Mindfulness is best described as the practice of paying attention to the present moment, with an open curiosity and without judgment. Mindfulness has gained recognition as a supportive tool for many people.

For autistic individuals, mindfulness can offer practical ways to manage sensory overload, emotional intensity, and daily stress, while supporting self-awareness and well-being.

I meet many people today, that have the exhausting habit of overthinking, which often leads to stress and anxiety.  It’s very easy to get trapped in a loop of “What-ifs” and doubts, and before you know it, your mind is racing in circles.

Fortunately, mindfulness meditation can be a powerful tool to help you break free from this cycle.  In this article we will take a look at how mindfulness can help you stop overthinking and regain control over your thoughts.

Stress and anxiety are among the most common emotional and psychological challenges faced in modern society. Whether due to work, relationships, or general life pressures, these conditions can take a toll on both mental and physical health. Traditional therapies like counselling and medication are widely recognised, complementary healing modalities, such as Reiki have been gaining attention for their ability to help manage stress and anxiety, for some time.

There is a fair amount of misunderstanding about spirituality.  Often people think that being psychic, is what being spiritual is all about.  Yet, this is one of the by-products, of spiritual practice.  It is not the goal.  Spirituality is not about sitting around ‘looking spiritual’, wearing new age clothes, being ‘in the clouds’ or thinking that you are more’ conscious’ and/or awake than others.  Yet these may be a stage of the spiritual path.

Research has shown that mindfulness meditation can increase your well-being, by altering the structure and function of your brain, positively, in just 8 weeks of practice. 

Spiritual development is the purification of the mind, since there is no development, in the spiritual Self. Spirit is already perfect but it is veiled by the illusions of the mind. When the illusions have been extinguished, then the real ‘I’ within, can shine in all its glory - beautiful, radiant, pure Spirit, shining through your vessel, in a tangible way. This is the purpose of spiritual practice…purification of the mind, leading to spiritual awakening and then finally to embodied liberation.

Everybody seeks happiness, yet it seems very illusive and fleeting.  One minute it is here and the next minute it is gone and once again it leaves us seeking.  If only we could press the pause button when we find ourselves in the state of happiness!  It seems like happiness is playing hide and seek, with us.  

In this blog, I will narrate an unexpected blessing that came ‘out of the blue’, last year.

Sometimes life presents us with unexpected blessings…  

In the midst of the second lockdown, in 2020, I had the most surprising discovery, which was the emergence of my now high pitched singing voice.  I have loved female sopranos’ operatic voices for a long time and after watching a young lady sing opera on TV,  I was very inspired by her.  Her voice sounded so beautiful.  I have wanted to be able sing high notes for many years but was not able to do so.  One day soon after seeing that young lady sing opera, as I was enjoying trying to sing the same song, suddenly a very high pitched and powerful voice emerged out of my throat. 

Nick embarked upon his healing journey in November 2016.  In 2020 he came to me, in Clacton, for his Reiki Masters.  As he had studied a different form of Reiki (in Colchester), I advised him to redo Reiki 1 and 2 because he had not learned Original Usui Reiki and there were too many gaps to bridge.

Difficult Times

Reiki came into my life at a difficult juncture.  At that time, we were trying to have children and children did not materialise.  It is funny how one takes certain things for granted and when life takes a different turn, you can in hindsight realise that it was the best thing that happened.  

It is my sheer joy and pleasure to be writing about Reiki.  Reiki feels like a very old friend, as over the years Reiki has helped me so much, on all levels of my being.  So it is lovely to be writing about it and sharing its benefits with you.    

Usui Sensei

The founder of Reiki was Mikao Usui.  Sensei is the title given to a teacher. Usui was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1865. He was a Tendai Buddhist, who would have practiced projection healings.  He was also a very competent martial artist, who practiced Samurai Swordmanship. 

Awareness of the Present Moment

Covid-19 is forcing us to be more present with what is happening moment-to-moment.  Since we became aware of the virus, we have had to be very alert and present in our daily life, in order to prevent us from catching it.  How many of us were truly present when we washed our hands before the pandemic?  Yet now we have become more present with our hand washing, we even make sure we do it for the length it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice!  

By now many people have heard the latest buzz word - Mindfulness.  Mindfulness has become very popular in recent years, following the scientific proof of its fantastic benefits to our wellbeing.  In this article we will take a closer look at this growing practice.

The purpose of this blog is to explain what meditation really is, outline a brief history of meditation and why you may wish to learn to meditate.  I have included research findings and background information.  In this blog you will also find listed its many positive benefits and how meditation is normally practiced.