How can we bring the benefits of meditation to the rest of our life? That’s what I’m setting out to explore - and maybe help you, on your journey, too.

Ever felt your mood rise and fall with a number? For me, today, as a chess enthusiast, that number is my chess rating, a seemingly arbitrary figure based on a game, but which can still dictate the highs and lows of my day. Sound familiar? This post explores the madness of this obsession and offers a powerful reminder: you are so much more than these numbers.

Is a quick five-minute meditation enough, or do you need a longer, deeper dive? Explore the distinct benefits of both short and long meditation sessions. Discover how brief meditations can provide instant stress relief and sharpen focus, while extended practices cultivate profound relaxation and mental clarity. Learn how to balance both approaches to create a sustainable and effective meditation routine tailored to your lifestyle. Gain insights from successful individuals like Oprah Winfrey and Ray Dalio, who prioritize consistent meditation for enhanced well-being and performance. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned practitioner, find out how to maximize the power of meditation and achieve your personal goals.

Sometimes when we meditate, we find our minds are filled with thoughts. What can we do when this happens?

We try and use sitting meditation to calm the our rushing thoughts, but getting up and moving can be surprisingly effective, as Tai Chi shows us

Meditation is about mindfulness, and you don’t need to be sat on a cushion to do it: you can be mindfully walking in nature, or just mindfully stood in the queue to post a parcel!

Indigenous Australians do it with dancing and dreams, the Japanese do it with tea, and at Christmas we might put out a mince pie for Santa, and a carrot for his reindeer. All of these are examples of rituals. As human beings, we seem just to gravitate towards performing sets of actions like this: this desire to perform things ritualistically is deeply ingrained in us as humans. We see them in every human society, across every time period - references to rituals exist in ancient Egyptian hierogliphs from five thousand years ago, and we constantly create new ones today.

Non duality is about recognising what’s really going on, second by second, and being ok with that

Your friend - your best friend in all the world - sometimes feels all alone in the world. So do you. Fixing this is impossible; trying is what counts.

I’ve been trying out different kinds of non-dual meditation. This is quite different from my experiences with mindfulness-based meditations, but I’ve found it quite delightful!