As the author of The Dalai Lama’s Cat series, and a clear devotee of all things feline, people sometimes assume that I am a dog-hater. As it happens, nothing could be further from the truth. In my childhood home I was brought up with a Siamese cat, called Pandy as well as two corgis, Trudy...
In my 20s and 30s I was very keen on goals. ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there,’ was a premise that made perfect sense to me. I read books and articles on goals. I faithfully documented and reviewed my goals. I was aware that goals should be SMART (specific, measurable,...
Picture the following scene, dear reader. It is a busy morning at the Himalaya Book Café. With less than an hour before lunch service, I am sitting on my customary spot on magazine rack, nostrils flaring as I try to identify the delightful aromas wafting from the kitchen, where the Dragpa brothers are working their...
I am delighted to share with you the first 12 pages of my book, The Queen’s Corgi: On Purpose! If you’d like to know a little more about why I wrote to the book, check out this two minute video: Now, find yourself a nice, snuggly spot for a few minutes and enjoy! Warm...
Hi Everyone, I am very excited to let you know that my new novel, The Queen’s Corgi: On Purpose is published this week! In the same style as The Dalai Lama’s Cat, in The Queen’s Corgi our narrator, Nelson, provides a dog’s-eye view of life with the royal family. Along with a lot of fun and games,...
Many readers of this blog may not have to travel far to meet their harshest and most unyielding critic. A few steps to the nearest mirror will probably do the trick. There you can look into the eyes of the person who talks to you in a way that they would never dream of talking...
In our era of unprecedented busy-ness, constant communication and relentless deadlines, it’s easy to feel that we have no time for an inner life. When so many of us feel burdened by the imperative for immediate, round-the-clock responsiveness, and the constant need to do more with less, it’s understandable that as we reach the end...
Every one of us will experience hurt, betrayal and disappointment. What matters is how we deal with these feelings. As the Dalai Lama says, ‘Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.’ What he means is that although it’s impossible to avoid upsetting experiences, we do have a say about whether negative events or people continue to...
Why is the experience of practising mindfulness in nature so effortless, so wonderful and so powerful in helping us develop insights? I’d like to thank Dr Shelley Plumb of www.plumbtalkproductions.com for this short video which captures some of the main points in my article below. Shelley interviewed me when joined me for Mindful Safari back in...
I practice and teach meditation. I also enjoy wine. White in summer, red in winter is what floats my particular boat. I drink in moderation and only rarely over-indulge. I have no doubt at all that mindfulness makes drinking wine very much more enjoyable. When we are being mindful – ‘paying attention to the present moment...
