In the first lines of the poem The Night Before Christmas, the narrator had just settled down for a long winter’s nap before being awoken by a visit from Santa Claus. For anyone feeling like 2024...
What can we do to find relief when we feel anxious, threatened, or stuck in patterns of low moods or spiraling thoughts? Whether this is caused by unpleasant interactions on social media, the...
When I was little, I was an idealist, and my dream was world peace. Then I entered adolescence and became convinced, to my great dismay, that things had already gone so wrong in the world that my...
In Waiting for God, Simone Weil writes: “The beauty of the world is the mouth of a labyrinth,” referring to the mystical path that has been walked for centuries in contemplation. These ritual and...
In the film All of Us Strangers, main character Adam uses creative and personalized ways to initiate his own healing journey. Adam’s parents passed unexpectedly when he was eleven years old. Since...
Sufism is the broad term given to several related mystical schools, or movements within Islam. Although elements of mysticism have always been present in Islam to some degree or another Sufism...
Perfect and pure meditation, I suppose, would require no noise at all, or at least a complete tuning out of the noise. But for those of use who need a little help centring ourselves, focussing,...
Balance comes in many forms. We balance ourselves physically, on tight-ropes of in yoga poses; mentally, when we weigh the pros and cons of a situation, and emotionally, when we decide we need a...
Recently I've read various thoughts about meditation and prayer that have stuck with me. Journalist Johann Hari's book Lost Connections discusses the power of regular meditation to bring healing...