The Reward is the Journey

There is so much that is so wrong about chemo on so many levels. This dawned on me as I sat opposite my best friend, already far more comfortable and better prepared for what was about to happen than I could even pretend to be. I didn't need to:  I was there, but I was nothing more than a welcome addition rather than anything essential to this morning's proceedings... We arrived on time. We were not the first, and the nurse's instructions (not to mention the 'q word', as it was, at that point, fairly quiet) were not without good reason:  in the three and a half hours we spent on the day unit, it progressively filled up. Soon there was not an empty chair in the house, and this was, it was very clear, just a normal day for all concerned.  There is something about this end of medicine that is (from where I was sitting, as undiagnosed but not, I would say, unaffected, observer) strangely comforting. Or at least resilience promoting. Everyone is getting...

I meant it when I said that it was a privilege to be there last night.  It is always a privilege to have an opportunity to share about something that has, for me, not simply been life changing.  I hold mindfulness responsible for saving my life.  On more than one occasion. Cate, the Founder of PUSH, and I had our first conversation about the role of mindfulness at a bootcamp some time back in 2013.  PUSH was not yet conceived of, but several seeds were sown.  The fruits of which are now being devoured by the first participants taking part in the UK's first ever re-bootcamp! Mindfulness has come to feature so prominently in my life:  personally, and professionally.  Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of the importance of my practice, and if life gets in the way of my practice, no matter how briefly, I know I'm in trouble.    There are no dramas or crises of the magnitude that once used to be a regular feature of my s...

We've launched!  It's jolly exciting and the result of no end of hard work by the Team headed up by Cate whose brilliant brainchild PUSH Mind and Body is now up and running.   I was greeted this evening by a group of very tired but nonetheless charming clients who are participating in this week's inaugural re-bootcamp.  It is the first of its kind, and we're kinda proud of the truly holistic USP. PUSH is not your average bootcamp.  Far from it.  The difference is in the attention to detail that has been paid to the recipe which makes, we think, for a great formula.  PUSH combines high intensity training with nutrition, coaching and mindfulness. And that's where I come in...  This evening's talk was an opportunity to share a little about the journey I have been on since learning mindfulness, and subsequently training to become a teacher.   It's a great fit:  mindfulness is on offer in this context, as a sealant of everything e...

It was greenish brown and, whilst definitely not sludge, a little thicker than usual.  Usual being for the last three weeks.  I was delighted to be given a juicer for Christmas and the novelty has yet to wear thin.  But this was a slightly more adventurous concoction than I have been dabbling with to date. Apple juice is a fairly regular occurrence in my kitchen at present.  Apples plus...   Tonight's recipe (never to be repeated, not because I wouldn't want to recreate it identically, but simply because it will never happen) included watercress, spinach, cucumber, grapes, lemon and mint. And it was, even if I do say so myself, rather delicious. If life gives you lemons, make some kind of fruity juice. Conan O'Brien Juicing has intrigued me for some time.  I held off and listened intently whilst friends and clients told me of their love affairs with their NutriBullets. I have a crush (no pun intended) on my L'Equip ...

My practice has been both challenging and illuminating of late. It is always a challenge, making a commitment to carve out the time but the old adage still holds weight with me: When you have the time to practice, take five minutes. When you're short of time, take ten! Don't just do something... Sit there. Ho hum. And so, I have been giving more thought for a third and (for now, anyway) final post about goal setting, and how to increase our chances of 'success'... Many of those who approach me to learn mindfulness, come to it having tried a great many other things along the way. Mindfulness has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, especially amongst those of us interested in self, or life, improvement.   My own mindfulness practice has illustrated the paradox:   it's only when we meditate for its own sake, rather than trying to get something from it, that we find the results we're pursuing. Goal setting is something we are en...

In my previous post, I began to think about the process of departing from an intended goal and how we might strengthen resolve to increase our chances of achieving something we set out to (rather than setting ourselves up, yet again).  In this post, I hope to continue to explore similar territory, whilst getting a little more practical...   It seems to me that mindfulness can be very useful, as a tool to enhance and expand our awareness of what it is that is most important to us, which may make achieving our goals easier.   To achieve a goal we need to be very clear about the value that underpins it. Unless we are clear about what it is that is important or meaningful to us, we run the risk of wandering off course, leading to a perpetuation of a vicious cycle (feeling like we've failed, and that we're a failure for having done so, resorting to punishing ourselves for this failure...) Get clear - What is it that you really want? Clarity is essential. K...

I was recently asked to contribute to a piece about New Year's resolutions, and what happens to them. 47% of us make these annual commitments, yet for all our resolve, less than 20% of our plans come to anything.  So, what goes wrong? And, how might mindfulness help? Why do we stray from the goals we set ourselves? We need, I think, to be really clear about the motivations behind the goals we set ourselves in the first place. Why is it that we are deeming something to be important to us? And why now? Unless our motivations are genuine, we are apt to fail before we have begun. Classic examples can be found both within the personal domain (trying to please a partner) or at work (meeting objectives set for us by our boss). In either scenario, unless we are truly interested in the 'goals' we sign ourselves up to, chances are we will not pull them off. Goals themselves can, ironically, set us up for their non-achievement. Expectations might be otherw...

I was reminded, once again, that it is an inside job.  It never ceases to baffle me how quickly I am prone to forget.  I too have shelves full of books that claim to have the answers.  I've tried the fixes they prescribe.  I chase the dream, only to discover, as though for the first time, that are no short cuts.  Whilst we have evolved in so many wonderful ways, we still know very little about the inner workings of the mind.  What we do know is that it takes a long time, and a lot of hard work, to re-wire patterns once they have become hardwired.  As creatures of habit, we like things becoming hardwired:  they enable us to process more, and quicker.  We do not engage with what it is that we are processing, thus freeing us up, to do more.  Efficiency is a priority for the modern brain.  But this comes at a cost.  We lose the ability to discern as effectively.  And so we are running on automatic. Which might serve u...

Every new year brings with it a choice:  the decision as to whether we set out an intention - a resolution.  There are those that are likely familiar to many of us:  to lose weight, to exercise more, to drink more water (and less alcohol)...   In reality, by the end of the first week of the year, many of us will have reneged on our pledges.  No one else may know of our small failure, but this pattern strikes me as hardly the best way to boost self esteem.  The truth is that many of us are our own harshest critics, and the annual new year's resolutions, no matter how well intentioned, can simply become harmful ammo we aim at ourselves.  A better strategy might be to shift our focus towards the obstacles that we are apt to trip over, and get to know these more intimately both enhancing our chances of their successful navigation whilst cultivating a deeper knowledge of ourselves, and of the full meaning of the lives we are so busy living. ...