I recently took the Refuge Vow. Whilst I have long considered myself a Buddhist (I have been meditating for some 6 years now), the taking of theRefuge Vow marks the formal step: a publicly witnessed commitment towards 3 aspects of the path that offer shelter from the vulnerability of being human: the Buddha, the Dharma, …
I was fortunate to have spent last week working at the Mother and Baby Unit at Bethlem Royal Hospital. The hospital, founded in 1247, is the oldest institution for the care and treatment of mental illness. It’s nickname “bedlam” is often used to describe ‘uproar and confusion’ – but I can assure you its 270 …
A friend of mine posted an article on Facebook recently and it motivated me to break my blogging silence. I am rather ashamed I have not written since January, but if any topic was to get me back in to blogging gear, it would be one that talks about mindfulness and therapy. The article appeared …
In my last blogpost, I spoke about how often we find ourselves torn between opposing positions. In the course of a day, how many times do you experience “a part of me wants to do x, yet at the same time another part of me wants to do y”? It may be that one voice …
Read more “A war within? How giving voice is the only way to peace”
In many (if not the majority) of counselling cases I work with, the client’s issue relates to some kind of confusing message – on one hand they want change, on the other they want familiarity; part of them wants to stay in the relationship, another part knows it is best to leave. Even outside of …
Apparent contradictions can hold such wisdom. “Less is more” was popularised and advocated by the minimalist designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Fellow architect Frank Lloyd Wright retorted “…only when more is too much.” Both these two ideas have validity in building our lives. For many, this is the season for starting afresh: New Year …
Read more “Minimise to maximise: cutting through speed and busyness”
The month of January is named after the ancient Roman god of Janus. Usually depicted as having two faces, looking to the future and to the past, he represents gateways, passages and endings. However, given the festive season isn’t always a time of good will, for some his mythical role as presiding over the beginning …
Read more “Under a blue sky: dealing with the after effects of Christmas”
I’m looking forward to the festive season this year. It holds an opportunity: a time to get together with friends, family and generally unplug from an ordinarily busy life. However, I haven’t always felt this positive anticipation about the winter break, so I can understand the statistics that uncover another somewhat ‘darker’ side to December …
I enjoy taking models from Eastern and Western ways of viewing the world, comparing them, contrasting them and working out how they can be integrated. I’ve long been a seeker, and I relish the challenge: looking at two supposedly distinct systems and seeing how they provide a combined (superior?) wisdom. Certainly as I deepen my …
Over the summer months, while I was catching up on the latest in the cycling world, I came across this quote from Lance Armstrong “My therapy is riding my bike, playing golf and having a beer”. Armstrong finds himself involved in a legal battle since he admitted a history of doping that carried him to …