – You Choose; One Leaf Or The Whole Tree?
Picture a large majestical tree. We could just acknowledge a single leaf, and fixate on it, cooing over the leaf, […]
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 16
This happens every time I return from a trip, I crave home cooked everything, and if eating out, it has […]
L E T T E R – Savouring The Little Success and a Key To Presence
As soon as I return from a holiday as I have this week, I can feel myself slightly panicking about […]
L E T T E R – The Art Of Directed Attention and Stopping The Stewing
Something happens to us that causes upset. We stew and sulk and can’t help but tell people about it. With […]
L E T T E R – Why Indeed, Yes You Can
At the karate tournament last week, I saw a man with one leg compete. He stood on the side of […]
L E T T E R – Fear and Freedom
This is a little game I play with myself, ‘what’s my greatest fear in this’. I’ve found in every situation […]