I have recently been considering the nature of 'Dukkha' or 'suffering' or 'stress' in a Buddhist context, particularly how it plays itself out in my life.One ancient talk goes along the lines... “Now what, friends, is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stressful, illness is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful...” Birth, sickness,...

As soon as we’re born we’re faced with what life throws at us and we develop ways of coping that may or may not be beneficial. We’re also bombarded with messages from family, friends, school and society at large about who we are and what we should or shouldn’t be. These habits and messages become...

Trauma, whether connected to early childhood, an event as an adult or to social oppression, changes our nervous system, our physiological responses to life and impacts our self image, relational capacities, perception and self regulatory abilities. It is, in my view, a core underlying cause for the arising of addiction patterns. Looking through the trauma...

A life free from craving, addictions and compulsions isn’t just about avoiding intoxicants, it invites the opportunity to live a full and authentic life with creativity and joy. This isn’t just a possibility. Research suggests that although people in recovery from substance misuse often suffer more in the first year, in the longer term they...

Joan has had personal experience with alcohol addiction, a fingerbiting compulsion (classified as an impulse-control disorder), compulsive thinking, and depression. She does not believe there is one recovery model that fits everyone, and she encourages people to find what works for them. What she offers is an approach rooted in open awareness – giving nonjudgmental...

There is a correlation between our inner state of being and our outer circumstances. By noticing our inner sensations and thoughts, tracking them to witness their changes, we make the unconscious conscious and can hold the inner and the outer experiences in an attitude of expanded focus. Observing our own continuously evolving experience centers us...

During this talk Martine will look at the habits that bind us and stop our potential for wisdom and compassion manifesting fully. She will explore the meditative tools found in the Vipassana tradition like mindfulness of the breath, sounds and feeling tones to show how we can engage creatively with our habits and transform them...

Top up on tips and coping mechanisms to deal with the holidays.  Do the festive season with a sense of freedom and joy.

As we embark into a new year, we will explore the importance of cultivating generosity (d?na) and gratitude (kataññuta) and turning our intentions toward the interrelationship of the two. The practice of generosity is at the foundation of Buddhist teachings. At its essence, dana is radical because it is the practice of giving freely without...

Sixteen years ago, I sat my first 10-day silent ‘Anapansati’ retreat at Wat Suan Mokkh monastery in southern Thailand.  Wat Suan Mokkh has a separate retreat centre famous for its basic accommodation which includes concrete beds and wooden pillows. There, from a seeming inability to meditate came a small but ultimately profound and eventually life-changing...