Generalized Anxiety (Part 2)
Being out of touch with one's experience of stress In my practice, I have noticed that people with anxiety, and also addictions for that matter, tend to gloss over or actively try to change, any negative feelings that are arising. This is not just in areas such as traumatic memories, which may constitute psychological defenses that have likely been in place for a while, but particularly everyday stresses end strains. There is no question that increases in living stresses are
3 days ago7 min read
Waking up and Growing up
“Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.” ― Shunryu Suzuki To me this quote neatly encapsulates the two main features of the spiritual path: getting in touch with our essential spiritual nature, and maturing into a less egocentric, wiser and more compassionate person. In my experience, there are aspects of both in all of us who choose in some way a spiritual path. I am a great believer in the view that there is no one place where we a
3 days ago5 min read
Generalized Anxiety (Part 1)
It is important to remember that, no matter how uncomfortable it may be sometimes, anxiety is a vital part of everyday life, implanted as it were by evolution to get our attention in the face of potential threats of all kinds. We wouldn't want to be without it, and at manageable levels, it is a huge asset with everyday tasks, preparing and sharpening our focus and attention. It has also been my experience that people with anxiety are often sensitive, thoughtful, creative and
Jan 38 min read
Meditation - Operating from awareness itself
What is the point of meditation, what do we hope to achieve, where do we wish to go? What are those people sitting around apparently doing nothing hoping to accomplish? The first and simplest answer is that a sustained meditation practice can help us calm down, not just during the period of meditation, but this evenness - called equanimity in the traditions - can begin to generalize to the rest of our lives. This does not mean we never experience strong feelings, or everythin
Dec 16, 20254 min read
How Anxiety and Addictions connect to each other and what we can do about it
If you've landed on this site, its probably because the words 'anxiety', addiction' or 'meditation', or all three, have some special meaning for you right now. In my work as a psychotherapist and on my personal journey, I have found that the combination of anxiety and addiction, broadly defined,is both widespread and often extremely distressing. We will go into this relationship more deeply on this site, but suffice to say at this point that if we think of anxiety as ranging
Dec 9, 20252 min read
