I have just finished reading The Briefcase by Hiromi Kawakami. A simple love story that I enjoyed. 📚
2020
May Meditation Nudges - Final Week
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the forth week. Posts from the first week can be found here, the second week here, the third week here, and the forth week here.
May Meditation Nudge 31
Monday, June 1, 2020
Boundaries This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I want to finish up the May Meditation Nudges with a short reflection on what external support we can offer our meditation practice. By that I mean, what we can do away from our formal meditation practice, out in our daily life, to aid our meditation practice.
I wondered if anyone here uses Calibre, the ebook organizer software? If so, how or what do you use it for? I am looking at it as a tool to take books off my Kindle, and then have the choice to read them elsewhere should I choose to. Is that feasible?
May Meditation Nudge 30
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Keeping it light This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I have spoken during these May Meditation Nudges of the importance of just showing up, of sitting with our emotions regardless of what arises and the need for vulnerability. This might appear on the face of it as though meditation is rather an ordeal, especially when I speak about meditation being a marathon and not a sprint.
May Meditation Nudges - Forth Week
Saturday, May 30, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the forth week. Posts from the first week can be found here, the second week here, and the third week here. Day 22 Emotions Day 23 Fine tuning the focus Day 24 Loving kindness Day 25 Does this ring true for you?
May Meditation Nudge 29
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Hear, reflect, meditate This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Within the tradition that I was taught meditation, three steps were explained leading up to engaging in a meditation practice. Hear or read the teaching/explanation. Reflect on what you have heard or read.
May Meditation Nudge 28
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Vulnerability & meditation This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I believe that meditation requires a degree of vulnerability. I will call it here, self-vulnerability. Another word might be honesty? Unless one has a meditation teacher or meditation cohort with whom you can confide your experiences, meditation is a solitary practice.
I’m very happy to see the Studio Ghibli movies on HBO’s new HBO Max.
May Meditation Nudge 27
Thursday, May 28, 2020
You are not alone This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Meditation is an ancient tradition. Depending on one’s reading of history, the practice of meditation might go back as far as the 20th century BCE. Within the tradition that I was taught meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhism first arrived in Tibet in the 6th century.
Big sky.
May Meditation Nudge 26
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Breaking my own suggestions This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I titled one of the earlier articles in this Nudge series, “Beware of waiting for silence before you meditate.” While I believe that the advice that I offer in that piece is important, I am now going to apparently contradict myself!
Sunset yesterday evening at Turtle Bay.
May Meditation Nudge 25
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Does this ring true for you? This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Can you identify with this description? Some days, perhaps for reasons that you cannot really put your finger on, you can’t really find your bearings. You feel as though you are trudging through treacle, not getting anywhere and not really sure where you are headed anyway.
I think that my consumption of tea has increased since the arrival of Hobnobs in my mailbox. They are simply a wonderful accompaniment to tea, in this Englishman’s humble opinion.
May Meditation Nudge 24
Monday, May 25, 2020
Loving kindness This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Loving kindness, that acceptance of yourself just as you are. That is something that I don’t always find very easy. I catch myself doing something, reacting to someone, speaking to someone, thinking something that I really wish that I didn’t do, say or think.
Leaves grow big in these parts.
May Meditation Nudges - Third Week
Sunday, May 24, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the second week. Posts from the first week can be found here, and the second week here. Day 15 Community Day 16 No judgement Day 17 Awareness and Mindfulness Day 18 Self-Confidence Day 19 Faith Day 20 Meditate from where you are Day 21 Missing your regular meditation I hope that you can join me for the remaining two May meditations this coming Monday 25th and Thursday 28th.
May Meditation Nudge 23
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Fine tuning the focus This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. As your practice of watching the breath develops, you can start to use some subtleties to fine tune your focus. Become aware of the temperature of the breath as it enters the nose and when it leaves the nose.
I’ve been seeing a number of posts on micro.blog of people sharing their bread making adventures, and thought that this article in the Guardian might be of interest to the micro.blog bakers.
The science of making sourdough bread.
May Meditation Nudge 22
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Emotions This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Regardless what we are meditating on, sometimes a strong emotion will arise. The practice of just noting the emotion and returning to the object of meditation, for example the breath, can feel like a tug of war between your attempt to meditate and the emotion’s pull for your attention.
May Meditation Nudge 21
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Missing your regular meditation This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I suggested a couple of weeks ago to look for opportunities in your daily life to meditate. Don’t just limit yourself to your regular session. Build the momentum, build on your practice, look for those opportunities.
Morning time is definitely my most productive time. With a good start I can keep going through the day. If I loose the morning, the rest of the day is at best a struggle. Into the night can be good if I am can get a good evening start and am uninterrupted.
Oh, the joy of writing.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
I sometimes start writing with one intention in mind of where I want to go and before I know it, something else is developing. For all of that I still have to remind myself of this when I feel stuck in my writing. I have to remind myself to just start writing, just let the words come forth, and don’t worry too much about the results. This can be a push sometimes, but if I can push through that block, more often than not the words will come of their own volition.
May Meditation Nudge 20
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Meditate from where you are This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Maybe you have set up a routine for your practice? It might be daily, every other day, maybe twice a day. The schedule will vary for different people and that is fine.
It’s raining right now. The forecast is for overcast weather through the day, and the likelihood of more rain. For the most part I will be by myself today. Overcast, rain and by myself feel like ideal working conditions for me.
May Meditation Nudge 19
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Faith This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. At first glance this might appear as an odd subject to bring into the world of meditation. What my intention is, is to offer you another tool to support you in your practice.
May Meditation Nudge 18
Monday, May 18, 2020
Self-Confidence This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. My teacher use to say of meditation practice that it was like tasting good food. Once you have tasted good food, you want to go back for more. Similarly with meditation, once you start to taste or experience the fruits of practice, you will find yourself wanting to stay with the practice, to experience more and dive deeper.
May Meditation Nudge 17
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Awareness and Mindfulness This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Awareness and mindfulness live side by side when we are meditating. We hear more about mindfulness these days. Mindfulness is constantly, or as constantly as I can muster, checking that my mind has not wandered off from the object of meditation.
A short piece beautifully describing the Welsh hills, which I do not know well enough, but dearly miss.