When you let go of fear, fear lets go of you. How do you do it? By deciding to. — Neal Donald Walsch Fear and anxiety are running high in these uncertain times we live in.  Fear of war, inflation, runaway climate change, and plain fear of the unknown—fear for fear’s sake. But here’s the thing with fear. It is rarely, if ever, based on what is happening in the moment. How often is there an actual tiger chasing you round the room?  More often, fear is created by a mental...

“Negative emotions are like unwelcome guests. Just because they show up on your doorstep doesn’t mean they have a right to stay.”—Deepak Chopra In this article, I want to share with you a powerful mindfulness technique I use to help people deal with negative emotions. It is a 4-step process called the RAIN practice. RAIN is an acronym for: Recognise Allow Intimate Attention Non-Attachment Emotional highs and lows are an unavoidable part of the human...

Protect your inner peace. Without it, all the riches in the world lose their value. The modern world is an all-out assault on our senses, and our inner peace—the constant noise, stimulation and distraction as well as the relentless pressure to do more, be more and achieve more. Like an overworked employee, the overstimulated modern brain never gets a break. And as a result, stress and anxiety levels have gone through the roof— and inner peace out the window. Many...

“To know yourself as the being behind the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.” — Eckhart Tolle In my work as a meditation teacher and spiritual coach, I often talk to people seeking relief from painful patterns such as compulsive thinking, anxiety, fear or self-criticism. And there’s one thing that pretty much everyone who comes to me for help has in common. They’ve been...

“Peace is not the highest goal in life. It’s the most fundamental requirement.” —Sadhguru There’s a quote I like from Robert Holden, director of the Happiness Project, which I often share with clients who are struggling with troublesome thoughts or emotions. One day, when someone asked him “how are you?”, he answered:  “My thoughts are pretty neurotic, but I’m well.” What a powerful statement. The mind is troubled but I’m not. Imagine if your sense of...

“Although hundreds or thousands of explanations are given, there is only one thing to be understood. Know the one thing that liberates everything.  Awareness itself is your true nature.”― Dudjom Rinpoche When I offer free meditation taster sessions to the public, it never ceases to amaze me how people who have never meditated before often experience profound peace the first time they try it. Even deeply unhappy people are able to experience peace and inner...

You don’t suffer because your mind is restless,  You suffer because you believe it shouldn’t be. Everybody has a restless mind. Everyone, without exception. It couldn’t be any other way.  The Indian spiritual teacher, Nisargadatta, sums up the nature of the mind in the following statement:  “There is no such thing as peace of mind. Mind means disturbance; restlessness itself is mind.”  The mind IS restlessness. The two are synonymous. Not...

“I should be happy.” Such a seemingly innocent thought. And one that  most of us wouldn’t even think to question. But according to the Indian spiritual teacher J. Krishnamurti, this single belief is the very root of our unhappiness. “I should be happy; the source of your unhappiness.”  What does he mean by this? The moment we believe we should be happy –  that happiness is a requirement for us to feel good about ourselves, a sign that our lives...

What happens to your problems when you’re fully present in the moment? Life is full of problems. Or so it would appear. Bills to pay, mouths to feed, politics in the office, family feuds, health issues, the sorry state of the world… an endless sorrow-go-round of issues to contend with. No sooner have you overcome one hurdle when life slaps you with the next one. Problems appear to be an inescapable part of life. But, perhaps there’s more to the story? Here’s a...

Resistance creates suffering. The antidote is accepting what is.  Unpleasant events are an inevitable and unavoidable part of life, whether it be the sudden downpour that wipes out the picnic, the flat tyre at the end of an exhausting day at work, the noisy neighbour playing Metallica at 3 in the morning, or the intrusive thoughts and feelings that appear uninvited in our heads and make life so difficult at times.  And while it’s perfectly natural to...