The Happy Starfish

  You’re never too old to dream a new dream.   Ever since I can remember I’ve always been utterly gripped by stories. Reading, writing, or listening to them. To absorb myself in another world has always felt like such a treat. I’ve been a contributor to many magazines and websites over the past few years sharing my story, offering my tips on coping with chronic pain, depression and anxiety with…

‘The only thing we can rely on in life is change.’ I like to think I’m spontaneous, open to new experiences, adventures, but at the same time, I like my routine. Structure. My little bit of normality. My life has altered enormously over the past few years and more change is steamrollering towards me. My best friend is moving to Wales on Monday, my son leaving home, exciting things happening…

There’s nothing quite like the first hot day of the year. There’s something about the sun beating down that makes strangers smile and nod as they pass, as though part of some great conspiracy, as they scurry to the park to eat their sandwiches. Sleeves rolled up, ties loosened, tights removed. Despite the icy weather, it was the same atmosphere this weekend at the UK’s first pop-up Museum of…

Recipe – Vegan one-pot vegetables

  My lunch was far tastier than it looked and really warmed me up on this chilly day. I heated some coconut oil in a pan and fried a diced onion and carrot cubes for a few minutes, before adding shredded cabbage and potato cubes. I stirred in one teaspoon of turmeric and one of cumin (I was cooking a batch for four people), crumbled a vegan stock cube over the top and added a splash of water. The…

Ditch the New Year pressure

  We’re only a few days into January and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked what my New Year’s Resolutions are. The cashier at the supermarket this morning looked baffled when I said I don’t have any. ‘I’ve put on weight over Christmas,’ she blurted out, ‘And I’m going to join a gym.’ Why do we do it? Heap unnecessary pressure on top of our often frantic lives, only to face…

50 Happy Things for 2015: Bloggers Unite in Flood of Gratitude

When Dawn Landau invited me to take part in a gratitude blog party I didn’t need any encouragement to say yes. I’ve kept a gratitude journal for years now and it really has transformed the way I think. It can be hard some days of course to find something to be grateful for – life has a habit of knocking us down – but once we start feeling grateful, it’s like rolling a giant snowball. That warm…

Morris the Mindful Monkey

  Mindfulness is more than sitting in formal meditation, it’s being fully absorbed in the task in hand, not engaging with distracting thoughts. Yesterday I didn’t want to do a long meditation, I wanted to spend some quality time with my son so I got my creative on and we transformed a pair of his socks into Morris the Mindful Monkey. It’s hard not to be present when doing something expressive. In…

Mindfulness – Responding not reacting

  It’s been a strange few weeks for me. I’ve been betrayed by someone I once considered a friend which has cost me both financially and personally. I’ve been left feeling hurt and bewildered, unable to quite understand what has happened or why. Pre-Mindfulness I would have reacted to this situation instantaneously, from the heart, without taking time or space to consider my options. As it is, I…

Zen tale – The Scorpion

  The Scorpion (author unknown) A zen master was bathing in the river when he noticed a scorpion almost drowning. He lifted out the scorpion and placed it on a nearby rock to dry. Just was he was withdrawing his hand the scorpion bit him. The people sitting by the river observed this and they said to him ‘What have you achieved? You have saved him, only to get yourself bitten.’ The zen master…

  I’m was salivating cooking dinner last night. This vegetable chilli is so yummy my family ask me to make it all the time. I can’t take credit for the recipe, it’s from the fabulous The Endless Meal but it’s so good I had to share. Ingredients 2 of the large 28oz cans of whole tomatoes and their juice (use your hands to roughly crush the tomatoes) 2 can of beans, drained and rinsed (I used…

  I made this for dinner last night and it was so yummy I had to share. I cubed half a butternut squash and two sweet potatoes. Drizzled with oil, sprinkled with herbs and roast in the oven for twenty minutes until they were soft. I then blitzed them in a food processor with a can of coconut milk and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. I heated the sauce, adding vegetable stock until it reached…

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Course

  8 week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy programme, based on the original programme devised by Jon Kabat-Zinn. MBCT combines traditional cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness and meditation. MBCT enables the participant to recognise and step out of automatic cognitive processes that can trigger stress, anxiety and depression. Participants recognise that certain thoughts and feelings…

Zen tale – The businessman and the fisherman

  The businessman and the fisherman

A few years ago, a very rich businessman decides to take a vacation to a small tropical island in the South Pacific. He has worked hard all his life and has decided that now is the time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He is excited about visiting the island because he’s heard that there is incredible fishing there. He loved fishing as a young boy, but hasn’t…

Mental Health Awareness Week

  Count your blessings

Count? My mind is hazy. I cannot concentrate on the simplest of tasks.

Snap out of it

Snap? I have slept for twelve hours but still don’t have the energy to move.

A good meal will cheer you up

I told you I cannot eat. My throat is constricted, my stomach a mass of swirling emotions.

Turn that frown upside down 

I try. I really do, but my face feels like a grotesque mask.

I…

The simple life is the best. To live an uncomplicated, stress free life is something people often talk about, but if the simple life really is the best why aren’t we living it?

Realistically, there are not many of us who could go and live up a mountain, or deep within nature. We have friends, family, people we care about. We have careers that are necessary to pay for the homes we live in. We…

  I have had a quiet few months. A bereavement before Christmas left me reeling, numb to life and questioning everything. I took a step back, I stopped teaching classes and blogging.

Loss is something we all experience within our lifetime, it is impossible to live, to love, without it; but I have found grief to be oddly isolating. There are no two people who experience grief in the same way and…

  “There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness”. Dalai Lama

You can’t have failed to notice it’s Valentines this week. The shops are full of heart shaped chocolate boxes, novelty gifts and overpriced roses.

Valentine’s can be fun for couples who communicate their needs and don’t expect their partner to mind…