​Hello again,

​It’s been great to hear how you’ve been doing during these unusual days – many thanks to everyone who’s been in touch, and my apologies for being unable to get back to everyone individually.

Further to my previous note about the various ways in which your mindfulness practice might be able to support you through these days of anxiety and dis-ease, I wanted to let you know that we’ve been developing some new meditations for you to try while you’re physically (and perhaps socially) distancing yourselves.  For instance, some of you asked for some guidance on the idea of the ‘hand washing practice,’ which I outlined last time.  So, we’ll post some audio guidance for that and other things very soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to respond to some of the comments and questions that I’ve been receiving from course participants over the last week or so.  Most people, for instance, are observing higher than normal levels of stress as their daily routines have been disrupted and their freedoms of action restricted.  People are describing wandering aimlessly around their homes.  Wringing their hands.  Biting their nails.  Being unable to settle down or focus on activities.  Perhaps you will recognise these behaviours? ...

​Hello there,

People quite often talk about how ‘these are stressful times.’ After a while, such sentiments fade into platitudes and we risk losing sight of what they actually mean; they’re as routine as tying our shoelaces or saying ‘good morning.’ And yet, these last few weeks have been particularly stressful for many societies and individuals, as we all struggle to understand what it means to live in the midst of a pandemic. We strive to understand our responsibilities at these times, even as we try to guard against illness and panic and dis-ease of all kinds. At such times, the observation that ‘these are stressful times’ takes on particular weight, and it would be wise for us to be mindful of how that weight impacts upon us and on those around us.

I’ve been receiving quite a few messages from people asking about how their mindfulness practice might help to support them in these stressful times, and so I thought I should simply send this out to our wider community in case this is a general concern. ...