by Guido Masé November 19, 2018

A long time ago, Anne and I traveled to Ireland. We vagabonded slowly down the west coast from hostel to hostel, over green hills to rugged seaside cliffs, stopping at standing stones and the ruins of circle forts, visiting old-growth forests left intact for hundreds of years. One day we were wandering in the southwest corner of the island with the goal of reaching one of those old forests. We crossed over a small waterfall. We walked between two ancient, massive linden trees whose roots and branches had grown together, leaving an almond-shaped opening just wide enough for us to cross. And finally, we came to the oak wood we’d been seeking. The trees were old, yes, but not very tall: craggy, leaning at odd angles, with moss covering their trunks up to the lower branches. This forest is still part of a protected area…

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Empath and the Soul

Freedom From Within

By Kingsley Dennis

varo

The real tragedy of our time lies not so much in the unprecedented external events themselves as in the unprecedented ethical destitution and spiritual infirmity which they glaringly reveal.

Paul Brunton

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No Self Is An Island

By Kingsley Dennis

‘No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main’ … John Donne

‘For eternally and always there is only now, one and the same now; the present is the only thing that has no end.’ … Erwin Schrodinger

self

Whether we like to admit it or not, we need other people. Other people in our lives help to teach us about who we are. Their actions and attitudes are like a mirror that reflects to us not only aspects of human behaviour but also facets of our social conditioning.

It is said that our most dominant feature as humans, and similarly our most ignored facet, is that when we are speaking about other people, or things, we are actually speaking about ourselves. Because of this blindness we actually need other people in order to project ourselves onto them. And then perhaps in some moment of clarity we will gain the insight that our descriptions of others are in fact descriptions of ourselves. It is through our social environment and connections that a light may eventually shine back at us.

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A Druid’s Meditation Primer

The Druid's Garden

In this time as the light is coming back into the world, the time surrounding Imbolc, I find myself often going deeply inward for healing and strength and turning towards meditation as a guide for spiritual balance. This deep winter period is, of course, coming on the heels of the frenzied holiday season where many of us get burned out by the amount of hustle and bustle. Further, many of the demands of modern living, particularly for those working wage-earning jobs, require us to move faster, be always “connected” and present with new technology, and have an increasingly fast stream of information pouring in and out of our heads. This can lead to long-term drain on the spirit. In this quiet time of the year, amidst the snows and frozen earth, various meditation techniques allow for rest, centering, and rejuvenation.

The quiet that nature provides…

Meditation offers us…

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Luck

7 Ways to Overcome the Toxic Self-Criticism That Robs You of Mental Strength

By Amy MorinAuthor, “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do”@AmyMorinLCSW

A negative inner dialogue will prevent you from having a positive life.

Your private inner dialogue can either be a powerful stepping stone or a major obstacle to reaching your goals. If you constantly make negative predictions like, “I’m going to mess up,” or you call yourself names, your self-talk will rob you of mental strength.

Your thoughts affect how you feel and how you behave. The way you think has the power to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Thinking, “I’ll never get this job,” may cause you to feel discouraged as you walk into an interview. Consequently, you may slump your shoulders, stare at the floor, and make a poor first impression–and inadvertently sabotage your chances of success.

If you have a harsh inner critic, you’re not alone. Self-doubt, catastrophic predictions, and harsh words are common. But, you don’t have to be a victim of your own verbal abuse.

Although there are many exercises that we use in therapy to help people change the way they think, here are seven ways to tame your inner critic:

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