More than just mindfulness

After our meditation and nature connection retreat at the weekend, I thought it was a good idea to run a class on the meditations that we did in nature. Connection in nature is all about allowing natural environment into an our experience. All the sensations and smells and sounds become part of the totality of the experience of the present moment, which is what mindfulness is. To experience this, we need to learn to open our awareness to our environment. In this class, I teach a process of incrementally opening our awareness. Although this is I'm an important part of nature connection, it's an important part of experience in life rather than existing in a sensory bubble on autopilot which is what our culture teaches us to do. To join our four live group-guided online meditation classes each week, click here: https://meditationcourse.live To attend our retreat, click here: https://bromleymindfulness.org.uk/day-retreat

Hi everyone, Today's meditation class explored the link between our natural connection to other people and to nature that works so well for our ancestors, but breaks down in modern societies with millions of people. Unfortunately, I know the audio quality was poor and so I have cleaned it up and made it available as a podcast and on the meditation course website which is at https://meditationcourse.live

In this week's class on my online meditation course, we explored observation meditations. We explored how our perceptions, influenced by our cultural backgrounds and culture, add layers to our experiences, much like augmented reality. The class explained how we can be aware of our cultural filter while practicing meditation and experiencing mindfulness. Through examples like walking meditation and the metaphor of augmented reality, we learned to distinguish between observation of our reality and observation influenced by personal and cultural filters. This insightful session is part of my continuous effort to offer practical and imclusive and accessible practical guided meditation, helping you integrate mindfulness into everyday life. My Online Meditation Course is here: The Meditation Course Introduction to Observation Meditations: Today, we'll focus on observation meditations. This means we'll pay attention to our current experience, whether that's the present moment or thoughts about the past. The Fundamental Act of Observation: Today, we're focusing on meditations that involve observing, especially our current experiences. Observation is key. For example, when counting breaths, we're both observing the breaths and we can also be aware that we're observing them. Seeing is Not Just Seeing: It's not just the observing that matters, but also being aware that you're observing. There's a difference between just observing and being aware that we're the observer. Walking Meditation and Mindfulness Practice: For example, during a walking meditation, which I shared on my social media yesterday, I will focus on my breathing while noticing other things around me and bring my focus back whenever my mind wanders. Training Witness Consciousness: Meditation is about training ourselves to realise when we are distracted. This awareness then enables us to choose to focus on the present or on something else which may be a higher priority. Witnessing Reality: When observing, such as observing our breath, we become a silent witness. Looking inwards to try to perceive this witness is part of the practice. This is the heart of self-enquiry. Augmented Reality as a Metaphor: Augmented reality, like seeing a digital dragon in a room through an app, can help explain how we add layers of perception to our experiences. The Dragon isn't real. Our culture has put it there. The value we see in things (such as brands) is no more real than the dragon but we can perceive it. Integrating Reality with Perception: By using augmented reality as an example, we can understand how our perception adds to what we see, like seeing a dragon in a room through a mobile. Cultural Filters in Perception: Our cultural background adds meaning to what we see, similar to how augmented reality adds digital images to our view. Mindfulness and Cultural Filters: Mindfulness involves being aware of our perception without the added layers of our cultural or personal biases but also allows us to see those biases. Sensitivity Through Observation: By observing our experience consciously (mindfulness), we become more sensitive to our emotional and mental responses to different situations. We aren't trying to find silver bullet solutions to these social distortions, but just noticing them happening. This is enough. Meditation and Cultural Perceptions: Meditation doesn't stop us from seeing things through our cultural lens, but it makes us more aware of our emotional responses to these perceptions. Mindfulness and Awareness: Mindfulness is about noticing our present experiences without judgment and understanding the difference between just observing and observing with our personal and cultural biases.

Welcome to The Meditation Course podcast. Today, we return to the essential topic of mindfulness, unravelling its meaning and importance and how to embrace it in our fast-paced world. Mindfulness may defy precise description, yet it's best understood through direct experience. By simply observing time's passage or the sound of a bell, we begin to engage with the mindful state of being. This state, often sought at great expense at retreats or vacations, is a natural human trait that our ancestors and animals still embrace without effort. Mindfulness isn't complicated—it's the undistracted experience of the present moment. However, modern lifestyles filled with economic and social pressures have trained us out of this innate ability. We live caught in a continuum of past, present, and future thoughts, many of which are driven by subconscious impulses that we mistakenly believe we can consciously control. Nevertheless, true mindfulness grants us choice, allowing us to step out of these automated narratives and make informed decisions in the present, where life unfolds. Advertisers and marketers exploit our emotional responses to guide our consumption behaviours. In contrast, mindfulness equips us with the clarity to steer our actions based on self-awareness rather than external influences. As we face rapid social and technological changes, such as those brought by artificial intelligence, the necessity for mindfulness becomes even more pronounced. To adapt and thrive, we must be present, mentally clear, and ready to navigate the paradigm shifts of our lives. By practising mindfulness meditation, we train ourselves to harness our awareness, make better choices, and truly engage with life's vast potential. Meditation has two parts: achieving mindfulness, or presence in the now, then regaining the ability to make better choices with this renewed perspective. It's an invitation to embark on a mindful journey that promises a paradigm shift in our daily existence. For the full podcast notes (transcript) or to learn more visit The Meditation Course website at https://meditationcourse.live

When you're physically stressed, you only have a few options to intervene in your stress. One option is to learn how to relax. Relaxation isn't something you need to go on holiday for; you also don't need a glass of wine, a cigarette, or a magic combination of price-tagged experiences. It's a really simple thing. When we get stressed, our body becomes tense because we're finely tuned for nature, and our body prepares us for action. Relaxation is how we return to our normal calm, relaxed, focused condition. Unfortunately, in our consumer society, advertisers have stolen the concept of relaxation. Like so many other valuable and natural things, we have forgotten what it is. Learning to relax takes time, but you can switch off all this stress and tension in a few seconds and return to a calm and relaxed state of mind. This podcast is a great place to start to learn how to relax. You can learn what relaxation is, how it works, and how to train to gain this essential life skill. Listen in and have a calm, relaxing day. Join my regular online in person, guided meditation, classes at: https://meditationcourse.live/

In this class, I teach about mudras, which are hand gestures used in meditation. Anjali Mudra The Anjali mudra involves pressing your palms together. I teach this because it has a real effect. You can explore it yourself. Specific Mudras in Meditation I focus on the chin mudra, where you lightly touch your thumb and first finger. My methods for Anjali and chin mudra are unique. They're not just gestures; they have a purpose. Some say the chin mudra connects to universal consciousness. If you experience that, let me know. Focus and Awareness And The Importance of A Light Touch I use these mudras to help focus awareness. They're also useful for relaxation and sleep. A lighter touch in these mudras can have a strong impact. Anjali Mudra Explained In India, Anjali mudra is a greeting, often accompanied by the word "Namaste." It's an old practice seen in ancient art. It's a sign of peace, showing you're unarmed. It's a way to show you're safe to talk to. This gesture is powerful when done with a light, springy pressure between the palms. Pressing your palms together like this engages many nerve cells in your body, making it a rich sensory experience. The brain has a part called the somatosensory cortex that processes touch. The single largest part of which is dedicated to interpreting our hand sensations. Our hands are important for sensing our environment and using tools. They're a big part of our sensory experience. Sensory Focus in Meditation Focusing on the sensation of the hands pressed together can be immersive and comfortable. The chin mudra involves a very light touch between the thumb and first finger. You need to maintain this light touch, noticing if the contact changes. Keeping this light touch requires focus but not forced concentration. The aim is to maintain a light focus, which can bring a sense of calm over time. https://meditationcourse.live/the-power-of-mudra

Dive deep into the mechanics of nature meditation in this particular recording from our Sunday guided meditation class held on July 23rd. As part of The Meditation Course, this podcast explores the intricate relationship between the natural environment and the process of meditating, illustrating how the calm and quiet of nature can significantly enhance our emotional processing and healing journey. The complete transcript of this insightful group session is now available on The Meditation Course website here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/understanding-nature-meditation This will allow you to reflect more on each point and perhaps deepen your understanding at your own pace. By subscribing (for free), you gain access to a variety of resources. You will be the first to know about our new podcasts and receive notifications about insightful articles, upcoming online events, and much more. The beauty of the meditative journey is that there's always something new to learn, and our platform aims to make this journey easier for you. Subscribe today and join us on this life-enhancing path. Remember, the subscription is free! Explore, learn, meditate, and grow with The Meditation Course. Learn More: https://www.meditationcourse.live/about-the-meditation-course/

Mood and meditation This is our second instantly recorded live group, guided online meditation podcast episode. Hopefully the audio quality will be better than the last one. A lot of students of meditation, engage in meditation to help and benefit their mood and they're looking for ways to improve their mood. I'm confident there in time pretty much. Everyone can benefit emotionally from Meditation but it's a long process. In this class, I teacher set of practices that you can use when you're in alone mode, and you're feeling demotivated, and you don't feel like meditating . This is a class taught on 2 July 2023 online on The Meditation Course. The Meditation Course is four live guided group meditation classes each week for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte! https://meditationcourse.live

This is a class taught on first of July 2023 in Bromley on the subject of purpose, Resilience and Connection. The Meditation Course is four live guided group meditation classes each week for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte! https://meditationcourse.live

I taught this class today on Saturday, the 29th of April on The Meditation Course at https://meditationcourse.live because I was contacted by yet another person who told me that they can't meditate because they can't stay focused on their breath. It is a common misconception that meditation is an attempt to stay focused on the breath and the successful meditation is one where we remain focused on the breath instead of losing our attention and mind wandering. In this class, I explain the mechanism behind all the benefits of meditation, which is called the *Moment of Recognition*, and is actually what happens when our mind wanders. Blessings

Mindful Awareness is that crystal-clear sensory experience we can feel in a forest. Or when standing on a quiet beach or at the top of a mountain. Mindful Awareness is what we can sense when we connect to nature and what we share with animals. We can culture Mindful Awareness by practising focused attention meditation. Focused attention meditation is often called mindfulness meditation and is an ancient mental exercise that helps you focus on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Focused attention builds attention regulation, which in turn, can enhance many aspects of our lives.

In 2013, I started teaching meditation to a group of friends, who then suggested that I teach it at a local church room. In 2015, I was asked to run some courses by my students who wanted more structured training. I had discovered the high level of stress in the modern world, so I started by including stress management and emotional regulation techniques with the mindfulness and meditation practices. I learned after some research that this combination contributes to resilience. Resilience is the ability to cope with adversity in a way that helps us cope with future adversity. Resilience is a process, not a state. At any given time, our resilience is either growing or diminishing. Since 2013 I've taught around 3,000 sessions, with an average of 10 people per session. I gather feedback at every stage. I continually research to better understand and improve my teaching, drawing from wisdom traditions and scientific studies. Building resilience has been my guide throughout most of this time. The practices of Mindfulness-Based Resilience are aimed at five aspects: focus, calmness, relaxation, mindfulness, and resilience. Focus is Attention Regulation. Attention Regulation comes about through practice. Meditation is that practice. Focus and calmness involve attention regulation, being aware of the mind's direction, and regulating its choices. Mindfulness is the undistracted awareness of the experience of the present moment. Mindfulness is awareness of all the sensory experiences happening right now. Life isn't the past and the future. It is a succession of present moments. Unfortunately, we're trained to live in a world where the past and the future are like a continuum. And we are simply walking along this path from the past to the future. The present moment then becomes something to get out of the way to gain future happiness. Mindfulness brings awareness of the present moment. It doesn't mean that you don't have any memories, or that what has happened in the past doesn't affect you. It isn't that you ignore your future or you stop caring about it. What does happen is that fear of the future and regret or resentment of the past no longer rules your present moment. Because life is a succession of present moments. Mindfulness is the foundation of all the Mindfulness-Based Resilience techniques. For example, if you learn a stress management technique, you have to be aware that your stress is growing to know when to use it. To relax, we might have a glass of wine and watch TV. That is not relaxation. Relaxation is releasing the musculoskeletal tension that builds up in our bodies due to stress. I teach relaxation practices that are also great stress management tools. Calmness is becoming comfortable with the mind, thoughts, and emotions. Training the subconscious to become sensitive to changes in state enables awareness and intervention using various tools, like extending the breath. Mindfulness-based resilience includes stress management, emotional regulation, and meditation practices to process emotions and improve focus, relaxation, and calmness. It's about integrating these skills and not relying on external factors. I teach Mindfulness-Based Resilience in 6-week online and in-person courses. Learn more here: https://bromleymindfulness.org.uk/mindfulness-courses

Each Sunday Evening from Sun 26 March 2023 on The Meditation Course for the next few weeks, I shall run a Yoga Nidra meditation. Yoga Nidra is a type of meditation that can help us access the hypnagogic state. This state is the transitional phase between wakefulness and sleep. Practicing Yoga Nidra can make it easier to move into this state and therefore help us achieve rest. To practice Yoga Nidra, find a comfortable and relaxed seated position with your back free and your head balanced. The goal is to enter and stay in the hypnagogic state while maintaining awareness of the warm, comfortable feeling that comes with it. If you wake up from this state and you don't feel sufficiently rested, use the feeling to guide you back into it. Use the feeling of the hypnagogic state to get back into it. So, get comfortable, and let's start practicing. You can also find various other Yoga Nidra meditations on my podcast. This podcast episode is a recording of a class from The Meditation Course, an online program that offers live guided meditations throughout the year, with up to four classes per week! You can join us on The Meditation Course by clicking on this link here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/about-the-meditation-course/ If you can't join us for whatever reason but you enjoyed this meditation, I encourage you to become a podcast supporter. By joining us, you'll receive two newsletters and a host of other benefits that will take your meditation practice even further. All for the price of a monthly Starbucks extra shot, caramel latte! Become a Podcast Supporter here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/podcast-supporters-membership/ And if you're feeling generous and you would like to support my work with a single one-off donation, you can buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robertmitchell

Yoga Nidra is a type of meditation that can help us access the hypnagogic state. This state is the transitional phase between wakefulness and sleep. Practicing Yoga Nidra can make it easier to move into this state and therefore help us achieve rest. To practice Yoga Nidra, find a comfortable and relaxed seated position with your back free and your head balanced. The goal is to enter and stay in the hypnagogic state while maintaining awareness of the warm, comfortable feeling that comes with it. If you wake up from this state and you don't feel sufficiently rested, use the feeling to guide yourself back into it. Use the feeling of the hypnagogic state to get back into it. So, get comfortable, and let's start practicing. You can also find various other Yoga Nidra meditations on my podcast. This podcast episode is a recording of a class from The Meditation Course, an online program that offers live guided meditations throughout the year, with up to four classes per week! And get this: the price of this program is actually less than what you might spend on a weekly Starbucks latte. Enjoy the countless benefits of regular live guided meditation classes while saving some serious cash. You can join us on The Meditation Course by clicking on this link here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/about-the-meditation-course/ If you can't join us for whatever reason but you enjoyed this meditation, I encourage you to become a podcast supporter. By joining us, you'll receive two newsletters and a host of other benefits that will take your meditation practice even further. All for the price of a monthly Starbucks extra shot, caramel latte! Become a Podcast Supporter here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/podcast-supporters-membership/ And if you're feeling generous and you would like to support my work with a single one-off donation, you can buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robertmitchell

Mindfulness is the undistracted awareness of the experience of the present moment. Mindfulness meditation is a set of ancient practices now supported by a mountain of scientific study that we use to gain that experience of mindfulness. There are many barriers, distractions and dead ends that can divert us from our path of acceptance and connection to all of the experiences of the present moment, internal and external. By connecting to the entire body, we are able to minimise physical and emotional pain enough to learn to become comfortable with it. This is a key step in the process of learning to accept and release our suffering. In the period leading up to the next nature connection day retreat, I will be teaching practices specifically to support this process of acceptance and connection. In this class, taught on Thursday 9 March on The Meditation Course, I teach a set of practices designed to connect to the present moment and to our bodies. This podcast episode is a recording of a class from The Meditation Course, an online program that offers live guided meditations throughout the year, with up to four classes per week! And get this: the price of this program is actually less than what you might spend on a weekly Starbucks latte. Enjoy the countless benefits of regular live guided meditation classes while saving some serious cash. You can join us on The Meditation Course by clicking on this link here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/about-the-meditation-course/ If you can't join us for whatever reason but you enjoyed this meditation, I encourage you to become a podcast supporter. By joining us, you'll receive two newsletters and a host of other benefits that will take your meditation practice even further. All for the price of a monthly Starbucks extra shot, caramel latte! Become a Podcast Supporter here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/podcast-supporters-membership/ And if you're feeling generous and you would like to support my work with a single one-off donation, you can buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robertmitchell

The body and mind are deeply connected. The ancients had a concept of the body-mind which is the combination of thoughts, emotions and drives that influence our choices and actions. This leaves us with a psychophysiological state that can be unhelpful and is sometimes difficult to shift. We can find ourselves 'in a mood' and subject to a combination of autopilot behaviours and mind loops. We all need to build a toolkit of practices we can use to intervene in these processes. To coin a phrase, we need learn how to take back control. In this class we explore the ancient third eye meditation which was first taught in the Bhagavad Gita. We then go on to practice a deep relaxation technique that focuses on the key areas of stress in the body which are: the eyes, the jaw, the shoulders and the hands. This is followed by what I call The Relaxation Response which is a practice that, in time, you can learn to use to totally change your state with a single breath. This podcast episode is a recording of a class from The Meditation Course, an online program that offers live guided meditations throughout the year, with up to four classes per week! And get this: the price of this program is actually less than what you might spend on a weekly Starbucks latte. Enjoy the countless benefits of regular live guided meditation classes while saving some serious cash. You can join us on The Meditation Course by clicking on this link here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/about-the-meditation-course/ If you can't join us for whatever reason but you enjoyed this meditation, I encourage you to become a podcast supporter. By joining us, you'll receive two newsletters and a host of other benefits that will take your meditation practice even further. All for the price of a monthly Starbucks extra shot, caramel latte! Become a Podcast Supporter here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/podcast-supporters-membership/ And if you're feeling generous and you would like to support my work with a single one-off donation, you can buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robertmitchell

This article and podcast are from a class taught as part of The Meditation Course - Four live online classes each week for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte. We all have a voice in our heads, and that voice tells a story. I call this voice the Inner Narrative. Our Inner Narrative can become unhelpful, destructive or self-destructive. It can weaken us instead of strengthen us. Thought has what I call momentum. Over time, our Inner Narratives can become more intense. It can fixate on one or a few subjects and become really unhelpful. This self-destructive process is intensified by consuming the fear-based narrative of the media. To counteract all of this, we need a powerful set of tools that have stood the test of time and are backed by a growing mountain of scientific research. We need to get our focus back from the voice in our heads that is being continuously enhanced by a stream of continuous messaging from the media to us, and to our peers. This is the place where the focused-based meditations I've been teaching meets our Inner Narrative. https://meditationcourse.live/meditations-to-calm-the-inner-narrative/

This Meditation is taken from the Deepening Course which is a course for committed meditators. See the end of this description for the link. There are a five different main areas of focus for our awareness. There is mind wandering and awareness of the body. These are what are called Inner Phenomena. With mind wandering, our single awareness has been captured by an inner narrative. There is autopilot and external awareness. These are external phenomena. In autopilot, we are generally repeating activities we have learned unconsciously, such as driving or navigating on a regular journey. Then there is balanced focus where we can maintain our awareness and yet be sensitive to both inner and outer phenomena. In this class, we explored these both with meditation and by going through the experiences that we have that enable us to become aware of these different states of focus. From a class in The Deepening Course. https://www.meditationcourse.live/about-the-deepening-course/

Dear friends, I hope that you are in high spirits and good health. Thanks for your wonderful response to my message about supporting my podcast. I shall be making some changes to the format of the podcast so that I can deliver more meditations. Starting from this week, I will only put the meditations themselves online. To listen to the talks, please subscribe to the meditation course at https://meditationcourse.live. This will enable me to publish a podcast with the absolute minimum of audio editing. You will then have multiple meditation only episodes each week. This will begin as series 11 of the podcast which starts this week. Thank you again for your support. Please do contact me with any questions. Blessings to you all. Robert.

A three-minute message from Robert about the future of the podcast and how you can help me continue to deliver high-quality content.

An episode where I teach a set of practices to enable frictionless connection to our physiology in the present moment.

In this class, taught in February 2023 and part of a series on the inner narrative, I explain the process that we apply to calm the inner narrative and I explain how it is not a process of distraction.

An explanation of the nature of narrative, how it is so deeply embedded in all human culture, and the first insight into how the cultural narrative finds its way into our minds.

Learn the mindfulness practices you can integrate into your daily life and discover the power of group meditation.

A recording of a class on body-focused meditations creating a foundation to process uncomfortable emotions. In this class, we continue learning the practices we need to process difficult emotions.

In this class, I teach how to be present and find fulfilment right here and right now by reconnecting to the present moment and to nature.

Mindfulness is the undistracted awareness of the experience of the present moment. To experience mindfulness, therefore, we need to experience the present moment free of the endless distractions of the modern world. The present moment isn't a fuzzy new-age spiritual concept that requires a particular mindset or beliefs to experience. We also don't need to be nonjudgemental (whatever that is). The present moment is a very real part of our experience as human beings. It is part of our genetic heritage. The big problem is that we are taught to spend our lives in our minds. For most of us, this means a life of autopilot and mind loops where we can spend entire days and even longer in a wandering mind. In this class, I explain the mechanism of the experience of the present moment based on the commonly accepted science of perception. I then teach the vanishing point meditation, a practice that enables us to find our way into the present moment. You can join our four live online meditation classes for the price of a weekly Starbucks latte. Click here to subscribe: https://meditationcourse.live  

This audio was recorded from a 90-minute workshop I ran on Thursday, 22 December 2022, for members of The Meditation Course. The workshop is an introduction to my popular one-day dealing with difficult people training class I have been teaching since 2016. In this intensive 22-minute class, I focus purely on a small set of practices that you can use to regulate your stress and your emotions. These are all tried and tested practices with the most significant effects that can be learned quickly. You only need a few short training sessions to make some of these practices your own. And then you're in a position to integrate them into your life to transform how you deal with uncomfortable situations and difficult people. Practices: Breathing for difficult emotions and difficult interactions - 03:22 Returning to the breath - 05:58 Ujjayi Breath - 08:21 Pranayama - 09:30 Character counting - 12:42 Counting the breaths. Focusing on the extended out-breath - 15:22 Butterfly hug - 17:30 If you find this sort of training useful, join us on the meditation course at: https://meditationcourse.live

A recording of a class I taught on Tuesday, 13 December. Equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind. The virtue and value of equanimity is extolled and advocated by a number of major religions and ancient philosophies. - Wikipedia When one meditates with experience, it is usually possible to find a space that does not have the emotional content of emotion-provoking thoughts in a situation that would previously have triggered an emotional response. As well as experiencing the present moment, a new perspective arises where we see our reality as the present moment, and our thoughts and expectations of the past and future gain perspective. Meditations at 07:17 Releasing resistance to meditation Noting and releasing resistance to meditation Using a compassion mantra as releasing... Click the link below to join us on The Meditation Course for four regular live online guided meditation classes each week for the price of a weekly Starbucks latte.  https://www.meditationcourse.live/equanimity/

From a Sunday evening meditation class taught on 11 December 2022. In this class, I explain my experience with meditation students: the beginners, those returning to Meditation and the committed students who have found a set of practices they can maintain. I describe my insights into the motivations of these groups based on what they tell me and what I've learned. Meditations begin at 09:53. Meditations: Just Sitting Noting the Breath Tonglen Noting thoughts on the out-breath Visit us to listen to this class at:  https://www.meditationcourse.live/the-frictionless-way/ Or sign up to Join us for four live weekly guided meditation classes for the same price as a weekly Starbucks Latte.

Meditation begins at 4:49. A recording from the live guided meditation class run on Tuesday, 6 December 2022. Mindful Communication stems from mindful listening. Mindful listening is opening our awareness to all sounds, language or otherwise. During this class, there was considerable background noise from our urban location. I used this constant backdrop of sound to teach meditations that can help us learn how to accept the intrusions of the modern world and release the resistance that results from this perspective. A recording of one of my live classes. You can join us or listen to the recordings on The Meditation Course website. Visit us to listen to this class at:  https://www.meditationcourse.live/mindful-communication/ Four live weekly guided meditation classes for the same price as a weekly Starbucks Latte.  

Learn what burnout is, how it comes about, and what we can do to avoid or recover from it. This ten-minute talk and 30 minutes of meditation is the first full class of the Avoiding Burnout series I'm currently teaching in my in-person Meditation classes. A recording of one of my live classes. You can join us or listen to the recordings on The Meditation Course website. Visit us to listen to this class at https://www.meditationcourse.live/deconstructing-burnout/ Four live weekly guided meditation classes (with recorded backups) for the same price as a weekly Starbucks Latte.  

You may have heard about meditating on emptiness. Or you may have experienced it. Meditating on emptiness is a key part of Buddhist practice and is something every meditator experiences at some point on their meditative journey. In this class, I explain and guide the practices that I use and which help me experience emptiness. I also explain the benefits and potential pitfalls of meditating on emptiness. Meditations Meditating on the space in a container Meditating on the space in the room Meditating on the space outside of the building Moving our awareness back into the body and meditating on the space in the inner body Moving our awareness into the body Most of these podcast episodes are live classes I teach in person and online. I run these live guided meditation classes four times each week throughout most of the year for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte.  Visit https://meditationcourse.live to join us.

Today is an experiment. I am publishing this episode within 30 minutes of teaching it online. I realise that it won't be as polished as normal, but it means that it gets done and that those who listen to the classes live can go back and listen again to a class on the podcast if they wish. In this class, I outline a strategy for those of you struggling to find the time, energy and focus for a regular sitting meditation practice. Most of these podcast episodes are live classes I teach in person and online. I run these live guided meditation classes four times each week throughout most of the year for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte.  Visit https://meditationcourse.live to join us.  

Yoga Nidra is the ancient Yogic practice of exploring meditation and sleep. Yoga Nidra is often taught as a body scan that helps you drift off. More appropriately, Yoga Nidra is an exploration of sleep states.  Some practices bring awareness into that sleepy place between waking and sleeping that is so comfortable for most of us (the hypnagogic state). This is one of two podcast episodes I have published from a recording of the meditation course on Saturday, 19 November class. This recording is the sleep mediation, which adds time to meditate at the end and misses out the summary, so you can use this to help you sleep or rest. I've taken the transcription of the talk and added it to The Meditation Course website as podcast notes. If you want to read about Yoga Nidra, click the link below. Also, subscribe to be updated with new podcasts and get a free weekly insight newsletter. www.meditationcourse.live/yoga-nidra/

Yoga Nidra is the ancient Yogic practice of exploring meditation and sleep. Yoga Nidra is often taught as a body scan that helps you drift off. More appropriately, Yoga Nidra is an exploration of sleep states.  This episode includes practices that bring awareness into that sleepy place between waking and sleeping that is so comfortable for most of us (the hypnagogic state). This is one of two podcast episodes I have published from a recording of the Saturday, 19 November class on the meditation course. This recording is the full meditation, including the summary, and the other is a meditation you can listen to that may assist you in sleeping or resting. I've taken the transcription of the talk and added it to The Meditation Course website as podcast notes. If you want to learn more about Yoga Nidra, you can read the notes by clicking the link below. Also, subscribe to be updated with new podcasts and get a free weekly insight newsletter. www.meditationcourse.live/yoga-nidra/

In this 40-minute meditation class, I guide meditations that can help us to build and recover our mental energy. In the previous podcast episode, I published a 12 minute talk on the topic. These episodes are recordings from The Meditation Course, which is live, guided meditation classes that I run four times on most weeks throughout the year and that you can subscribe to for the price of a weekly Starbucks latte. Visit https://meditationcourse.live to learn more.

In this talk 12-minute talk, I discuss cognitive or mental energy. In the following podcast episode, I will publish a set of valuable meditations for recovering energy. This talk and podcast are recordings from The Meditation Course, which is live, guided meditation classes run four times on most weeks throughout the year that you can subscribe to for the price of a weekly Starbucks latte. Visit https://meditationcourse.live to learn more.

This recording is from the Saturday online guided meditation class on Nov 5. It was a taster session for the November Sleep, Rest & Energy Online Course. There is plenty of training for managing sleep and insomnia, but none includes techniques and tools to recover our energy and rest during the day. In this class, I explain how our energy can be drained from us and how we need to build boundaries that stop our energy from being depleted. I then teach a variety of energy-renewing meditations. Learn more at https://meditationcourse.live      

There is much evidence that meditation creates happiness. In this class, I explain how this comes about and teach a set of focused mindfulness meditations that help us find calmness and relaxation. From a class taught on Thursday, 13 October 2022, on The Meditation Course. The Meditation Course provides four subscription-only online meditation classes on most weeks throughout the year. Visit https://meditationcourse.live to learn more.

Here is a quote from the talk preceding the guided meditations: "Unfortunately, it is a bit of a binary thing. Either you develop the skills to recover your attention from the largely unwanted and unhelpful, repetitive, persistent thought patterns. Or you become a slave to a narrative that you've adopted in your mind." We train ourselves to break out of this repetitive narrative by learning to return to the breath. Returning to the Breath happens after many years of practising the mindfulness meditation called Following the Breath. When we meditate, we are training our awareness to break into the mind loops and return us to the present moment. This isn't a battle against mind wandering. It is empowerment. With this practice, we get to choose how to focus our minds. We no longer slavishly follow an internal narrative, which is often a reflection of the external cultural narrative. Training ourselves to break into the narrative and return to presence frees our minds.  This podcast is a recording of a live-streamed guided meditation class taught in The Meditation Course - four weekly live guided meditation classes for the price of a weekly Starbucks latte. Join us at: https://meditationcourse.live.  

In this episode (recorded at a guided meditation class on Sunday, 25 September, in The Meditation Course), I explain how to refocus your awareness away from a repetitive and unhelpful narrative.   The 15-minute talk explains One of my personal practices that I use to exit from unhelpful mind loops. Where thoughts actually originate. The origin of our inner narrative and how it has become unhelpful How the common fallacy that worry and stress are useful is not true. The meditation teaches How to use the Breath to intervene in the persistent, repetitive and unhelpful mind loops. To learn more practices like this, join us up to four times each week live for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte. https://meditationcourse.live  

This is a recording of the second class I taught in September on imposter syndrome - September 22, 2022. Imposter Syndrome is not feeling good enough for something you are qualified for through experience or knowledge. Imposter syndrome is almost universal. In this class, I explain what Imposter Syndrome is, how it comes about, and I teach the practices we can use to neutralise it.

"Acceptance is allowing yourself to feel however you feel in the present moment." - Eckhart Tolle. The neutral spot meditation is an ancient practice designed to help meditators to sit with uncomfortable emotions and, over time, become comfortable with them. As I explain in the podcast, you mustn't use this as a way of sitting with emotional overwhelm. If you're feeling overwhelmed, choose another time to practice this or try another practice. This practice isn't about "facing your fears" Tony Robbins style; it is best used when you have low-level background anxiety. I have had positive feedback on the practice from students with chronic pain. There are no guarantees, but the overall response is that it reduces the experience of the pain by about 2 out of 10. There is little doubt that meditation is a form of habituation for uncomfortable emotions, and this practice encapsulates that. (Habituation is getting used to something.) Essentially, we are becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. All meditation practices that work with emotions must be treated with care. Your expectation should be that you feel better or more neutral at the end of the meditation than when you began. If you are getting no benefit, then don't do it. Check out the Four Rules of Meditation for guidance here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/the-four-rules-of-meditation-2/ If you find these podcasts useful and you would like to join us for up to four online in-person guided meditations each week, subscribe to The Meditation Course for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte: https://www.meditationcourse.live/#/portal/signup  

This is an introduction to Stress Management, Resilience and Mindfulness. I explain what Resilience and Stress are. I demonstrate Mindfulness experientially. I explain the strategy you can apply to use the skills I teach, and I guide some introductory practices in all three of these areas.   You can join our regular live Guided Meditation Classes (usually four classes each week) by subscribing to The Meditation Course here: https://meditationcourse.live  Or if you want to learn hire to build your Resilience and manage your stress Join my Stress Management And Resilience Training classes here: https://bromleymindfulness.org.uk/smart-day-workshops

Connection has my meanings for meditators. there is connection to  to the Present Moment, the body, the Mind, thoughts, emotions, others and many different sorts of focus, awareness and an awareness of our location in space-time.  In this class we explore the fundamentals of connection with questions and practices designed to answer them  pleased  to be back on Spotify. I was dropped due to my fully formats not being what they wanted.  Many more classes to come for you guys!  If you'd like to listen in subscribe at https://meditationcourse.live  Froma Class taught in Bromley on Thursday 11 August, 2022.

No skill is of any value if you don't have the Presence of Mind to use it. Our minds, the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we are told Our modern minds are filled with an interplay of narratives. The inner narrative (the story of our lives) combines with the stories of others, the contrived theatre of the news cycle, and the melodramas of celebrities. To escape, we don't need another foreign holiday; we need to learn to train our minds. Our culture is in denial of the existence of the mind The idea of training the mind is taboo. When did your teachers speak to you about training your mind? It's not on the curriculum. The mind is only part of the cultural narrative as something that becomes broken and needs to be fixed by experts with drugs! Resilience is how we cope with adversity. At the heart of resilience is mental focus. If our attention is constantly drawn to a disempowering narrative, we lose hope and optimism, and we compromise our natural inbuilt inner strength. I teach practices that will help you let go of disempowering and unhelpful narratives and return to Presence. What is Presence? Presence (sometimes called mindful awareness) is a natural state of mind. It is driven out of our experience in the modern world. Presence is the legacy of our ancestors' connection to nature and each other. An invasive media cycle plants new wants and needs in our distracted minds through viral newsfeeds, advertising, PR, product placement and influencers. This cycle of "news, information, and entertainment" distracts us from the present moment with empty promises of security, pleasure, comfort and happiness. "Being associated with happiness helps build stronger emotional connections between consumers' memory structures and the brand," - Steve Hastings, a marketing expert on Marketing Week Feb 2014. This is how they manipulate our minds. It's wrong because happiness is how we experience, not what we experience. Happiness is experiences we need less of over time to feel good. Consumer Culture sells us experiences we need more of over time to feel good. https://www.meditationcourse.live/presence-mindfulness-and-resilience/

In this class, taught in person in Bromley on Tuesday, the 5th of July 2020, I explained how using the foundational meditation technique of focusing on the breath works to build our resilience. We then practice following the breath and we also do two noting practices that are essential mental training to build resilience. I explain how the Following The Breath practice works to calm the mind. Meditations: Following The Breath Noting Thoughts Noting The Quality Of Thought Learn more by joining our mindfulness and Resilience training here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/tag/unit-g5-resilience/

The class on Saturday morning of 2 July was on Mindfulness, Interoception and Resilience. Interoception is the sense of the internal state of the body. Interoception is the process that helps us recognise physical sensations and emotional feelings. To learn more, search for interoception on Wikipedia for a clear and well-researched article. Mindfulness meditation slowly introduces us to this interoceptive sense of the internal state of the body and over time, our interoception grows. There is plenty of evidence that interoception is associated with high resilience and better mental and physical health outcomes. This particular mechanism to resilience from mindfulness, therefore, becomes easy to identify. In this podcast, I explain this and I teach the two main interoceptive techniques, following the breath and a body scan. In the talk: - An explanation of interoception. - How interoception is a way to be aware of and interpret our emotions. - How our culture interferes with our awareness of our internal state. - How mindfulness meditation reconnects us to our internal state. - The benefits of connecting to our internal state. Meditations are: 1. Mindfulness meditation increases interoception. 2. Increased interoception builds our resilience.  

Another class from the #Resilience series taught in Saturdays 25 June 2022. Whatever we believe, humans are not designed to live in an ever-changing world. Great changes bring great adversity which then becomes a test of our resilience. Predicting that there will be change is much easier than predicting what those changes will be, and which effects they will have. Rather than trying to guess what to prepare for, now is an opportunity to build universal skills to help us to cope with whatever arises. For the meditations in this class we go on a journey of opening our awareness and noticing the flow of Time and life that is always with us and which we have learned to ignore.  

Now is the time to learn resilience. "Don't wait until you are about to jump out of the plane to weave your parachute!"  - Jon Kabat-Zinn.