""These virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions" ... we are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. "


Posts tagged with 'books'

Some current research evidence for therapeutic uses of reading & writing (1st post)

12th January 2015

I was asked by a friend to write a short piece on research evidence backing up therapeutic uses of reading & writing to be used in a local initiative supporting health workers in a diverse range of settings. Today's and tomorrow's post give the piece with hyperlinks to the various …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource - overview of 10 supporting blog posts

14th August 2012

Earlier this year I wrote a sequence of ten blog posts to support people working their way through Mark Williams & Danny Penman's fine book "Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world" as a self-help training in mindfulness practice. I've referred lots of people to these …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (10th post) - eighth week's practice

9th March 2012

I wrote recently about the seventh week's practice in this eight week mindfulness course. In today's post I'll look at the final session of the Williams & Penman course, described in chapter twelve (pp. 236 to 249) - "Your wild and precious life". This phrase is taken from Mary Oliver's …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (9th post) - seventh week's practice

23rd February 2012

The seventh week's practice in the sequence described so well in Mark Williams & Danny Penman's book on mindfulness is covered in chapter eleven "When did you stop dancing?" (pp. 209 to 235). I have already discussed the sixth week's practice in another recent post. The week-by-week programme summary (p. …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (8th post) - sixth week's practice

2nd February 2012

I recently wrote about the fifth week of meditation practice - chapter nine in Mark Williams & Danny Penman's book. This post is about the sixth week of practice and chapter ten "Trapped in the past or living in the present?" (pp. 183 to 208). The week-by-week programme summary (p. …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (7th post) - fifth week's practice

26th January 2012

I wrote about chapter eight in Mark & Danny's book last week. This post is about chapter nine - the fifth week of meditation practice - "Turning towards difficulties" (pp. 159 to 182). In their week-by-week programme summary (p. 59), they write "Week five introduces a meditation - Exploring difficulty …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (6th post) - fourth week's practice

19th January 2012

Last week I wrote about chapter seven of Mark & Danny's book. This post is about chapter eight - the fourth week of actual meditation practice - entitled "Moving beyond the rumour mill" (pp. 134 to 158). In their week-by-week overall summary of the whole programme (pp. 58 to 60), …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (5th post) - third week's practice

12th January 2012

I wrote recently on "Using Williams & Penman's book ... as a self-help resource (4th post) - second week's practice". Today's post looks at the third week's practice described in chapter seven "The mouse in the maze". The authors state "Week three builds on the previous sessions with some non-strenuous …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (4th post) - second week's practice

29th December 2011

Last week I wrote about "Using Williams & Penman's book ... as a self-help resource (3rd post) - first week's practice". It's time now to move on to the second week's practice described in chapter six - "Keeping the body in mind". Read through this chapter (pp. 91 to 110). …

Using Williams & Penman's book "Mindfulness: a practical guide" as a self-help resource (3rd post) - first week's practice

22nd December 2011

Time to roll up our sleeves and start turning Williams & Penman's book's "meditation recipes" into genuinely nourishing meals. I have already written a first blog post on why we have good reason to be optimistic about the benefits we can achieve with this kind of self-help venture. The second …