I was very grateful to have received this via email today:

I just want to thank you for the wonderful work you are doing to spread the Light! I downloaded your free Yoga Nidra meditation about a little over a month ago and enjoyed it so much that I shared it at the dream recall and interpretation meeting of our consciousness group. They loved it, too !

Today, when I received your newest offer of the Yoga Nidra II download, I immediately spread the word by posting the information on our group's message board (you might want to check out our group...although you are in the UK and we are in the US, the energy is all the same, yes?) (our group's site is: http://consciousness.meetup.com/59/ ... we are a MeetUp group, which I have seen also exist in the UK ) I also posted your letter on my myspace blog and sent out a bulletin. You are serving humanity in such a lovely and loving way....you deserve the "marketing!"

Again, Thank you, Thank you, Thank You !!

Namaste,

Joy Ayscue

I was clearing out a cupboard today which was mainly full of junk - apart from a few books.

I happened upon an old journal I kept briefly for a couple of periods during my life.

I looked at one of the entries dated some time in 1997.

I have recently re-read one of the books I mention in the journal entry and now, I can view its contents in a totally different light.

I looked at some of the other entries around that time. So many of them were about "how I was doing" and whether I was "getting anywhere".

I facilitated a meditation workshop at the Kentwood Centre in Beckenham / Penge yesterday.

I know that I get as much out of these workshops as the participants seem too!

What I found interesting is that when I introduced the self-inquiry style question "From where does this thought arise?" as one of the exercises, amazingly, most people "got it".

This is an exercise that I would normally save for my (forthcoming) "Beyond Meditation" classes.

Maybe more people than I'd imagined are "ripe" for this type of thing.

This week I presided at a Health Awareness day at the Civic Centre in Bromley.

It was a privilege to chat to the staff about what caused them stress.

Apart from very specific situations, the general consensus seemed to be that most people felt rushed or overwhelmed by the amount of things they had to do. (Both in the workplace and outside.)

Fortunately, I was able to offer suggestions and techniques to help them cope.

What we didn't have time to get around to though was to do a little self-inquiry on the statement "My life is too busy." - or some similar belief.

Stress is caused by our believing our negative thoughts. Inquiry helps us to gain a much broader perspective and exposes the fact that we often lie to ourselves - albeit unconsciously just because whatever we are complaining about "sounds right". We like to convince ourselves that what we are experiencing must be so.

This seems to be to do with the nature of mind. It works on the basis of tension ("I'm stressed.") and release or resolution ("That must be because I'm overworked".).

Sounds plausible doesn't it? But until we do a little "inner detective work" and inquire as to that belief's validity we'll never know whether we are lying to ourselves or not.

I've noticed lately, that I am becoming much more able to 'just do it', as the saying goes, rather than thinking about doing things.

Why should this be? Well, the answer's in the above paragraph. I find myself not thinking of excuses. But it's more than that, I realised. I don't any longer let myself feel pressured into doing things. I don't feel I must achieve something. It doesn't mean anything whether I do or I don't.

Living in this stress-free mental environment, it is much easier to flow from one event to the next without thinking about it.

Oh, and if any thoughts arise (which of course, they do) I just 'love them'.

Now I know that might sound a bit 'New Agey' but it actually works!

And what works for me might not work for you - you may want to send light to your thoughts or something similar.

In fact, if you employ any

I've noticed lately, that I am becoming much more able to 'just do it', as the saying goes, rather than thinking about doing things.

Why should this be? Well, the answer's in the above paragraph. I find myself not thinking of excuses. But it's more than that, I realised. I don't any longer let myself feel pressured into doing things. I don't feel I must achieve something. It doesn't mean anything whether I do or I don't.

Living in this stress-free mental environment, it is much easier to flow from one event to the next without thinking about it.

Oh, and if any thoughts arise (which of course, they do) I just 'love them'. Now I know that might sound a bit 'New Agey' but it actually works!

And what works for me might not work for you - you may want to send light to your thoughts or something similar.

In fact, if you employ any method of accepting your thinking just the way it is, it will work.

Try it, and let me know how you get on using the comment form below.

This morning I received a parcel I'd been waiting for.

My first thought on looking at it was "Mmm, this doesn't t look like it's been very well wrapped!"

I opened it and what I thought were small pieces of coloured wrapping paper started to spill out

"Oh no, it's broken!", I thought.

But when I opened the packet up, a beautiful smell wafted out and I was instantly transported to sensory heaven!

I had ordered a clay resin burning pot, and the company who provided it had actually wrapped it beautifully. Not only that, they had included a free sample of natural soap with a hand-written Enjoy!' label on it.

What had happened? I'd made a snap judgment, based on the past (aren't they all).

Once I'd made that first judgment, I contracted, felt angry and vaguely like I might have been ripped off.

But within seconds my anger had turned to delight based on a few new pieces of 'good' evidence (the nice smell, the fact that the parcel had so clearly been lovingly wrapped).

I felt humbled and immediately forgave myself - thus eliminating guilt.

The moral of the story?

I don't know if there's a moral as such - just another lesson that I almost always see through the eyes of past experience and 'copy and paste' it over the present!

We visited our friends in North London the other day. A barbecue was in progress, being tended by the 'dad' who is a Tai-Chi master. I looked over and saw that he was smiling a lot. I guessed he was communing' with the barbecue (if that makes sense).

A couple of seconds after I thought that, he said "You know, a barbecue is a great way to bring you into the 'now'."

In other words, all his attention was focused on what he was doing
in the moment - and nothing else. He was using his current activity to allow him to 'be here now'

In fact, we can do this with anything - it's just that it's easier to do with some activities than others.

Fancy trying it at the dentist some time? :)

I've been reading Carol Skolnick's blog a lot recently - especially since participating in an excellent teleconference she recently facilitated.

The latest entry invites readers to list 5 examples of where they are successful in their lives.

The whole topic of 'success' has, for me, been quite a hot potato (or 'button' if you prefer).

I would say that all of my peers are, in a worldly sense financially more successful than I am. But since my whole view of the dichotomy of 'success and failure' is changing so rapidly, I can barely know what successful even means any more!

OK, here goes:

• I'm a successful father.
• I'm a successful facilitator of The Work
• I'm a successful Meditation Teacher
• I'm a successful narrator
• I'm a successful friend and confidante to at least one other person :)

Well, as the saying goes, it's a beginning.

I used to be very involved in music - mainly as a songwriter but also, to a lesser degree, as a performer.

I used to', but I don't think you ever really lose the connection you have to something like that.

I was thinking today about how, unconsciously at least, I found this involvement a fantastic way of reducing stress in my life.

I used to be very involved in music - mainly as a songwriter but also, to a lesser degree, as a performer.

I say 'used to', but I don't think you ever really lose the connection you have to something like that.

I remember seeing an episode of The Twilight Zone some years ago which had a profound affect on me.

As I recall, one of the scenes (in glorious monochrome, of course) featured a street vendor selling matches. A customer approached him and the vendor said mysteriously, "I have what you need, not what you want."

I've found over the years that I have not know what I needed. I've often thought that what I wanted was what I needed, but I can see now, with the benefit of hindsight, that this was almost never the case.