Here is a short segment of me reading a meditation. I hope you enjoy it and please do comment or get in touch as I welcome feedback and enjoy the interactions.
Month: February 2017
Thoughts, verbalised rather than written
I had bit of an emotionally draining morning. Nothing really wrong I just had to realise I’m not as indestructible as I thought I was. More on that in the coming weeks as it is part of my journey.
So instead here is a short video on My thoughts on 40 bags of Lent
What do you think? Are you considering doing something yourself?
Learning new things….or rather revisiting old skills
Back in the day I was really into technology. I went on all the courses and my skills were reasonably good. I could even take a computer apart and rebuild it. Now, well I think plug and play technology has made me lazy.
During the week a friend of a friend, where would we be without those?!, helped me make a couple of vocal recordings. Now they are are rough but I have to start somewhere. Great so I have the audio and I listened to it today. Imagery….I thought, that’s what it needs. Where to begin? What supports what file types? All questions I had to painstakingly answer to achieve the end result.
my initial try at splicing pictures with audio
A bit like life isn’t it. Working out what is right and how I fit in; learning not only my place in society but also my place in the wider universe. Is it just plug and play or should I be putting the pieces together myself?
I don’t think it is a solo journey as I have met many wonderful people so far and I feel there are many more to encounter.
If you would like to talk about this or anything else I’ve blogged about get in touch.
Where are Mulder and Scully when you need them.
I had bit of an odd day today. I felt people were trying to guide me into the neat boxes of the corporate world. Which only seems to encourage my rebellious streak. I came home had a bath and cooked dinner. It took awhile to calm down and I thought I had been stropping around a bit so I apologised to the other half. ‘Oh, were you in a mood?! I hadn’t noticed’ she said. Just shows perception is what it is all about.
Anyway that isn’t my tale for this evening as I want to share some experiences I’ve had. I’m not one who can say I starting seeing spirit when I was a child and I have had all sorts of wonderful experiences. Quite frankly my only close encounters were with a glass or three of Jack Daniels. Yes, I enjoyed my twenties and early thirties. I was going through my want to be a professional and was going to evening classes. I would get home late and on BBC 2 there was an odd show I used to watch. For some reason I was never in on time to find out what it was titled. Later when the show became trendy and moved to BBC1 I found I had been watching The X Files. This was my introduction to the weird and wonderful world of the supernatural.
Fast forward a few years and a trip to Pluckley Woods. I had heard the scare stories and I wasn’t too bothered. We were in the woods late at night and we were traipsing through mud. I felt safe and was amongst friends. The photo at the top of the page was taken that evening. There was no fog at the time and nobody around me was smoking. The smoke is unexplained. Last week I was in another house sleeping in a bed which wasn’t my own. I had gotten into bed and not covered myself properly. I felt a cold finger run down my side and then it brushed along my spine. I have never moved so fast to get under the covers. The next night I woke to see a shadowy figure walk passed the end of the bed. Again a fast duck under the covers. The point is I wasn’t frightened but I didn’t want to interact with something I hadn’t invited in for a chat.
I have accepted I have skills/talents. I now understand about lower and higher vibrations. I also accept why grounding and protecting is important.
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please contact me.
Is it all there?!
I have been asked to write a report and anyone who knows me will laugh. Laugh because I really do not like doing anything formal. I am more of a hands on and get the job done sort of person.
Mindfulness; don’t judge the task just acknowledge and get on and do it; I tell myself. OK, so I look at what I have to do and break it down into manageable sections. It isn’t looking so bad now. Right, so what do I need to really make it look good. Help! Yes, I require some assistance and I know just the people to assist. Hmm maybe this isn’t so bad. I get to do some research, which I enjoy, and to work collaboratively with two people I don’t usually work with. A win/win situation.
I emailed my draft report to these colleagues and asked ‘Is it all there?!’ More work to do but it will involve a mindful cup of coffee and laughter.
Now I would like to share with you some of today’s reading:
Report by the Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group (MAPPG) October 2015 (PDF)
Politicians joined by Ruby Wax as parliament pauses for meditation
These links show Mindfulness is mainstream and is highly regarded. So, why aren
‘t we engaging more with it? A question we should all be asking ourselves.
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please get in touch.
How do I get myself into things?!
W
hat would I like to do? Where would I like to go? How do I get myself into things?
Questions….loads of questions and not necessarily any immediate answers. Now if this was 20 years ago I would be concentrating on a 5 year plan. It was the thing back then. Not a very mindful way of living though.
The answer to ‘How do I get myself into things?!’ is usually I start to speak and it all just flows from there. For example this morning I was asked could you run a workshop with more than 20 people. ‘Yes’ I said ‘I am only limited by a lack of microphone and a large enough space. I have the go ahead to run mindful meditation/mind relaxation workshops for another directorate at work. I met with the Director this morning and he was rather enthusiastic about it. I later find out his staff have already sent me a proposed list of dates!
I am not going to tinker with the format but I am going to ask people to fill out before and after questionnaires. I’ve decided the evidence on how good this is needs to be more than a few positive comments.
What next? See another question! I have a list of jobs to get on with and I will work through them patiently and enjoy the experience.
In the distant past this sort of thing would have sent my adrenals into overdrive. But now thanks to the principles of mindfulness I take it all in my stride.
How do you get on with new projects?
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please get in touch.
Introducing something new…..
This is me trying something different. I hope you enjoy. Feedback would be very much appreciated.
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please get in touch.
How I use mindfulness to deal with unconscious bias?!
A bit of a heavy question to sit and think about. I was listening to a song on the radio the other day. I really liked the music and the lyrics to me seemed to mean something. I managed to catch the song title and then set about finding out the artist.
Last week I had seen adverts on Facebook for a new album by an artist called Rag and Bone Man. So I was surprised when I found out he was the singer of the song. I hadn’t passed any heed of his name; as someone who’s follow American Rock for decades I can’t say I only listen to bands/singers with sensible names.
What did I look at and judge? Well, his beard for starters, then his cap and lastly his tattoos. A good example of unconscious bias rising to the surface.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rag+and+bone+man+human
(Please note other music artists are available.)
I sat back and thought about it. Why should someone’s expression of themselves make me so judgemental? Social media and television shows certainly don’t help. At work I mix with people who have beards, tattoos and piercings and I don’t bat an eyelid. Which means I can do it. Do I use mindfulness more when I’m at work and not when I’m using social media? More questions but I think that is good because I am challenging myself.
Mindfulness is awareness without judgement. Which means I can be aware of myself without judgement and make changes. We are all works in progress and I think we should be more appreciative of how much we do to improve ourselves.
What do you think? Do drop me a line and let me know.
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please get in touch.
How I renew and refresh
I hear loads about how important it is to ground and protect yourself. But what does this actually mean?! I can only say what it means to me and how I feel about it. By sharing experiences I hope you are inspired to find your own way.
Grounding to me means being level head and practical. That is so easy I hear people say but is it. Can you actually close your eyes for 10 seconds and feel connected to the energies of the earth? I couldn’t a few weeks ago and my other half said I needed to get some decent fresh air and a feel of real grass under my feet. It’s the middle of February so no way am I walking about on cold wet grass.
The compromise is sea air and walks by the coast. Followed by trips to community gardens, hence the arty black and white photo. I know this might sound a bit nuts but I feel younger and stronger. I also have this surge of energy which I can only describe as having rather large wings and being able to fly anywhere.
Now for the protecting part of it – for me the answer is ‘LOVE’. I am surrounded by family, the laughter is hearty. The sharing of sweets and ‘oi did you just walk off and leave me the wrappers to clear up’ is all part of the banter.
This is my grounding and protecting. What do you think? What do you do?
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please get in touch.
Snow Moon
Last night we had what is called a Snow Moon (Native American tradition). In spiritual terms it is known as the Lunar Eclipse in Leo.
Up until recently I haven’t really paid much attention to moons or stars. Aside from sitting out on a summer’s evening and watching the sky and maybe using an app on my phone to show me what stars are where that is about it.
So, why now?! Well, as I continue my journey I find myself becoming more aware. Let me explain what I mean. Yesterday to me felt as though I was having final conversations with certain people. They didn’t realise it would be the last sit down but I did. The time with them was pleasant and good memories were created. I also said to the other half that the next home we would have would be our castle – which included the area around the house.
I’ve been exploring some websites and here is a flavour of what I read. Is it all true? For me the jury is still out but more and more evidence is being put in front of me which is hard to ignore.
Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Leo – The Opening of a New Gateway
Lunar Eclipse in Leo Horoscopes
Incidentally, I am a Leo and yes I do feel like my roar carries more ‘weight’ these days. All for the greater good I hasten to add!
If you’d like to talk to me about what I do, please get in touch.
V K Browne 
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