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...
Dear Blog readers, I am delighted to share with you the first 12 pages of my new book, The Queen’s Corgi: On Purpose – launched this month! Find yourself a nice, snuggly spot for a few minutes and enjoy! Find details below the extract on where to get the book, in print and Kindle! 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...
Never have humans been so dislocated from nature as we are today. For most of our existence, whether as hunter gatherers or farmers, our lives have depended on the natural world. Understanding the subtle signals of other animals, the cycle of the seasons and the growth of crops were an assumed part of human survival....
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...
Hi Everyone, I was honoured to be invited by Hay House, publishers of my Dalai Lama’s Cat series, to take part in the 2016 Hay House World Summit – the largest health and wellness event in the world! A few key points about the World Summit: It is an online event, enabling you to access sessions with...