Over the past year and a half I have done yoga regularly. So I am not a complete beginner in yoga. However, since I am not very flexible, only beginner-yoga poses work for me. To have a bit of variety, I have begun to work with free yoga videos that... Read More...
Praying for the Middle East
CNN reports: Authorities in France and Belgium took people into custody Saturday in the aftermath of the worst violence in France since World War II, a series of terror attacks that killed more than 120 people. Alright: in a European context this is a... Read More...
Why self-compassion isn’t selfish
As I said in my previous post, I have been meditating on self-compassion for the past six months or so. I have been pondering what makes it so effective and also – why it doesn’t make me more selfish, because I don’t think it does. I... Read More...
Compassion meditation – a free ebook
I have been regularly meditating on compassion, through the secular methods developed by Kristin Neff for about 6 months now. It does me a lot of good. Self-compassion meditation is a popular course taken after (MBSR) mindfulness meditation, though it... Read More...
Female spirituality, Mindfulness, Ultimate Questions, Books and more
On April 1st, hubpages, the site I was making half my online income on, banned me without an explanation. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an April fools joke. It took some getting used to, but since I wasn’t making enough to live on anyhow, it... Read More...
Patience with the spiritual teacher
A few weeks ago, I dropped out of a weekend teaching-retreat because the teacher wasn’t what I needed. She was telling students off, for not formulating their question very well and I had too much going on in my life to stand for it. I went... Read More...
Women need to learn to break the rules!
The Buddha is said to have told off members of his sangha for not breaking enough rules (*). Why? Because it meant they weren’t taking enough risks. I think many women need really to take that advice to heart. I started the training to become... Read More...
Best Women Spiritual Teachers
Gender is very much in the news these days. Feminism is losing its negative connotation and the internet is making it possible to empathize with girls and women all over the world fighting for basic liberties. (*) I am a feminist and was raised one.... Read More...
Allowing yourself to just be with yourself – Jon Kabat-Zinn Quote
It takes a while to get comfortable with the richness of allowing yourself to just be with your own mind. It’s a little like meeting an old friend for the first time in years. There may be some awkwardness in the beginning, not knowing who this... Read More...
Matthieu Ricard – compassion and altruism
The great Tibetan Buddhist Monk and philosopher Matthieu Ricard was in Amsterdam yesterday to talk about his new book – the Dutch translation of the French ‘Plaidoyer pour l’altruisme’. It will be available in English this summer as... Read More...