Mindfulness Plain and Simple
“Mindfulness Plain & Simple” is out now from only $3.49! Check out the preview below. If you would like a copy, you can click the “Buy Now” button below, or you can send me an email and I would be happy to sign copies and send them out (Australia only). Also available through Amazon and Amazon UK.
Enjoy!
Oli Doyle.
Mindfulness for the General Public
Individual and group classes live or via Skype…
Mindfulness for Organisations
Training for businesses, schools and organisations great and small…
Workin’ 9 to 5 (and other scary stories).
Here in Australia, it’s summertime, and it’s about this time that the last of the lucky people go back to work, kids go back to school, and we all start to feel like the year has actually started. To celebrate (or commiserate) this fact, I wanted to share a perspective on why we humans tend to dislike things like work and school, and on how this way of living closely relates to our levels of stress. Even if you love your job, you are bound to find this pattern somewhere else in your life… Read more »
Sit, breathe and Listen!
Interested in Mindfulness? We do Workshops in Melbourne.
Who wins (and who cares)
A funny thing happened to me the other day. I was outside sweeping the path around our house when my two year old son Liam came to help. Now, anyone who has lived with, dealt with or raised a two year old will know that sometimes their idea of ‘helping’ doesn’t exactly fit in with what you want to do. This was one of those occasions. So Liam wandered over, asked me to get ‘Liam’s broom’ out and pushed it over to where I was sweeping. Liam’s broom is a full sized, adult broom, so it tends to become a serious hazard for anyone in the vicinity because it is about three times the size of Liam, so when he swings around, he trails about 1.5 metres of broom handle behind him. Ouch. Read more »
Spirituality is dead: how being ordinary saved my life.
Rabbit said something interesting to Eeyore in “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood”, by David Benedictus. He said that “Happy is all very well Eeyore, but it doesn’t butter any Parsnips!” Eeyore’s response? “Then leave them unbuttered.” For me, spirituality is dead, because it might butter your Parsnips, but it doesn’t lead to happiness.
The spirituality that died (for me), is not religion, nor is it meditation (which is the heart of my life), it’s that other so-called spirituality: spiritual egotism. You might be smiling already, thinking of that person that told you they are planning to ascend when the Mayan Calendar reaches the day zero, or that they can’t meet you for lunch on Saturday as they’re busy manifesting. Spiritual Egotism is not spiritual at all, it’s just a way to cultivate a particular self-image: I am a spiritual being, I’m advanced and I’m much more Read more »
The Seasons According to Pooh
All the animals were at Pooh’s house, enjoying a little something, because what else can you do when you feel a little eleven o’clockish? Somebody asked, “Pooh, tell us about the seasons, and which one is best, and why, and whether?” Winnie the Pooh paused, because pausing is the only thing to do when faced with a difficult question. He licked the honey from his paw.
“Actually,” he began, “all the seasons are the same. Hot and cold don’t really exist unless you’re thinking too much, and thinking too much leads to all sorts of bother.” The animals looked a little confused, but Pooh continued nonetheless:
“When it’s hot, it’s just hot; there is no cold, and when it’s cold it’s just cold, as if hot did not exist. When you’re all in a muddle, you think hot should be cooler and cold should be warmer, but even a bear of little brain knows that Read more »
The best things in life are free
I’m going to start with a bold statement, then see if I can back it up: I always have exactly the right amount of money. My financial situation is always as it needs to be. Sound crazy? Please let me explain…
Before we start, I’m not rich (by Western standards), I’m nowhere near debt free and when people ask if I own my house I tell them that the bank lets me stay there as long as I pay the mortgage. I am financially free most of the time, but not in the conventional sense. Financial freedom for me means freedom from financial stress. It means having what I need now instead of worrying about what I might need tomorrow. If you’re worry-free, you’re financially free, and no matter how rich you are, it won’t help much if you stay stressed about getting more and trying to keep what you have.
I won’t bore you with an account statement, but I will reveal that I make regular ‘donations’ to a couple of different banks (they call it ‘interest’ I think) and contribute to the dividends of their shareholders. So my debt is someone else’s investment and it’s nice to contribute to their income in some way. I haven’t yet learned how to use the Law of Attraction to pull money from the cosmos like some sort of cross between Luke Skywalker and Gordon Gecko, so instead I work with the source of financial stress: my thoughts. That’s right, I noticed a while ago that when I get lost in stressful thoughts about money, I worry. When I stay present and watch those thoughts come and go, I feel peaceful even when money is tight. This is pretty obvious when you look at rich countries around the world, most of which are obsessed with economic growth and profit and are incredibly financially stressed.
Now I know your mind may be ticking over, saying, “but stress is healthy and worry is important. Without it people would be reckless.” In response, here is another bold statement: Financially stressed people make the worst financial decisions. Really? Yep. Here in Bendigo, Australia, I work with people on the lowest of incomes, who have the most to be financially stressed about. Stress leads many of these people to spend money on cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and expensive, processed food. Worry doesn’t lead to careful planning and good decisions, it leads to impulsive spending and speculation. If we look at the Global Financial Crisis we will see institutions stressed and obsessed with making more money who took crazy risks to reach their goal. Worry didn’t prove too useful to these companies.
Calm, clear and focussed. This is how I feel when I practise mindfulness, and this is the state of mind that leads to my best decisions. When I stress I could spend my money on a lottery ticket, but when I am calm I know better and I plan and calculate.
I spent years worrying about money, but I realised it didn’t earn me a cent. Now I stay calm whether the balance is high or low, and I know that whatever happens is what is. This is all the financial freedom I need.
If you would like to learn more about my approach to mindfulness, check out my book: “Mindfulness Plain and Simple”, or book for a free Skype class.
Pooh Bear Zen Chapter 1: Freedom from desire
This is the first chapter of the blog series “Pooh Bear Zen”, adapted from Oli Doyle’s Twitter account @PeacMindfulness…
Freedom from Desire:
“Pooh,” asked Piglet as he finished his elevenses, “what is the nature of desire?”
Pooh said nothing, he simply put a paw into the honey pot in front of him, then drew it out and held it aloft. Piglet smiled and nodded, then he asked: “If this is the nature of desire, how can we find freedom?”
Pooh again said nothing, he just smiled and put the lid on the pot. Piglet bowed and left, laughing to himself. How he loved sharing a little something with Winnie the Pooh.
For more of Oli’s writing, have a look at Read more »
