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 +
The Broad Place Christmas Gift Guide December 7, 2018December 8, 2018 We have created our ultimate The Broad Place Christmas Gift Guide to help you celebrate the people you love this festive season. This is a guide of things close to our heart, mostly supporting our wonderful friends who create with such integrity and creativity that we love dearly. The Food Lover Our friend Erin who… 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 – 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 – The Two Wings November 30, 2018November 28, 2018 As an enthusiast (someone with obsessive tendencies coupled with deep excitement), Arran is always nervous when I start getting into something. It’s been a year of my dabbling with tea ceremonies, after first having a mini one with my friend Mel in LA, and then learning more in a beautiful tea house in New York.… 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 – A Gift For You Of Our Key Clarity Tool November 13, 2018November 12, 2018 Today we are going to gift you something special, because trust me, you need it. Everyone, especially at this time of the year, is feeling a little overwhelmed. It’s important to recognise that these pressures of modern living are not always a bad thing. We are very adaptable, creative beings who have created a world for ourselves to thrive… 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 +
WEEKEND EDITION with Amanda Talbot November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 Amanda is a dear friend of ours, and we have not only worked together, (you might remember Hiro her little tan sausage dog from our Paddington Studio), but travelled and explored together. Amanda is both Arran and my go to for creative inspiration, as she scours the world searching for ideas and how to translate… 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 +
L E T T E R – Expanding Curiosity September 26, 2018September 27, 2018 I couldn’t agree more that curiosity in all aspects of life is needed for creativity and flow. Arran told me about a friend of ours that shared a story with him and his four-year-old son. He was teaching him all about the moon and how it’s a quarter then full and so on, and they… Read More +
L E T T E R – What Might You Be If You Just Let Go September 25, 2018September 27, 2018 Before I left for India, I sat with my friend and student, Uyen, in Whale Beach drinking tea and we discussed the teachings of St Francis of Assisi, and some of my teachers of Indian lineage, from America and Japan. They all teach the same thing; that there is one consciousness/God, that we must live… Read More +
L E T T E R – Celebrating 200 Letters!!! September 24, 2018September 18, 2018 There are days when I sit to write these Letters to you and I feel physically ill. I am overcome with shame, who do I think I am sharing a bunch of thoughts, ideas, and philosophies with people? I think of all the fakers and the nonsense filling the world at the moment and I… Read More +
L E T T E R – Choosing Your Path September 20, 2018September 12, 2018 Well, this week’s letter’s have certainly taken on a slightly serious tone! I didn’t mean them to, but they do sound rather determined. I think it’s due to our current projects and what we are sharing with you soon! It takes a level of determination, fire, and fierceness that needs to be blended with creativity,… Read More +
L E T T E R – How Will We Choose To Really Live? September 19, 2018September 12, 2018 There is so much programming involved, in how we think we should be living. Paradigms created by so many people that influenced as we grew up, or insisted we be a particular way. So many barricades and ‘socially unacceptable’ things that we just accepted as it was all we knew. Then we grow up, and… Read More +
L E T T E R – It’s All Just Grist For The Mill September 18, 2018September 12, 2018 I got a text from a friend the other day, reporting something insignificant on another friend that I had a falling out with. I got instantly triggered. I went from being in an excited mood about a new project to filled with anger, frustration and then being utterly distracted. I got agitated and as much… Read More +
L E T T E R – Dealing With The Criticism of Others September 17, 2018September 12, 2018 There is feedback, and there is criticism. There is moaning, and then there are witch hunts. I posted last week on Instagram about having heard of late too many stories of online bullying, from people genuinely intending to create expansive work for others. Creative work, artistic, heartfelt, genuine work. That was being slayed by the… Read More +
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 20 September 14, 2018September 13, 2018 READ I adore this book by our friend Josh, his approach to creativity and consciousness continually inspires me. I interviewed Josh for our upcoming podcasts which will launch soon, can’t wait to share it with you! I am always fascinated with the routines of people, and especially artists, and this piece on Georgia O’Keefe is delightful… Read More +
L E T T E R – Can We Embody What Nature Knows? September 13, 2018September 10, 2018 We have a huge tree in our garden, and when we moved in became very fond of it as throughout the Summer it keeps 90% of our garden in the shade. Then on our first Autumn, lorikeets and cockatoos (who are renowned for being destructive for the fun of it) flocked to the tree and… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Wild Fevers September 12, 2018September 10, 2018 I have so many interests and creative outlets I sometimes can’t breath for the joy of it all, and I gasp for more time in which to do them all. As such I’m fascinated when people say to me, yeah I don’t really have any passions or hobbies. It usually always comes with a tone… Read More +
L E T T E R – We Are All Going To Be Dead, Sooner, Later, Who Knows September 11, 2018September 10, 2018 Some people come to learn meditation because they are keen to be their best selves, they feel unreal and want to amplify it. They are the minority. Most people come to learn meditation because shit hit the fan. A diagnosis, a divorce, someone they loved passed on, bankruptcy, chronic illness. And then they get really… Read More +
L E T T E R – Saying ‘I Don’t Know’ September 10, 2018September 8, 2018 When did we lost the art of saying, ‘you know what, I don’t know’ or ‘wouldn’t have a clue’. When did everyone get so over-educated, and terrified of not being educated? It’s gotten to the point where people would prefer to say anything, even if untrue than admit they don’t know what they’re talking about.… Read More +
W E E K E N D E D I T I O N 19 – Restore and Renew September 7, 2018September 6, 2018 For you to try . . . EAT We are eating mostly plant-based at the moment, and 75% of the time gluten free, so Kitchari has become a huge staple in our diet. We used to eat it a few times a week, then as I dove further into Japanese cooking, we took a pause.… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Creation of Time September 6, 2018September 5, 2018 Time is something that expands and contracts, as it’s all a perception. Stay with me, I know it sounds a little out there. Have you ever noticed how 2 hours on emails can go in a flash? Yet waiting in traffic when late for something important can take seemingly forever. If you’ve been to a… Read More +
L E T T E R – A Path To Authenticity September 5, 2018September 3, 2018 Our daughter is doing a speech for school and had to incorporate a bunch of keywords including resilience and respect. She asked me what imitation meant. And I said to copy something. She pointed out the dictionary says ‘the action of using someone or something as a model’. But that was in contrast to her… Read More +
L E T T E R – A Sequence Of Small Choices September 4, 2018September 3, 2018 My dear friend Jen was recently telling me a story about a conversation she had with her teenage son. He was saying he thought a situation wasn’t such a big deal, she felt strongly otherwise, as it was a recurring theme. And she explained to him that life is not about the big decisions, it’s… Read More +
L E T T E R – Knowing Our True Nature September 3, 2018August 31, 2018 Sometimes people think spirituality is all mung beans and hand holding and unicorns. Sometimes people think spirituality is a word representing India and the 1960’s. When I say it in a corporate boardroom, I can feel if not see the eye rolling or a ripple of tension. That is until I explain that spirituality is… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Freedom To Make Mistakes August 30, 2018August 29, 2018 As a recovering perfectionist, I have had intense experiences around making mistakes. It makes no sense as part of the creative experience is trying over and over, making beautiful mistakes, to come to a magic result. It involves a huge amount of freedom and all the mistakes in the world to get there sometimes. For… Read More +
L E T T E R – Fluidity August 29, 2018 I was once taught an analogy that I have carried around with me since from Taoism. It is that when you have strong emotions hit you, you imagine you are within a body of a river. You understand that everything must flow. So rather than trying to cling to the river banks, resisting, or even… Read More +
L E T T E R – Getting Off Our Arses August 28, 2018August 24, 2018 The Buddhists say the root cause of suffering is our attachment to desires. It’s not our actual desires. But our attachment to them. And more often than not in today’s overwhelmed society with its million options for change and transformation, we are simply attached to the desire for change but unwilling to go through with… Read More +
L E T T E R – Dissolving That Which Divides Us August 27, 2018August 24, 2018 Long lasting change doesn’t come in a silver bullet, a bandaid or a quick fix. I was interviewed by our inspiring student and friend Melissa last week for her podcast (stay tuned for details on how you can listen to this soon), and we discussed how everyone wants a quick fix. The current mindset seems… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Privilege Of A Life August 23, 2018August 22, 2018 Life is so fragile. We never know when it will come to a close. As humans, we can be bitter and cruel. We can fight bitterly. We can destroy the very thing that sustains us, our planet. We can be competitive, nasty, and inflict incredible pain. We also cry at sunsets and quietly watch the… Read More +
L E T T E R – Creating Space For Creativity August 22, 2018August 21, 2018 I don’t mean physical space here. But emotional space. Conscious space. Creative space. Working stuff out space. A sacred space we enter daily, where we are human beings not just human doings. Meditation is this. But in all honesty, the way the world is spinning at warp speed we need more. We need to… Read More +
L E T T E R – To Create And Be Of Service August 21, 2018August 20, 2018 Over the weekend we put out a survey, which was answered by SO many which make me SO very pleased as The Broad Place is there for you, so when you engage, we love it. There are the greatest feedback and insight from you all, so thank you if you took the time to fill… Read More +
L E T T E R – You Choose; One Leaf Or The Whole Tree? August 20, 2018August 15, 2018 Picture a large majestical tree. We could just acknowledge a single leaf, and fixate on it, cooing over the leaf, identifying every detail. If we look at the big picture though, we also need to pull back and realise that there are other leaves, and they are attached to branches, some small and delicate, some… Read More +
L E T T E R – Savouring The Little Success and a Key To Presence August 16, 2018August 15, 2018 As soon as I return from a holiday as I have this week, I can feel myself slightly panicking about all there is to do. A weird homesickness about being home, or the post holiday blues. With it comes a moving away from absolute presence like I had in Japan, for every little leaf, the… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Art Of Directed Attention and Stopping The Stewing August 15, 2018August 14, 2018 Something happens to us that causes upset. We stew and sulk and can’t help but tell people about it. With each retelling 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 +
L E T T E R – Why Indeed, Yes You Can August 14, 2018August 10, 2018 At the karate tournament last week, I saw a man with one leg compete. He stood on the side of the mats, with crutches, and I thought ‘poor guy must have hurt his foot’, as I couldn’t see him fully. Then he hopped, literally on one leg, along the rim of the mats, to the… Read More +
L E T T E R – Fear and Freedom August 13, 2018August 10, 2018 This is a little game I play with myself, ‘what’s my greatest fear in this’. I’ve found in every situation there is some niggling fear or something more claustrophobic and suffocating, inhibiting my ability to present. So I play the game. I start identifying my fear, and then asking, ‘is this true?’. It’s insanity what… Read More +
L E T T E R – Gratitude August 9, 2018July 26, 2018 I was ordering my coffee the other day, and our lovely friend who makes coffee Andre asked how I was going. I was in a particularly chipper mood and said ‘fantastic, honestly what could I possibly complain about!” And he said ‘oh people will find anything’. He explained just earlier he had an exasperating customer… Read More +
L E T T E R – There Is A Big Difference August 8, 2018August 7, 2018 There is a big difference between being productive and getting lots done, and simply overworking. There is being social, and there is filling loneliness with people. There’s enjoying the inspiration of social media, and the storytelling and creativity, and then there is being addicted to connection, being seen and heard. There is being in a… Read More +
L E T T E R – What The Heck Is The Lesson In That?? August 7, 2018August 3, 2018 Have you ever had an experience where you just cannot fathom in the moment what the lesson is? Or why it’s happening? That’s been me this trip. Last week I travelled to Okinawa with some friends from our dojo, and our Sensei to compete in a global karate tournament. This experience has been on my… Read More +
L E T T E R – Tips For Fitting In Your Daily Meditation Practice August 6, 2018August 3, 2018 There is no cookie cutter approach for your Vedic Meditation practice. A twice-daily practice is ideal, and there are some days it’s simply not feasible to get in that second one. I remember a teacher once telling me they couldn’t believe I couldn’t fit it in and it was just a matter of priorities. Which… Read More +
L E T T E R – Judgement August 2, 2018July 26, 2018 When we are building something, a business, a relationship, our spiritual development, our education, our parenting, it’s so easy to stay locked in the mind. Trapped in the intellect. And with this comes old conditioning, all the judgement comes up, all the comparison. If you want to meet a really mean bunch of people, go… Read More +
L E T T E R – Peacefulness August 1, 2018July 26, 2018 As someone that used to work in advertising, marketing and PR, our whole purpose was to make people believe that they needed things outside of themselves to be happy. And Arran and I bought into it too. Fancy cars, beautiful furniture, expensive things to show off. The irony is now I teach people to understand… Read More +
L E T T E R – Every Small Act July 31, 2018July 26, 2018 I’m heading this morning from Sydney to a karate tournament in Okinawa. It has been a dream of mine since I started studying Shorin-ryu karate with my Sensei to travel with him to Okinawa and I added it late last year, to the things I wanted to bring into my life for this year. And… Read More +
L E T T E R – Progressive Change July 30, 2018July 24, 2018 We have wired into our brains and bodies most of our reactions, thoughts, prejudices, and biases. We did so a long time ago, and we simply install them deeper with continuing to engage with that which is outdated. It’s not a conscious action, it’s just how we are in the world without attention and practices… Read More +
L E T T E R – An Abundance July 26, 2018July 24, 2018 This stands true not just for creativity, but for love, gratitude, compassion, kindness. Additionally for anger, resentment, shame, guilt. So the more we use, the more we have. Best make clear decisions on these choices. Sent with love, Jac x
L E T T E R – For The Pros July 25, 2018July 24, 2018 Inspiration comes to us through a channel of creativity. It’s not out there ‘waiting for us’ it’s flowing from within us. We then recognise that creativity, inspiration (and love and compassion, gratitude etc) all come from within us, then we can stop hanging about waiting for ‘it to strike’. For those of us that already… Read More +
L E T T E R – Collaborate For Clarity July 24, 2018July 23, 2018 Sometimes one of the challenges of being self-employed is that you are always working to a degree. Even if you’re ‘off’ for a little while, that still involves checking emails and monitoring staff and dealing with emergencies that might come up. I’m always fascinated when people get to take 4 weeks off work, no emails,… Read More +
L E T T E R – Where is That Somewhere? July 23, 2018July 20, 2018 ‘Something, somewhere incredible is waiting to be known’; where is that somewhere? Inside of you. Every external experience we define as ‘true’ is a trigger of that truth within us, it’s that which we already know. It’s not ‘new’ information. I’ve had a few recent conversations this past week, with people who have gotten themselves… Read More +
L E T T E R – The Crazy Ones July 19, 2018July 18, 2018 I’ve done some seriously crazy things and some seriously dumb things in my time. I created a huge design and art exhibition without any prior experience just a lot of enthusiasm, and set it up like a house, in an actual house when I was 24. It went gangbusters, a little too much so especially on… Read More +
