Hall of Mindfulness

04/11/2025

This post is as relevant for International Stress Awareness Week as it was when I posted it back in May for Mental Health Awareness Week. It isn't selfish to take of yourself, it is imperative .... there is a reason you are asked, in a case of emergency to put your oxygen mask on before all else!

Mental Health Awareness Week - Saturday. One of the first things we learn through mindfulness and meditation is how a thought is just a thought - it's not fact and certainly not who we are. The thoughts aren't even ours - if they were we wouldn't have the majority of them, would we?
Thoughts are mental events: they are like seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, feeling/touching - always active, but we don't need to lose ourselves in them - simply notice, acknowledge and be the knowing of the thinking, the sensing.
Worry is thinking about something over and over with the addition of 'what if', 'should' and 'could': some of the most futile words in our vocabulary and ones that can stir many sensations causing stress and suffering.
We also often wear worry like a badge, with pride - seeing it as an expression of how much we care about someone or something. Or see it as a natural response to dealing with situations. But are either of these things really true? Sitting with questions like these in meditation is a great place to start.
Worries are borne of fear. The fear of losing: face, money, love. The fear of life not being the way we want it to be, for us and/or our loved ones. I'm not talking about the wonderful creative, productive type of thinking here but the regurgitating, incessant chatter. Worry is misplaced imagination running riot. ​Constantly focusing our attention on what was, or what might be, is diluting our direct mind-body experience, distracting us from now, from our true nature. We should allow each person/situation to be what they are - not always pleasant or what we would choose, but just as they are - warts and all!
Emotions such as anger can stir us to take action, to move against injustice but worry merely keeps us in a state of negative bias and distanced from the reality of now.
Things will be what they will be, it's awareness that determines what we see.
We can go through life second-guessing and letting our imaginations run riot on all the things that might or might not happen, or we can live now - aware of the body breathing, the senses alive and alert ready to receive when the conditions are right, allowing experiencing to take place.
I recently read a quote which inspired the poem below: "Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace"

03/11/2025

Today starts International Stress Awareness Week 2025. Stress is seen as a normal part of life, and as it builds up, it can wear us down — mentally, physically, and emotionally. The first step toward seeing it for what it truly is, is simply noticing it. When you can recognise how stress shows up for you — maybe as a tight chest, a racing mind, or that constant feeling of exhaustion — you start to create space to respond with more care and compassion.

Finding balance doesn’t mean getting rid of all stress; it means learning to move through it with a little more calm and clarity. Helping you to respond rather than react from old patterns.

Start with small moments that help you reset. Take a short break, step outside for some fresh air, pause for a few slow, steady breaths. These gentle pauses can soothe the nervous system and remind you that a sense of peace is always close by, even on your busiest days.

Remember, your well-being is more important than everything you are working toward, despite what the chattering mind with its 'shoulds' and 'coulds' may say about this!

29/10/2025

✨ Reiki Energy Healing ✨
Release. Rebalance. Renew.

As the clocks turn back and the days grow shorter, nature reminds us to slow down and let go.
Just as the trees release their leaves, we too can shed what we no longer need — the stress, the tension, the heaviness.

Through the gentle flow of Reiki energy, you can:
🌿 Release old emotions and stagnant energy
🌗 Rebalance mind, body, and spirit
🌸 Renew your light from within

Let this season be your invitation to rest, realign, and rediscover calm amid the darker nights.
Step into the stillness feeling grounded, peaceful, and ready to begin anew.

29/10/2025

The power of art! I recently had a Reiki client fall in love with one of my oil paintings and so I accepted a commission to create this beauty. The photo doesn’t quite capture its radiant energy but you get the gist. The original painting is called Breathe in the Light and I can’t remember whether this poem inspired the painting or vice versa but here it is:

Breathe In the Light

Breathe in the light
The loving light of who we are
Breathe out and release
Sharing our light afar

When we notice we are no longer present
Lost in thought, imagination, dreams
Look for the light, it is always here
So much closer than it sometimes seems

Yes, it is always here, within us
Hidden by the distractions, the wants and the noise
Waiting with its gift - the present
Ready to envelop us in its untold joys

Offering all that our senses can deliver
Anchoring us, with their attributes, to now
No thinking required in their presence
Experiencing is all we need to allow

Breathe in the light
The loving light of who we are
Breathe out and release
Sharing our light afar

10/10/2025

I shared this poem at our Morning Meditation Group on Thursday and thought it fitting to share again today to mark World Mental Health Day 2025.
Surrender is often seen as a negative thing - giving in; being the suppressor to the oppressor but in fact it is liberating.
Surrender up the idea of being something less, of not being enough, of being alone and ….
Surrender to the stillness and silence we find at the end of each in breath and at the end of each out breath. That we find between each sound, each sensation. Relax here, beyond the contraction …..

As someone who suffered from clinical depression for many years, I can relate to the horror and desperation brought on by this condition. But since practicing Mindfulness & Meditation, I have learned techniques and gained tools to recognise triggers resulting in over 10 years of freedom from slipping into the darkness.
If you are interested in learning more about the Morning Meditation Group, and/or Mindfulness sessions in groups or 1:1s don’t hesitate to get in touch.

06/10/2025

Lovely walk round Ryton Pools Country Park today. Super way to start a week of 1:1 mindfulness sessions, Reiki and finishing a commissioned oil painting 🎨 Living the dream 😁

23/09/2025

Reiki Appointments today due to cancellation. Choose from a Tier 1, full one hour session at £45 or the Tier II one hour session plus take-away tailored information and personalised meditation for £60.
Discounts available for block-booking 3 sessions - learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AczaPGxgT/
Appointments also available throughout coming months. Message me with any questions or to book your appointment - day and evening slots available

10/09/2025

Come join us for this Spring Retreat in rural Leicestershire. From 2.30pm on Tuesday, 7 April to 2.30pm on Thursday, 9 April 2026. Let us lead you into stillness through Yin Yoga (Kailash Mistry), Meditation (Sam Hall), Delicious nourishing food (dietary requirements catered for) (Else-Marie Siebrits Lenton), Inner Discovery Workshop (Sam & Kailash) and more. Surrounded by ancient woodland, the grounds are home to fell ponies, pigs and chickens - all entertaining in their own way and all worthy meditation partners! Follow the links in the Booking Form for full details, pricing and sample menu. Any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me or Kailash Mistry (details below) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScS_a_q_-T06cNGoSBgWPoD4t5iSQd5QG6ihW0gp66oiRpCzA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=112800962404520797663

14/08/2025

This post is as true today as it was 5 years ago when I first wrote it. Join me at Percival Guildhouse this September where I will hold two separate classes - Mindful Mondays and Mindful Thursdays from Monday, 8 and Thursday 11 September 2025 at 10.00-11.30am. So whether you are new to Mindfulness and Meditation or a seasoned practitioner, come along and join a group of like-minded people to become familiar with, and rest in, the peace and wonder of who we truly area - beyond thought’s distraction.
Check out the brochure and booking details here - https://percival-guildhouse.co.uk/.../PGH-Autumn-2025-web...

Pauses are important in life but something we tend to ignore as we race through our busy days from one task to the next filling our lives, keeping busy, anything but BE with ourselves. Mindfulness reconnects us to the pauses, the stillness and the silence. That's where the real work is done. The senses are more than their obvious attributes they are the connection to the here and now, bringing us back over and over again from our distractions to be in life's gift - the present. Contact me now for a free on-line Introduction to Mindfulness session to include a meditation and details of the 1:1 8 week course and how it can help you.