Some of my clients describe, during their sessions with me, how their negative thoughts cause tensions, anxiety and even sleep problems, and how difficult this is to change.
Breathing exercises are very useful because, by paying attention to the practice, we channel the mind into the body – into the present moment – and in this way we can stop or alleviate the physical reaction. [Read more]
« We tend to suppose that energy is dissipated with use. We think that doing extra work incurs loss. But energy increases as we use it ».
Haruchika Noguchi wrote these lines in 1984 in his book ‘Order, spontaneity and the body‘. In it, he reflects on the importance of confronting what life presents us with, in order to gain more vital energy. He believes that a person does not become stronger and healthier by avoiding – as a life strategy – what is perceived as negative or difficult. [Read more]
We are at the end of March and I would like to ask you a question: do you still remember what resolutions you made at the end of 2023?
Making a resolution for the coming year has become a fairly common practice: we declare our intention to improve ourselves, to take better care of ourselves, to make our lives better, more satisfying or more exciting.
Then we give it some attention and, as soon as everyday life resumes after the festivities and holidays, we forget the fact that we wanted to bring change into our lives and we abandon our resolutions, often overwhelmed by the things we have to do.
Does this ring a bell? [Read more]
‘What is forgiveness?’
asked the pupil to the master.
The master smiled, picked up a stone and placed it in front of him:
‘the violent man would use it as a weapon to do evil.
The builder would make it a brick on which to build a cathedral.
For the weary traveller it would be a chair where he could find rest.
The artist would sculpt the face of his muse.
The absent-minded would stumble upon it.
The child would make a game of it.
In all cases, it is not the stone that makes the difference, but the man.
With forgiveness, man chooses to transform the stones of life into love.’ (*)
In the last article, we talked about creating a state of wonder, so to nourish another kind of attention.
We are often paying attention to our reality through the lens of being busy with a « to do list », with worries and problems – real, potential or imaginary. In this state, our Inner Judge gets a lot of material for comparing and criticising what we do and how we are. The results are stress, dissatisfaction, insecurity, even anxiety.
The kind of attention I recommend to nourish is the one we experience when we are “simply” in the present. It can happen when we admire art or Nature. It helps to shift our attention from doing to being.
It is also bonded with being more able to appreciate : a wonderful melody, a magnificent landscape, a lovely moment with friends and family. Or simply to enjoy the daily life activities. [Read more]
Do you also experience a very unkind, critical Inner Judge, commenting on your actions and behaviours, and sometimes on your being, with this kind of sentences?
“You are never good enough”. “You should have done this better”. “The others are better that you”. “You are an impostor who soon will be discovered”. “You will never manage”.
Many clients start working with me being already aware that they have a critical inner judge. [Read more]