Most people are more compassionate toward others than themselves when things go wrong. However, burgeoning research shows that self-compassion is good for everybody.
Fortunately, it can be learned.
How can we seamlessly bring self-compassion into meditation practice and daily life?
What are two secrets about self-compassion practice that make all the difference?
This week’s theme is: Equally Close to All Things: Explorations in Equanimity.
Life includes both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, ups and down, joys and sorrows. Equanimity invites us to meet all of these with tenderness and poise and to nurture the capacity to be equally close to all things. Can we cultivate more spaciousness, intimacy and calm in the midst of life? This week we will explore finding a deeper, more stable wellbeing, a wellbeing that is not dependant on the external circumstances of our lives.
This week’s topic is “The Dharma and the Drama: Illuminating Heart and World”. Each day this week, Martin will offer some brief reflections as an introduction to meditating together, with the dual focus of supporting a deepening meditation practice, and integrating its themes into your daily life and activities.
This week’s theme is “Embodied Meditation Practise & the Transformative Power of the 5 Precepts”.
Many people find themselves from time to time in a spiritual vacuum, trying to fill this emptiness with indulgence through eating, drinking, surfing the internet, shopping, pornography, doing drugs, etc.
This week we will look into the 5 precepts, which the Buddha recommended for anyone who wishes to live a peaceful life. The precepts can act as a training guideline, and can support us to stop, pause and look deeply into ourselves to understand, “What is really going on here?” as a fundamental part on our way to universal love, compassion and liberation.
This week’s topic is “Mindfulness of the nervous system: transforming fear, struggle and separation into love and connection”. We humans are social animals and need each other to feel safe and secure, to grow and to nourish ourselves. How can we live with a sense of connection, loving-kindness, and inner family? Our meditation practice allows us to take a break between stimulus and response. When we come into contact with our loved ones, we all too easily lose the inner freedom we think we have achieved and avoid our difficulties, also called spiritual bypassing. This week we explore what supports us to react flexibly to the internal and external world, to relax and to allow closeness and real intimacy. We will look into the first foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of the body, including harmonizing the body formations and nervous system to meet our difficulties with gentleness.
We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK this week. To find out more about Martin, and view his other recordings on the platform, click here.
Recorded :
The 5 precepts often given to lay practitioners are (with positive instructions in parenthesis): I vow not to kill (Love and support all beings)I vow not to steal (generosity)I vow not to misuse sexuality (contentment)I vow not to lie (compassionate truthfulness)I vow not to intoxicate self or other (staying mindful) We can think of precepts…
Recorded :
“Enter into the stillness inside your busy life. Become familiar with her ways. Grow to love her, feel [her] with all your heart and you will come to hear her silent music and become one with Love’s silent song.” ~Noel Davis You can tap into inner stillness and tranquility regularly during your days, even during…
We’re fortunate that Martin Aylward has generously offered to lead our daily meditation sessions for Europe and the UK this week. To find out more about Martin, and view his other recordings on the platform, click here.
Discussion