Somatic Compassion is effortless Many of us, especially Buddhist practitioners, feel that we need to work at being compassionate. Subtly or not a sense of effort and tension creeps into our loving. Shoulds and shouldn’t start popping up. Exploring the Buddhist path of compassion or ‘awakening heart’, Alistair Appleton reconnected to the effortless quality of […]
Our annual Summer retreat on Holy Island for beginners Mindsprings summer meditation retreat on Holy Island is aimed at anyone who is looking to explore practice in a more body-based way. Taught by Alistair Appleton and Kirsty Davidson. Suitable for practiced meditators and complete beginners alike, the 7 -retreat is a chance to visit meditation afresh in […]
Why tapping and meditation? One of the revolutionary facets of modern psychotherapy is the advent of “tapping” or – more formally – energy psychology (EP). Energy psychology is the name given to therapeutic tapping techniques like EFT, AIT and EMDR. For example, EMDR is a NICE approved treatment for trauma. Alistair Appleton has found that combining […]
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 […]
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 […]
