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So nice to meet you all. Sending kindness and love to all 🤗☮️

We've started a new cycle of teaching on Thursdays which is focusing on meditation practice - particularly the two flavours of shamata (Tibetan: shi-ne ) and vipashyna (Tib: lhak-tong). This balance of 'calm abiding' and 'special insight' is going to be our subject for the next month or so. Here's a brief explanation of these terms. https://share.descript.com/view/B85QRmiG2yN

Hello lovely meditators, Just to confirm that there will be no live sessions next week - and we'll start afresh on Monday 17th. You can - of course - tuck in to the material in the Mindsprings library and also explore the Mindsprings School with all its many online courses. I'm live in-person in London next weekend (15-16th April) if you are interested in Tapping and Meditation. Please also note that the Thursday sessions are. going to be an hour earlier from next week, so the session on the 20th will be at 7am - and the same throughout the Summer. Have a blessed few days wherever you are in the world - happy Passover and happy Easter. Much love, Alistair

I’m a mother to 1 human and 2 dogs (Bernese Mtn Dog and Labradoodle mix), and I’m a grandma to 2 amazing little humans (3 in May). I’d describe myself as quick-witted, empathetic, caring, impulsive, and analytical. I’m not as artistic as I'd like, except coloring in stress-free drawing books. 😝 I live in Georgia, US, and love traveling (mostly Europe). Have PTSD, GAD, and ADHD (which I'd not choose for myself, but they do make me stronger). After a recent 4-month bout with insomnia, I started putting a new focus on my self-care. I’ve only just started digging into “Mastering the Monsters of Anxiety,” and I’m finding it’s just so perfect for me. I’ve also been enjoying the Dharma Days video. I tried Accupuncture for the first time, and it’s started to help. My accupuncturist recommended I look into Earthing, which I’ve been doing by standing outside barefoot and using earthing mats. I’m sleeping so much better! I’m looking forward to Session 6 where Allistair begins Earthing Breathing, which I’m suspecting is different but works toward same goal of grounding.

Here's a lovely New Years greeting and teaching from my teacher Mingyur Rinpoche! https://youtu.be/pLYHHNr2JnY

This is a the title of an article on The School of Life site. I think the following introduction to this article describes what we were trying to do in this morning’s session: ”Mental well-being is the consequence of what seems like a stupidly simple process but is in fact an enormously and humblingly complicated one. A so-called ‘well-adjusted mind’ is one that can minimise the distance between what feels and what it knows it feels; between emotions that flood it and those that consciousness can register.”

I've recently discovered the poet Mary Oliver. I'm sure many of you are aware of her work (she's not exactly an unknown - won a Pulitzer in 1984!) but I love the themes and the way she relates to the world. The piece below fills my heart. Thought I would share here as it speaks to beingfulness, Buddhism, nature-connection, all that good stuff we talk about 😊 The wonderful phrase "resplendently empty" in particular jumps out to me: Last night in the fields I lay down in the darkness to think about death, but instead I fell asleep, as if in a vast and sloping room filled with those white flowers that open all summer, sticky and untidy, in the warm fields. When I woke the morning light was just slipping in front of the stars, and I was covered with blossoms. I don’t know how it happened— I don’t know if my body went diving down under the sugary vines in some sleep-sharpened affinity with the depths, or whether that green energy rose like a wave and curled over me, claiming me in its husky arms. I pushed them away, but I didn’t rise. Never in my life had I felt so plush, or so slippery, or so resplendently empty. Never in my life had I felt myself so near that porous line where my own body was done with and the roots and the stems and the flowers began.

Just found this posting link . So hi Folks ; some of you are lucky living near ( or even in the same country) as Alastair and Daniel. I’m living in Australia travelling a bit for work as a child Developmental therapist ( just fab , I love it - lots of game playing really ). My first intro into meditation was through a local Quaker group in my teens & then religious retreats then being buddies with canticle hermits. ( wow they are a chatty lot ) A friend wrote ‘The Anchoress’ ( R.Cadwallader)which is an insight into that sort of meditation I’m a fidgeter so need to calm my mind & so happy to have found the gorgeous Alastair, who has a life outside of Escaped . Hope to meet you lot when travelling over sometime xxxx

Inspired by RoseM's delightful knitted lamb, I found this pattern and got crocheting. As all Star Wars fans know, this is the perfect day to post him....... May the fourth be with you !

HI guys, hope you all had a wonderful summer. Just a little video update of what's coming up this Autumn. Link for the Gayles retreat: https://www.mind-springs.org/gayles-sept-2023(https://www.mind-springs.org/gayles-sept-2023) Link for Walk the Chalk: https://walkthechalk.org/(https://walkthechalk.org/) Link for the Holy Island October Retreat: https://www.mind-springs.org/hi-retreats/holy-island-october-2023(https://www.mind-springs.org/hi-retreats/holy-island-october-2023) Link for Liberating the Ego Loop Workshop: https://www.mind-springs.org/online-study-day-s/liberating-the-ego-loop-oct-2023(https://www.mind-springs.org/online-study-day-s/liberating-the-ego-loop-oct-2023)