Last week, the morning I was pressing “send” to launch an email with my final book submission in tow, I paused…I had forgotten something. As I walked back home after a celebratory breakfast I settled in my mind on one last amendment that was needed: to the acknowledgments. Writing the acknowledgements section was one of …
I am landing at my desk after a celebratory bike ride and breakfast at my favourite local cafe: The celebration? The publishers Routledge are offering me a contract for my book: “Weaving the paths of Buddhism and psychotherapy: the practice of human being”. I heard on Wednesday, and since then I have been too busy …
There is one song (outside the back catalogue of Wham!) that comes back to me as an anthem of my childhood in the 1980s – “Words”, by FR David (please only click that link after a deep breath, and forgive the 10 year old me). I found it enchanting, playing it over and over again…something …
Each year, a psychotherapist on the UKCP register needs to submit an account of their training updates and detail the continued professional development activity. Given I am a self-confessed “CPD junkie”, it takes some time to go back over my activity in the past 12 months – the reading, the workshops, the courses, the podcasts, …
Teaching over, marking completed, exam boards seen to…a chance now to reflect on curriculum development. I have been teaching on these courses for six years; and every now and then it is good to return to the curriculum and taught content and update the material to include the latest in theoretical and philosophical thinking. I know …
Imagine nine people standing in a circle, facing inward. In the middle of that circle stands an elephant. If we were to travel around the circle asking each of those nine people about their experience, it wouldn’t be a surprise that each account would differ. The answer given by each of the nine wouldn’t simply …
A few weeks ago I had a powerful experience that left me feeling compelled to engage more actively with a feminist view and life. I was attending an online meeting with someone I had not met before; and while it was an interesting meeting in which the dialogue highlighted similarities and common ground, over time, …
Over the last few weeks, I have been sharing (some) of my (many) musings on mind, consciousness, and being. This theme has been a constant companion during the time I have been writing my book – one that considers an integration of psychotherapy and Buddhism; of Western knowledge and Eastern wisdom. A dance between the …
I’ve just finished a session of meditation practice. Each Friday I meet with my fellow practitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism on Zoom: In the stage of Ngondro I am currently practicing, much of the two hour session is spent in visualisation of a deity – one that is said to reflect the true nature of mind. …
I have a lifetime love of science. As a child I would spend hours outside on cold winter nights, my telescope pointed to the moon or Orion’s belt. An archetypal ‘little professor’! This love affair continued through my first career, but I underwent some kind of rebellion. As my career shifted and I explored other …