‘It’s not what you do it’s the way that you do it’ Taking part in a 5-day on-line retreat: a surprisingly interesting experience.

Focusing on the pleasant effervescence of the present is something that I learned through mindfulness meditation practices that I started as a graduate student at Oxford.

We put quite a lot of information out on our social media channels. This blog post serves as a short round-up with links to anything you may have missed.

We've put quite a lot of information out on our social media channels. This blog post serves as a short round-up with links to anything you may have missed.

We've put quite a lot of information out on our social media channels over the last week. This blog post serves as a short round up with links to anything you may have missed.

We've put quite a lot of information out on our social media channels over the last week. This blog post serves as a short round up with links to anything you may have missed.

We can develop mindfulness; it can be cultivated through mindfulness practice. A question I am often asked is, “What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation?” Meditation is a way of cultivating mindfulness. Instead of the word meditation, which can have all sorts of religious overtones, I tend to use the term mindfulness practice.

"When life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind?"

In Podcast #1 from the Oxford Mindfulness Centre the subject of discussion concentrates on finding steadiness in uncertain times, focusing on three central themes. The podcast gives the listener an introduction as to how various mindfulness practices can be utilised to help individuals steer themselves towards steadiness in any unprecedented and uncertain time. It has been produced, participated in and released for free during this particularly difficult time for us all.

Liz Lord, from The MYRIAD research team and Associate Teacher for the OMC reflects on the challenges we face amid the COVID-19 pandemic and how mindfulness can help us navigate this time of uncertainty. This blog focusses on our ability to be grounded in these changing and challenging times.

We urgently need a vaccine and treatment for COVID-19 and our best scientists will develop them. But we also need a response at the level of the human head and heart. Equanimity in the midst of challenging times is not a surrender of innovation or action —rather, it is a wholehearted responsiveness that values human health and human well-being. It is the steadier ground on which we can stand and meet the challenges in our lives.