Meditation

A recent study by the University of Sydney has found that a simple five-miute break from thinking is all you need to get your concentration back. The concept is not exactly new. In the late ’80s university student Francesco Cirillo developed the Pomodoro Technique using a kitchen or tomato timer (hence pomodoro) to break work […]

I have to admit I’m a bit of a of a people watcher – or as I’d rather describe it – a people observer. I love seeing how people interact with each other, or respond to different things, situations, experiences. That look of surprise, pleasure, horror, the gasp of indulgence or instantaneous eruption into laughter.

A couple of Christmases ago a friend gave me a little paperweight with a very simple message on it… “Every small step is progress.” My reaction (in true spirit of the great Australian film The Castle) was: “well that’s going straight to my meditation room.” At the time I was just changing my life around,

The idea of using meditation to ease pain is not a new one, and there’s been a lot of scientific research in this area. Just last year researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that participants in their study, who were actively meditating, reported a 32 per cent reduction in pain

We’ve just returned from a week in Far North Queensland. We love exploring this vast country and state, so much to see, such amazing landscapes, so many breathtaking views. While in Cooktown one of the things I really wanted to do was a rock art tour with Nugal-warra Elder and story-keeper, Willie Gordon. Willie is

Having a background in journalism I still find it hard not to read, listen to or watch news, no matter how depressing it might be. I recetly said to my husband “what’s happened to the ‘Good News Story’ segments they did almost every night during the pandemic?” But over the last couple of nights we’ve

My husband and I were recenty on holiday on the Sunshine Coast – which is a stunning part of the world. We’d been wandering around looking at these amazing beach and river front houses, gasping at the prices and pondering what the people who owned them must do for a living. As we walked along

I don’t know about you, but I’m really feeling the cold at the moment. A bizarre thing to say really, living in Queensland, Australia, but it’s true. Queensland is known affectiontely as the Sunshine State and it’s really living up to its name at the moment – with clear blue skies and sunshine during the

This Sunday – May 21 – is World Meditation Day… so what better day could you pick to try out a meditation or mindfulness practice? Many people tell me they can’t meditate because their mind is too busy or distracted. But some of those same people, who’ve tried my sessions, have surprised themselves at how

At one of my meditation sessions this week we used a mantra to bring a sense of calm into our body and mind. It’s a fairly simple technique – repeating a word or phrase quietly to yourself. “I am calm.” But at the end of the session there was a lovely sense of calmness in