It’s with great sadness that we pass on the news that our Summer retreat on Holy Island is being cancelled because of Covid-19. The Island is shut for the foreseeable future until Rokpa (the trustees) decide what is the best path. It’s a great shame and I will be contacting those who have booked to […]
Sitting With the Body Meditation practice usually conjures up images of people bolt-upright in full-lotus with beatific smiles. For many of us coming to meditation as beginners, it’s cramping legs, sore backs, busy minds, and needles-and-pins. It’s a shame that sitting meditation comes with all these ideas of stillness and perfect poise, because properly inhabited, […]
Alistair is teaching embodied meditation in Stockholm, Sweden. [Swedish text below] For the first time, Alistair Appleton is coming to teach his popular course in embodied meditation in Stockholm, Sweden. Based on his work as psychotherapist and his studies with the American Dharma teacher, Reggie Ray, Alistair is leading a 2-day introduction to the field […]
The wonderful new yoga studio in Newhaven, East Sussex, set up by my husband Daniel is going to host a four week introduction to somatic meditation. Booking here. We will look at four of the core practices of this body-based way of meditating: Polyvagal Tuning – a way to systematically relax unconscious tension in the […]
Alistair is back teaching embodied meditation in Edinburgh. Following two sold-out courses in 2019, Alistair Appleton is back in the Scottish capital running a third course on embodied meditation in Edinburgh. This is a consolidation of some of the work we have looked at in parts one and two. Based on his work as psychotherapist […]
The importance of working with anxiety and panic So many modern people live in an almost constant state of anxiety. We might be conscious of it: in panic attacks, anxious moods, obsessive worry or phobias. Or we might be unconscious of it: compulsive busyness, addictions, self-criticism or grandiosity. Anxiety and the avoidance of anxiety are […]
[Somatic meditation in the Netherlands: Nederlandse versie hieronder] Alistair is teaching somatic meditation in the Netherlands. Alistair Appleton is delighted to be teaching for the first time in Nijmegen this December, running a weekend exploring Somatic Meditation in the Netherlands. Based on his work as psychotherapist and his studies with the American Dharma teacher, Reggie […]
Reducing anxiety with somatic meditation in Brussels. [French text below] Alistair is coming to Brussels to teach his powerful weekend for reducing anxiety using somatic meditation So many modern people live in an almost constant state of anxiety. We might be conscious of it: in panic attacks, anxious moods, obsessive worry or phobias. Or we […]
What is maitri? The Buddhist conception of compassion is profound. On one level there is a strong drive to let go of ‘self’ and put others first. But, before we can truly do that we need profound self-acceptance. Otherwise we might waste our life-energy in self-hatred. Or worse still, our ‘compassion’ will be eaten up […]
Our annual Compassion retreat on Holy Island This autumn’s Mindsprings retreat on Holy Island is again looking at the subject of compassion – focusing particularly on the experience of loving our complete Self. Taught by Alistair Appleton and Kirsty Davidson. This retreat is a more intensive practice opportunity for experienced somatic practitioners. It allows us to go […]
