Posts tagged with 'friendship'
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (seventh post)
25th March 2009
And here's a briefer seventh Moroccan post looking a little at the internal "meditative methods" being used by various of us in the desert. So at the lunch siesta today I asked our group what they had been doing in their heads while they were walking. One person talked about …
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (sixth post)
24th March 2009
This is the sixth - and a rather longer - Moroccan post. It looks a little at mindfulness and interpersonal conflict. And after the siesta yesterday, we walked (again without the camels) up to the top of the highest "singing dune" (so-called because of the noise it sometimes makes in …
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (fifth post)
23rd March 2009
This fifth Moroccan post is written two days into the desert walk with the mindfulness practice beginning to deepen. This is the second full day in the desert. We've been here about 48 hours. Now is post-lunch siesta time. Walking meditatively this morning was much easier than yesterday's walk. I'm …
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (fourth post)
22nd March 2009
This brief fourth Moroccan blog post describes some of the first day in the desert. Waking this morning in the encampment ... desert dawn ... a few clouds catching the sunlight ... people slowly emerge from their tents. Camels wandering. Packing up gradually. Breakfast. Then heading out through scattered tamarisk …
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (third post)
21st March 2009
This is the third Moroccan blog post. It introduces some ideas about mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), self-criticism and problem solving. So yesterday we drove East and South from Marrakech across the Atlas - the road, our driver said, winding up to over 6,500 feet (about 2,000 meters) before heading back …
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (second post)
20th March 2009
This is the second of 11 blog posts about going to Morocco to walk "mindfully" in the Sahara desert. This post covers the arrival in Marrakech. 5.00am - the calls of the muezzin increase in volume. This seems a good time to meditate. All around, here in the Marrakech medina, …
Holiday, friendship and “meditation retreat” (first post)
19th March 2009
This is the first of 11 blog posts about going to Morocco to walk "mindfully" in the Sahara desert. This post gives a bit of background to the trip. 6.00am - the old clock has just sounded in my cousin's house in London. We arrived yesterday evening, flew down from …
Ways of coping: theory & personal experience
25th January 2009
In blog postings earlier this month, I've talked about supporting my Mum after her recent couple of strokes. She's been shipped through three different hospitals and now is more peaceful in a nursing home. It's sad - very sad at times - and it's great that she seems more comfortable, …
Friendship, life planning, & expressing emotions
11th January 2009
Yesterday and today are a check-in time with my friend Larry. I've written in a previous blog post how Larry and I have met every three or four months for many years specifically to review how our lives are going and to plan and prioritize our goals for the next …
Peer groups: Wiston autumn group – second reflection
12th November 2008
Yesterday was a normal day's work for me. The group is getting a bit more distant. In writing the reflection yesterday, I skipped past the structure of the final morning. Waking, writing, tea, fruit, greeting, breakfast. We negotiated details of the final morning timings. The start was the last meeting …