As I slowly wind down toward a summer break from client work, the past two weekends have been on retreat – not a geographical move, but still a shift into (another) space. Since the pandemic, my teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, has been conducting Vajrayana Buddhist programmes online. Whilst I miss the element of being-with sangha …
I’ve just returned from holiday, more time spent in my beloved Normandy. Having only been there a month ago, it was quite something to witness how quickly the seasons unfold. It evoked David Hockney’s wonderful book “Spring cannot be cancelled”, written about his painting whilst residing in Normandy for the pandemic. Everywhere, apple, pear, cherry …
A few weeks ago I was enjoying a Sunday morning breakfast in bed. Cup of tea in hand, a great book, cat curled up on my lap, and beautiful blue sky that beckoned me for a morning walk with my wife. Idyllic… So, it was puzzling for me to be experiencing an upswell of anxiety; …
When I re-read my last blog post, I actually feel a little naive…given the experience of “stay-treat” and how I have come to view it in my rearview mirror. I’m reading a lot of Jung right now, and his explanations of individuation as alchemy has relevance for me: the intentions with which I entered my …
I sit here in the early phase of bereavement. Just hours ago I found out a friend had died. It isn’t a shock – it’s been on the horizon since his cancer diagnosis nearly three years ago, and its turn toward a terminal condition some two years ago. On one level, I had been preparing. …
On Saturday I was at the University helping behind the scenes as we got our CPD programme at Brighton up and running. Our inaugural event was led by Dr Greg Madison: a Chartered Psychologist and Registered existential Psychotherapist renowned in the UK (and indeed worldwide) for his work with Focusing. I’ve done a fair bit …
This week, University staff across the UK are on strike, their action pointing towards pensions, pay and conditions. Not being a UCU member, I am still at work this week – not a straightforward decision. In fact, in the past 2 weeks I have felt a growing sense of anxiety. A child growing up in …
Returning from retreats are always interesting times; transitions from what was to what is; from the extraordinary to the ordinary. Relief to have made it; sadness to have left; reconnecting with loved ones and the familiar; overwhelm of returning to normality. A few friends have been in touch with me today, my first day back, …
I’ve been back from the US for nearly two weeks now. On one level, I got back in to the normal run of things pretty quickly. I was back teaching 24 hours after landing at Heathrow; the majority of jet lag had faded within 2 days; and my client work resumed in a way that …
“Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place, where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and other mythical creatures and beings live. Although not all people who come to Neverland cease to age, its best known resident famously …