L E T T E R from Emily – Wealth of Nature August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 Immersing in nature is something I found a deep love for a few years back, with the help of some good friends who had lots of knowledge to share, and an eager spirit to teach. They taught me the practical stuff, like the best way to set up camp, how to tend to fire and… Read More +
L E T T E R from Emily – Joy April 20, 2019April 18, 2019 Today is Easter Saturday, this day will mean different things for all of us, some will be engaged in spiritual or religious practices, others will be enjoying the holidays with family or you may be going about your life as normal. No matter what this day means or doesn’t mean for you, it’s hard to… Read More +
L E T T E R from Emily – A Love Letter April 13, 2019April 12, 2019 It’s easy to lose perspective of who we really are and what we’re really here to do or be. It’s even harder to keep this perspective when the entire universe is one big paradox. We can simultaneously feel like nothing and everything, fulfilled and empty, expanded and contracted. Like this quote by Mother Teresa, a… 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 – The Power of Intent February 19, 2019February 18, 2019 There is a system within the Vedic lineages called ‘tapasya’ which is essentially the renunciation of something we enjoy, in order to receive something of a higher order. It’s frequently misconstrued as austerity. We are actually quite used to giving up something in order to receive something else. We might wake early to meditate, forgoing… Read More +
L E T T E R from Jac – Little Buddha’s January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 The Buddha spoke that every being has the capacity for enlightenment and as everything is connected, every single being has the connection to Buddha nature. Buddha nature I view as the most connected, universal nature, of compassion and love and kindness. I have read lots of iterations of this quote and each time I am… 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 – 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 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 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 – 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 – 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 +
Savour Your Success November 19, 2013October 31, 2018 This could also be titled Stop To Smell The Roses or Celebrate The Wins. It’s a concept that has been around forever, so I’m not sprouting anything new here. What I am seeing however, is a shift away from this. A ‘lack of time’ or an unwillingness to celebrate the milestones in our lives, as… Read More +
Right Here, Right Now November 10, 2013October 31, 2018 ‘Be The Change You Want To See In The World’ Ghandi We need to make change right now, not tomorrow, not on a list, not as a spoken word to a friend, not as an unfulfilled wish or promise, to live in the present. We need to ask the pertinent question, do I as an… Read More +
Why Meditate? November 4, 2013October 31, 2018 So why meditate? People learn this technique for a large range of personal reasons. Some want to be more creative and diverse in their thinking, others want to reduce or eliminate stress and anxiety, some want to learn to simply live in the now and some people have health issues, both mental and physical. Others… Read More +
Do You Have Needs? November 4, 2013October 31, 2018 And what does evening ‘having a need’ mean? We can all get caught up in the idea that our needs are not being met. That there simply is not enough time for us to explore our individuality, that we have all these ‘needs’ for ourselves that aren’t being acknowledged in our busy lives, and that… Read More +
Give it up folks, for life. October 28, 2013October 31, 2018 Something we recently read by the talented Leo Babula of Zen Habits, we agree wholeheartedly. “This is the only response that life deserves: overjoyed applause. This morning, wherever you are, whatever life has given you, take a moment to really appreciate this gift, and applaud. I mean, actually applaud. We often not only take life… Read More +
What Are You Worshipping? October 22, 2013October 31, 2018 Something happens to us that causes upset. We stew and sulk and can’t help but tell people about it. With each re-telling of the happening, we slightly alter it, either as our memory adjusts to each new version, or to gain a better or different reaction from the person we are speaking with. Ultimately we… Read More +
Letting Go October 22, 2013October 31, 2018 A beautiful way to explain the risk of not letting go is the story of the monkey and the nuts & sweets. When the monkey catchers in India want to catch a wee monkey to sell to a rich family as a pet, they dig a little hole in the ground and place a small… Read More +
