L E T T E R from Jac – A Yes And A No February 21, 2019February 20, 2019 For every yes there simply has to be a no. Compromise means everyone gets half or less. If you’re a people pleaser, it can be super activating and triggering to say no. But saying yes can come at too big a price sometimes. It took me forever to learn that a lot of what I… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Nature Is My Religion February 20, 2019February 19, 2019 I don’t have an official religion, but my temple is the ocean. My altars are the trees. Animals are my teachers. And the seasons have taught me an immense amount. Aligning with nature’s ways has taught me that Spring is growth and the promise of what might be, a time to plant seeds and to… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Anxiety Remedies February 18, 2019February 17, 2019 Ram Dass really brought home the message ‘Be Here Now’. In fact, it was the title of his pivotal book, of the same title, that has inspired decades of people to understand what it is to be in the present moment. When we experience anxiety, we get further and further from the present moment. I… Read More +
L E T T E R from Emily – The Work February 16, 2019February 17, 2019 “Dust settles, I don’t” – Anita Kopacz I was listening to a podcast (Ancient Wisdom Today) a few days ago, it was fun, light-hearted and all about living a “F**k Yes” life! It made me realise how many ‘F**K NO’ moments I’ve let slide, out of fear of hurting someone, being disliked or not wanting to… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Truly Transform 2019 February 15, 2019February 14, 2019 Life is this strange sequencing of events, isn’t it? And when we look at a year, it is like 12 slices of life. How are we going to prepare for them? What will they reap? Will it be a harvest year or will it be a flailing year? Who will we be? What will we do? How… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Where Are We Blocking Compassion February 14, 2019February 20, 2019 I raised this in our Tea Ceremony and Meditation Gathering last Saturday because someone asked it of me awhile ago and it really stuck with me. “How many times have you walked past someone homeless and thought, damn I’ve got no coins and kept walking”?. For me, I always buy a meal when I see someone as I can… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – The No That Comes Before A Yes February 13, 2019February 20, 2019 I frequently do this, write a YES list. What do I want in my life. It’s a very full life, so there has to also be a NO list that goes with it. I want to write Daily Letters; yes. Rewatching the entire of Game Of Thrones before the next season comes out; a sad but realistic no. I want to go stand up paddle boarding; yes. I… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Our Practices February 12, 2019February 20, 2019 Too often we think, myself included, ‘I don’t have time for this’, surrounding anything that is nourishing, rewarding, spiritual and allows us to be our higher grade selves. If you have had a deeply personal morning ritual, meditation practice, or anything that allows you to experience the day orientated from your soul, you will know the impact this… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Everything Is The Path February 11, 2019February 14, 2019 Even the crap bits, shit bits all the bits in between. It’s funny how in hindsight we understand that everything is there as our oath to understanding ourselves, a curation for our own evolution. But in the thick of it, we forget, panic and meltdown. We have a lot on our plate at the moment,… Read More +
L E T T E R from Emily – Warrior of Love February 10, 2019February 14, 2019 “I am a warrior of love.I am the light that lights the path of my soul” – Unknown Who’s ever found themselves caught in a pattern of thinking ‘life is a battle’? We can go through times of feeling like we are swimming against the current, pushing and pulling our way through the day, we… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Your Anchors February 9, 2019February 14, 2019 I know I bang on and on about Values, but I truly see them as anchors for our souls. When we are a little or a lot lost, we can come back to our Values and they will inform our decisions and what path we should be taking. I teach about Values and have some… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – You Determine The Course February 8, 2019February 14, 2019 Gah how I love this quote! I wanted to end the week with it. When we don’t know what our unique potential is, that’s okay, we’re not all morning knowing our purpose and why we are even here. We all dream of being able to say, ‘I was born to do this! This is THE… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Accepting Everything February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 There is a Zen saying Susan Murphy taught me, which is no matter WHAT is happening, you send out into the Universe, ‘thank you very much I have no complaints whatsoever’. No resistance, no ‘this shouldn’t be like this’, and definitely no complaining. I love it as it reinforces for me this philosophy that I… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Competing and Comparing February 6, 2019February 6, 2019 Due to our recent (Saturday) graduation of beautiful and integrity-filled Vedic Meditation teachers, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to teach authentically and what success might look like. Layer in some recent negative gossip that has been darkly crawling over to me about the way in which I personally teach meditation,… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Working with Anxiety February 5, 2019February 4, 2019 I have an immense amount to speak to on this topic, but I thought I would start with sharing with you a Letter I wrote to a student of mine today, after a phone call about her anxiety. She’s in high school and under immense pressure, and this was exactly when my anxiety started surfacing… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Alchemy February 4, 2019January 31, 2019 I am so grateful for my lowest of lows. They formed and shaped me in ways I couldn’t ever possibly have recognised in the darkness that they were at the time. I also love people who have been through some darkness and waded out of it too. There’s something deeper about them you can feel.… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Deep Gratitude January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 Today is Letter 300. There are so many Letters behind these when I wasn’t tallying them up. But 300 feels like something special. So I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for reading all of these Letters. For all your beautiful responses and shared experiences. There are over 37,000 of you reading them,… Read More +
L E T T E R – Gratitude For The Little Things January 28, 2019January 27, 2019 The other day in London, we discovered a street cart outside a mosque, where Kaz the owner makes some of the most delicious soups and baguettes stuffed with delicacies. He makes a fantastic green chilli sauce that sits on the counter with powdered cumin in a shaker, with a huge bottle of bright olive oil.… Read More +
L E T T E R – Navigating Our Own Path January 25, 2019January 23, 2019 Okay ‘huge news’, we have moved our quotes to a neutral colour palette. I share this not because it’s going to change anyone’s days let alone lives, but it really brought to my attention how silly it is that I clung onto something so small that created so much agony for me. I cannot express… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Critics, The Haters and the Naysayers January 23, 2019January 22, 2019 The brighter you shine the more blinding it will become for those not attuned to it. I was recently chatting to a dear friend who has moved to NYC, landing an amazing position in finance (she’s was a laywer). She’s the most wonderful and inspiring person, utterly talented and intelligent, hilarious, and physically gorgeous to… Read More +
L E T T E R – A Time For Everything January 19, 2019January 15, 2019 As we round out January, there comes a sense of the year looming ahead. Will it be everything we want it to be? Will we be challenged, rewarded, chastised, loved, loving? Some of my wise teachers would say ‘none of it matters’, but for me, at times, it matters deeply. As we putter our way… Read More +
L E T T E R – Our Repeated Actions January 18, 2019January 13, 2019 In Zen, the tensho is the monastery cook. Every moment, every meal is seen as an opportunity to experience truth, to experience satori (enlightenment). It sounds kind of dramatic, but in truth, it is love and reverence for every grain of rice, for the lighting of the stove, the growing and chopping of vegetables. For… Read More +
L E T T E R – No Former Just Present January 17, 2019January 13, 2019 I love this quote by Condoleeza, for its many layers. What if we let go of former everything. Former anxiety.Former stress.Former hang-ups.Former obsessions that didn’t serve us.Former mindsetsFormer titles.Former beliefs.Former worries.All the former bullshit. What if we spent no time in the past at all, and simply created space for just now. Sent with love,… Read More +
L E T T E R – Treading Our Path Without Distraction January 16, 2019January 13, 2019 I think writing yesterday’s Letter stirred up a lot for me. I pondered about all the (necessary) distractions I experienced when I lost my way. I was haunted by the ego and how it can take its grip and lead us so far from our heart. Like a relentless feral dog yanking on a leash,… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Courage We Once Had January 15, 2019January 13, 2019 When I was young, I was a strange little kid. I didn’t fit in at all. Eccentric, hyperactive, skinny and ultra curious, I was into lots of things other kids weren’t. I loved pottery, but it wasn’t cool back then like now, it was quite weird and a lady with a thick braid and hessian… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Thin Thread Between This Life and The Next January 12, 2019January 10, 2019 David Whyte said,’ How easily the thread is broken between this life and the next’. It’s a beautiful line, isn’t it? For we really have no idea when it will all end. These fragile little bodies, whereby one hit to the incorrect part of us, ends it all. Perhaps it will be a series of… Read More +
L E T T E R – Creating Space And Pause Before Action January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 I had a conversation with a dear friend and meditation student on the weekend about the never-ending list of ‘All The Things’ which need doing. And when thinking about the list, the overwhelm was so great that they didn’t enjoy simple pleasures anymore. They, in fact, seemed frivolous. And there was a great sadness in… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Most Expensive Price Tag In The World January 9, 2019January 9, 2019 I had soooo many people respond to the letter (What Would You Create) about what would you do if you couldn’t fail, if success was guaranteed. What would you do? It’s such a huge question, it can almost be paralyzing. The key thing it seemed to bring up for readers was, ‘why am I keeping myself… Read More +
L E T T E R – A Series Of Little Choices January 8, 2019January 5, 2019 Brene always delivers the pithy statements, doesn’t she? I love thinking about authenticity this way, a series of tiny commitments. Every moment there is a decision being made. Literally all the time, we are making choices that might feel innocuous and small, but pack a punch over time. I love placing my awareness as many… Read More +
L E T T E R – Dark Nights Of The Soul January 7, 2019January 4, 2019 This is that tricky time of year I find when we bound in with full enthusiasm, transformed by new possibility and then sometimes fall in a heap of despair. I have had lots of students reaching out with quandaries, doubts and troubled minds and expectations that this doubt or sadness or fear shouldn’t be happening.… Read More +
L E T T E R – Let’s Not Be Lunatics January 5, 2019January 3, 2019 I’ve never met anyone like Arran, he literally doesn’t ever consider what anyone thinks of him. He’s incredibly neat and stylish and takes great care of himself, and on occasion slightly vain, but worrying about what others think of him, means nothing, it doesn’t enter his awareness. I think I might have literally exited the… Read More +
L E T T E R – What Would You Create January 4, 2019January 3, 2019 One of my favourite questions as part of long-term workshops that I host, is ‘if you knew you couldn’t fail, at all, what would you do?’. It’s a DOOZY of a question and takes everyone some time to open up to. You need to let go of the adrenalin, the panic, the doubts. To push… Read More +
Los Angeles March 2019 January 3, 2019February 6, 2019 We are coming to Los Angles to teach a special course in Integrated Meditation! If you are interested in sitting the Meditation Course the details are below, and you can sign up right away. This course will be hosted by Jacqui Lewis personally. Additionally we have a special Group Meditation Meeting for all existing students,… Read More +
L E T T E R – Wise Choices January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 A little list of things I would recommend if you’re stuck making choices at the moment. It’s a big time of year for choices, and they should be bold ones. 1. Commit to a meditation practice. It doesn’t have to be the ones we teach although I personally teach them as after 20 years meditating… Read More +
L E T T E R – The First Day Of 2019 January 2, 2019December 28, 2018 It’s the first day of 2019. If you woke today bright and alive, brilliant. If you woke hungover as hell and in shame spiral, or perhaps like I used to like to see in the New Year a long time ago, without having slept at all and on a dance floor, that’s okay too. Maybe… Read More +
L E T T E R – Happy New Year!!! January 1, 2019December 28, 2018 My absolute goodness what a year. For Arran and I, it was beyond what we imagined. I travelled to London, Los Angeles, New York, India, Melbourne and Byron Bay to teach and host Retreats. We redesigned all our branding and rebuilt our website and upgraded all our existing programs. We launched The Classroom, our online… Read More +
L E T T E R – Humility and Service December 31, 2018December 28, 2018 I spent most of Friday emailing back students who had applied for the scholarship of Be Your Best Self. We committed to giving away ten of this program to students and readers that emailed us with what they feel held them back from being their best self this past year and their commitment in 2019.… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Difference Between Planning And Surrender December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 The Letter I wrote the other day about the need for planning and our common misunderstanding that planning depletes our being in the present moment got a tonne of responses from you guys, with lots of questions. Perhaps it’s a very big time of year for planning and everyone is open to shifting their mindsets?… Read More +
L E T T E R – Being What’s Right Over Concerned With Who Is Right December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 I had a really interesting conversation the other day with a long term meditator who had become disillusioned with spirituality, meditation and the various lineages and traditions (especially the patriarchal ones). I was saddened and also filled with strength, as I have been in a place very similar to them, and not so long ago.… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Balance Between Desire and Satisfaction December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 I find this one of the most challenging of all the opposites we experience, the balance between simplicity and happiness with what we have, and the pursuing of what we want. Both can become out of balance rapidly, and it’s really a slippery slope, the pursuing of desires. However so are excuses and settling for.… Read More +
L E T T E R – Conditions on Behaviours December 21, 2018December 17, 2018 Being only a few short days to Christmas, I thought this quote was utterly perfect, as soon most of us will be on a holiday of some sort, that usually involves family or friends that surprise, surprise, we can’t control. We’ve all been there, the Big Promises… “I vow to be patient and not let… Read More +
L E T T E R – Pouring Out Patience December 20, 2018December 18, 2018 Conscious and Patient are not two words I have always been excellent at embodying in my life. I have been known to throw little tantrums, huff, swear, sigh, roll my eyes, and Arran’s least favourite, stomp my foot in a rage. Yep, stomping my foot like a little child, except with all the humiliation I… Read More +
L E T T E R – Which Would You Choose December 19, 2018December 19, 2018 This quote has been playing around in my mind like a Zen koan for some time. It can be viewed so many ways. Is it true? Is it not? I have been questioning though more deeply if I had to choose one, which would it be? How are they defined? How are they experienced? How… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Privilege Of A Life December 18, 2018December 17, 2018 I was standing on the shore of the beach the other day chatting to Gabriel. Gabriel is Argentinean and I am unsure of his age, perhaps 50? He’s fit, ridiculously tanned and incredibly friendly and happy. He knows everyone in Palm Beach, literally. And everyone knows him. He lives in a cottage at the back… Read More +
L E T T E R – Pioneering Your Future December 17, 2018December 17, 2018 I absolutely adore this quote and have had it pinned above my desk for years. When I am stuck, feeling brittle and frustrated with trying something new that is in a moment not working, I turn to it. Just because it’s easier to continue old patterns and behaviours doesn’t mean it’s the best thing to… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Chasing of Perfection December 14, 2018December 11, 2018 When Emily or I teach Integrated Meditation, we both drill into our students to not chase perfection. You will never have a perfect meditation practice. Nor will you be a perfect human being. We practice Integrated Meditation as it aligns us more with nature, and our most natural selves. This is why students love it… Read More +
L E T T E R – Planning Means Presence December 13, 2018December 11, 2018 This is the time of year we all sit back and start to either feel incredible gratitude for the year that has been. Or are exhausted and anxious about the year that was problem riddled. Or perhaps it’s a combination of both for you? Would you say you had a well-executed plan, that was conscious… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Monk and The Boat December 12, 2018December 11, 2018 My wonderful friend Jeff Kober included this in his daily newsletter last week and I loved it so much I wanted to share it. “A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation. … Read More +
L E T T E R – Inwards Honesty First December 7, 2018December 6, 2018 It’s so much easier to look at someone close to us and see their flaws. Their unrealistic nature in certain areas of their life. Their blind spots, their lack of honesty about who they are. So we have this gift of clarity because we can see it outside of ourselves. Why then is it so… Read More +
L E T T E R – Say No, Immediately December 6, 2018December 4, 2018 There is a downside to living a full and abundant life. I mean at first you’re like, seriously, could there be one? Well there is, and it’s that too much can come your way. Being an enthusiast and an overexcited person in general saying no was never my strength. Add in being a people pleaser and… Read More +
L E T T E R – Conscious Conversation December 5, 2018December 4, 2018 I really wish to use The Broad Place to share important messages. Erin Lovell Verinder who was recently interviewed at our Gathering is a brilliant nutritionist, herbalist, and naturopath and a dear friend of ours. And when I was in Byron Bay, Erin and I discussed the topic below at length. It hits a strong… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Unending Creative Process December 4, 2018December 3, 2018 Last weekend, I hosted with my insanely talented friend Kim Amos a Creativity and Consciousness Workshop at her property, River Hawk Ranch, as part of The Broad Place Byron Bay Retreat. Most of the students entered the workshop a bit suspicious and bewildered claiming, ‘yeah but I am not creative’. Which I hear ALL the… Read More +
L E T T E R – Your Choosing December 3, 2018December 1, 2018 I am trying hard to help my daughter be empowered to make the choices that are right by her. To check in and ask, when I am with this person, how do I feel? How do I act? How do I feel after they have left? If the answer is confident, inspired, accepted, authentic or… Read More +
L E T T E R – Too Much Movement December 1, 2018November 30, 2018 When we are constantly moving, it’s so hard to be still. Not still in meditation, still in life. When we are swept up in activity and we eliminate the gaps between activities, we can’t remain grounded. For me to counterbalance this movement, I have had to let go of perfection. Of things being just the… Read More +
L E T T E R – Constant Failure November 29, 2018November 27, 2018 I looked after our friends’ little boy called Sonny the other night, the whole night and morning while they went to a wedding. He’s a freaking cool little dude, only two and a half, and I’m kind of smitten for him. And he did all sorts of stuff ‘wrong’. Sunk his disorganised little teeth into… Read More +
L E T T E R – Constant Clinging November 28, 2018November 27, 2018 I am up in glorious Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia preparing for our Retreat, studying tea, spending so much time with friends, writing and literally living the dream. Part of the fun of being here is that we come all the time so we know it inside out yet there’s always something… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Simplicity of Meditation November 27, 2018November 26, 2018 Meditation these days is a name for a lot of different things, a lot of which is not meditation. Something can be meditative, like running or swimming, but it’s not meditation. Likewise when someone says ‘I’ll meditate on that’ they usually mean ruminate on it, which is also not actually meditation. Throw in mantras and… Read More +
L E T T E R – Expanding Our Consciousness November 26, 2018November 23, 2018 Consciousness is defined in so many different ways, sometimes as a state of awareness, or the quality of that awareness. Sometimes as a life force that flows through everything, as ki or qi energy, or prana, meaning life force and consciousness is the stream of that. Being more conscious means being open to all the good stuff being… Read More +
WEEKEND EDITION with Emily L’ami – Bodha Modern Wellness November 24, 2018November 19, 2018 Bodha was created by one of our very loved friends Emily, and her partner in everything Fred. It’s the true creative culmination of the two of them, ever evolving and always moving forward. Bodha is the perfect representation of the two of them; it’s pristine in its aesthetics, creative to its core, is full of… Read More +
L E T T E R – Burn Bright vs Burn Out November 23, 2018November 20, 2018 One of the examples I use when teaching in workplaces is this: Last day of work before a holiday; everyone is pissing you off, the list is endless, the demands unreasonable, and every cell in your body is exhausted screaming ‘just get on the plane!!’ as you desperately need your vacation, and like, now. There… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Creative Path November 22, 2018November 20, 2018 Charles and Ray Eames have been an endless inspiration to me. When I was 19 and studying interior architecture, one of my favourite lecturers introduced me to their philosophy, collaborations, and work. Their thinking, passion, innovation and dedication to living creatively, and Charles’s seemingly constant insistence that Ray was his equal (in times where women in… Read More +
L E T T E R – New Beginnings November 21, 2018November 20, 2018 I meet a lot of people who comment they’re too scared to learn meditation because of what they might discover about themselves. When I push a little more for their perspective, and if they’re in the mood to be honest, it’s intriguingly all the same; “If I discover that how I am living life now… Read More +
L E T T E R – Shadow and Light November 20, 2018November 19, 2018 When living a conscious life, it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. People sometimes think that they can walk a conscious spiritual path, and become immune to all life has to offer – including the challenging bits. Just because we meditate, live consciously, and make higher-grade decisions everyday that serves us, doesn’t mean we don’t experience anger, frustration, and… Read More +
L E T T E R – How To Proceed November 19, 2018November 17, 2018 I used to play a game many years back, that I nicknamed Ram Dass Roulette. I listened ferociously to Ram Dass talks, from the 70’s all the way through to now, when driving in my car, or walking in the morning. When I had a challenge going on in life, and I was confused or upset… Read More +
L E T T E R – No Really, Who November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 I still remember reading The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand’s pivotal book. I was maybe 21 at the time and it fried my mind. It also paved a very important path for me, being, in all seriousness if you want to do something, who is actually going to stop you. Mostly I have found it’s just ourselves.… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Bigger Questions November 15, 2018November 13, 2018 Around this time of year, Arran and I start formulating our ideas for the following year. 2018 was massive for us. It’s within moments like this when I am simultaneously over the moon excited and experiencing deep fatigue in my body and mind, that I like to go back over what we have created, and… Read More +
L E T T E R – Your New Vital Daily Tool; Power Down Hour November 14, 2018November 12, 2018 We have been preaching this from the rooftops for years, it’s a tool within our 7 Day Mind Cleanse and something we suggest all our Integrated Meditation students do every morning with their morning meditation sitting with this zone. Due to its ridiculous simplicity and immense success, we have committed to including it within Enhance… Read More +
L E T T E R – Smoking In A Zen Monastery November 12, 2018November 9, 2018 Grounding is about being connected to within, to the earth, and to nature and taking our heads out of the status quo of overwhelm and our frenetic over thinking and being in the present moment. It’s moving from where we are bombarded with digital information, overflowing to do lists and yearning for an existence without… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Broad Aspect to Consciousness November 8, 2018November 8, 2018 What’s fascinating about consciousness is that it’s hard to describe, hard to quantify and yet everyone wants more of it. More and more people are referring to consciousness and how to ‘get more’ of it. Consciousness is defined in so many different ways, sometimes as a state of awareness, or the quality of that awareness.… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Never Ending Jigsaw November 7, 2018November 7, 2018 We are so good most of the time at looking back, and admitting, sometimes admiringly, that everything was for the best after all. That argument that shook us up, or losing our job, that breakup, eventually, all things connect, everything has a place. It feels so lovely to do this. We have a sense of… Read More +
L E T T E R – Our Creative Capacity November 6, 2018November 5, 2018 Frequently people think ‘creativity = art’ and it’s time for us to broaden our horizons around this. Creativity is at play when we find a new pathway to walk down, whether with our lives or within our neural pathways. It’s when we look deeply into how we live, and question, is there a more dynamic… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Heart November 5, 2018November 1, 2018 I often ponder why it’s so hard to follow our hearts and even harder sometimes to hear what they have to say. I end up in the same place each time, the heart is from our higher selves, and therefore is quieter. Because it doesn’t have an agenda, or a timeline. It knows implicitly that… Read More +
L E T T E R – What Will You Think November 2, 2018November 2, 2018 There is so much talk of the power of positive thinking, so much science to back it up, yet I feel that most of us skim through really never engaging with it. Sometimes it feels too forced, or fake, or like we are kidding ourselves. I know this to be true; keep floundering around through… Read More +
L E T T E R – Clean, Simple, Distilled Thinking November 1, 2018November 1, 2018 I used to have a terrible aversion to saying no to people. I had, (and still do) a big fear of disappointing others, and this used to drive me to say yes to things I knew deep down should have been a no. And this created complexity. Too many things on my plate, too much… Read More +
L E T T E R – A Commitment To Adventuring October 31, 2018October 29, 2018 My Dad was a very renowned chef, winning best restaurant in Australia as well as three hats. His brother, my uncle had the same awards, so it was success all around for our family. But really their peak was before the advent of the ‘celebrity chef’. Chef’s Table didn’t exist. Instagram wasn’t even a thing,… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Ways Of The Mind October 30, 2018October 30, 2018 This quote is for me literally something to live by ‘Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth’. We need constant reminding of these as we have SO many cognitive biases that are shadowing our every interaction with the world. Yet, at times hilariously, we… Read More +
L E T T E R – Excuses Keep Us Small October 29, 2018October 25, 2018 I had a catch up the other day with someone and it was like I was in overdrive. I left feeling uneasy and I really hadn’t been myself. As I drove away, I couldn’t put my finger on this slippery feeling. The only way I can describe it was that I felt like I was on… Read More +
L E T T E R – Some Thoughts On Overwhelm October 26, 2018October 25, 2018 Wow, this weeks’ Letters seem to have really triggered a lot of thought and reflection from many of you!! So, in the acceptance of the overwhelm I felt this week, and the fact that I have not prepared a Weekend Edition, I am instead going to own it, and instead write you a Letter on… Read More +
L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 3; Overwhelm October 25, 2018October 24, 2018 If you haven’t read the first and second part of this Letter series, you can check Part 1 and Part 2. It was raised at our Gathering that fear and overwhelm seem to go hand in hand. We agreed. We spoke about options to deal with overwhelm but didn’t go into too much detail, because… Read More +
L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 2; Bravery October 24, 2018October 23, 2018 If you haven’t read the first part of this Letter series you can do so here. Continuing on from yesterday! We chatted also about how to conquer fear. Sometimes this is a nice idea, but fear cannot be conquered directly at times. I loved a story Emily shared, where she said she went rafting in… Read More +
L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 1; Adopted Fears October 23, 2018October 22, 2018 Arran, Emily and I get so exhausted by all the ‘Be Fearless’s self-improvement mush that is shoved down everyone’s throats these days! So I asked Emily to come and be interviewed by me for our Gathering that was on Sunday and to share ideas and discuss why fear is important and how we can work… Read More +
L E T T E R – It’s So Bothersome Being Bothered October 22, 2018October 20, 2018 In Buddhism, Dukkha, which is originally a Pali word, is translated most frequently as suffering. Specifically the suffering of the mind that we humans experience as we grasp on to that which is constantly changing, which is in fact, absolutely everything. The clinging, wishing, needing. It’s a reluctance to accept what it is, and a… Read More +
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 21 October 19, 2018October 19, 2018 Photo from our India Retreat in Rishikesh Oh my lord is it excellent to be home! So emotional! So wonderful! So many delicious meals created and eaten in our kitchen. So much doting on the dogs. And, sooo much that we are creating, so a hell of a lot of time in front of my… Read More +
L E T T E R – Truth Telling October 18, 2018October 12, 2018 Having a teenage daughter, the essence of telling the truth is really up in our grill at the moment. And I am reminded by her all the time about the small ‘white lies’ I myself tell. I’ve no idea when I began to tell tiny untruths as excuses for things. Especially for things that honestly… Read More +
L E T T E R – Working with True Knowing and Dealing With Disappointment. Part 2 October 17, 2018October 16, 2018 If you missed yesterday’s Letter, Part 1, you can see it here. After changing my flights and wrapping up the Retreat, I had a tiny nagging feeling that I should probably take a few days by myself in India, to recharge after the Retreat. But the flights were all now rescheduled and booked, and I… Read More +
L E T T E R – Working with True Knowing and Dealing With Disappointment. Part 1 October 16, 2018October 15, 2018 Our recent trip to India took a year to plan. The major component was our Broad Place Retreat which had every finite detail mapped out with room for things to ‘change’ (meaning accommodate to India chaos haha!). At the beginning of the trip, I had some days to calibrate to India with Emily and prepare… Read More +
L E T T E R – A Net Free Bird October 15, 2018October 12, 2018 The only thing we are really trapped by is our thinking mind, with its limitations and prejudices and biases that we continue to live through. Studies have shown that 95% of our thoughts are repeated from the day before. That makes the mind a pretty boring place to hang out, given it’s regurgitating old information.… Read More +
L E T T E R – Revelling in Beauty October 12, 2018October 11, 2018 Beauty can be so underrated in our modern way of life. Tiny moments of beauty can light me up for hours at a time. A new branch that is spreading tiny flowers near our front gate. The way dust catches the light in the afternoon sun. Light really in all it’s forms dancing on windowsills and leaves,… Read More +
L E T T E R – We Are All Judgemental Assholes October 11, 2018October 9, 2018 We can’t help it a lot of the time. It’s automatic. Our egos are constantly sizing everything up against that which we have experienced in the past. It never involves what could be, might be or anything to do with potential. It’s all based in prejudices and biases, many we aren’t even aware of. And… Read More +
L E T T E R – There’s Always Something Better Happening October 10, 2018October 9, 2018 For our recent India Retreat, I had it all mapped out. Tightly organised, planned to within an inch of its life. I could breath when it was finally all taken care of. We had 36 people booked in the beginning and one disaster struck after another for people and so many had to cancel. This… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Material World October 9, 2018October 5, 2018 A student messaged me last week saying she felt disgusted with herself and angry, as she still longed to buy beautiful clothes and have beautiful things. I popped it up on Instagram in our stories with my brief answer asking if anyone else wanted more ideas on dealing with the material world. The responses came… Read More +
L E T T E R – Thinking Kills Creativity October 8, 2018October 5, 2018 If you’ve ever been working on something and loved it, then over thought it, then doubted it, then felt ill and insecure – you’ll know thinking kills creativity. The ego also kills creativity and is the source of much of our overthinking. This is where meditation comes in. Every day, we sit, access the source… Read More +
L E T T E R – What Spirituality Means Part 2 October 5, 2018October 4, 2018 Yesterday, I wrote in the Letter about re-framing spirituality and you can read it HERE. It’s a big topic and one that two Letters won’t do justice to but I really want to stimulate thought on this. I had some interesting responses, ranging from ‘my God I haven’t been enjoying a glass of wine with… Read More +
L E T T E R – What Spirituality Means Part 1 October 4, 2018October 3, 2018 There is so much confusion when we decide to live ‘spiritually’. It’s really a nonsense idea because everyone is trying to live spiritually whether they brand it that or not. Spirituality is simply an exploration of living through ‘the spirit’ which means the true essence of ourselves, from love, to find the universal nature in… Read More +
L E T T E R – Real Power October 3, 2018September 27, 2018 Being a recovering control freak and perfectionist, OCD, a Virgo and aaaall the other labels I could apply to my habit of wanting to tightly reign in outside events. I am really familiar with the process of wanting things in a certain way. It always ends in tears. It usually involves assuming people suddenly became… Read More +
L E T T E R – Building Stillness and Acceptance October 2, 2018September 26, 2018 In the Vedic view, there are three things present at all times. Creation, maintenance and destruction. The Vedic view of destruction is removing something which is no longer relevant. And we need all three things occurring for evolution to take place. Sometimes they can feel like a hurricane, whipping around us. The key is to… Read More +
L E T T E R – Self Acceptance October 1, 2018September 28, 2018 This Letter today stems from the Letter I wrote to you a few days back, What Might You Be If You Just Let Go. The inside-out philosophy is that what’s occurring for us internally is then creating our experience of the world. Teachers like Aurobindo, Krishnamurti, Brene Brown, Pema Chodron, Michael Neil, Syd Banks and… Read More +
L E T T E R – Committing To The Important September 28, 2018September 27, 2018 Years back I had to really ask myself why were the unimportant things and people in my life getting so much attention and the things and people that lit me up like a bonfire getting second place (or later polling). Really, it didn’t make much sense, yet it seemed that which was more punishing was… Read More +
L E T T E R – Gaining Clarity On The Lack Of Clarity September 27, 2018September 27, 2018 Educating ourselves is fascinating and frustrating at times, as the more you learn, the more you realise you don’t know. This can be about ourselves or about others or around sequencing and processing. And when it comes to creative pursuits, this can become utterly overwhelming. There is sooo much more available to us and we… Read More +
