Mindful Works

🌿 Does your mind ever feel like it has too many tabs open?

You’re getting things done, but your attention is pulled in ten different directions?

You sit down to relax… and your mind keeps going?

You know you’d like to feel calmer and more present, but somehow the days just keep filling up?

This is exactly why I created Bringing Mindfulness to Life — a short, practical four-part online course for people who want to discover how mindfulness can actually make a difference in everyday life.

Over four live online workshops, we’ll explore simple practices and practical strategies for:

🌱 reducing stress and distraction
🌱 becoming less reactive
🌱 improving focus and clarity
🌱 recognising habits that no longer serve us
🌱 bringing more ease to everyday demands and relationships

You don't need any previous meditation experience. You don't need to be “good at mindfulness”. You simply need to be curious and willing to try.

And, in the spirit of making mindfulness accessible, you choose what you pay — from $0 up to the usual course value of $245. A $95 deposit secures your place and can be refunded, in part or in full, at the end of the course.

📅 Tuesdays, 1–22 September
💻 Online via Zoom
🕒 Choose either 3.30–5.30pm or 7.30–9.30pm
🌿 Places are limited to 20

If this sounds like something you — or someone you know — could benefit from, I'd love you to take a look.

👉 Details and registration:
https://events.humanitix.com/bringing-mindfulness-to-life-online-short-course-in-4-parts-7sqz6lhk

Feel free to share this post with someone who might appreciate it. 💚

The only mind and behaviours we can change are our own… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DJro92wo4/

As far as other people are concerned, we don't need to always react to how other people act. That's their problem, not ours. Inwardly, we should be relaxed, allow others to be how they are, and allow things to slide off us, making our mind like a non-stick Teflon pan. We shouldn’t let everything inside of us heat up more and more like a pressure cooker. We shouldn't become pressure cooker minded. We should allow things to just move and not judge so much. People are people. Just let them be how they are. We cannot change others. But we can change ourselves — the only change we can hope for is to change our own response to other peoples’ actions. That we can do.

We can view it like a rerun of some TV show: Oh no, not that one again. We are always endlessly recycling the same old situations and the same old responses. So let's change the channel. Let’s cultivate a less judgmental mind, more compassion, more kindness and a good sense of humour. I think it's very important to really smile at ourselves and smile at others.

- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Photo: Mexico, 2007

Everything mindfulness! This book is being added to my Mindful Works recommended reading list. For now, simply you’ll find that reading and applying the reviewers list of takeaways will begin transforming your daily life and mind…

I have never enjoyed cleaning. To me, it was a chore, a tedious, repetitive interruption to the more important business of living. I would let dishes pile up until they became a monument to my procrastination. I would shove clutter into closets and call it "organized." I would spray a surface, wipe it once, and declare victory.

Then I read Shoukei Matsumoto's A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind, and everything changed.

This is not a typical cleaning manual. There are no lists of expensive products, no 10-minute hacks, no promises of a "sparkling home in 30 days." Instead, it is something far more radical: a spiritual practice disguised as a how-to guide.

Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk, approaches cleaning not as drudgery, but as meditation. He argues that the state of your home is a direct reflection of the state of your mind. Dust is not just dust; it is neglect. Clutter is not just stuff; it is mental noise. And when you clean with intention, when you treat each swipe of the cloth as an act of devotion, you are not just tidying a room. You are purifying your soul.

This slim, beautifully illustrated volume is filled with gentle wisdom, practical tips, and a profound philosophy that will make you see your mop, your broom, and even your toilet brush in an entirely new light. It is a book that will make you want to clean, not because you should, but because you want to. Because cleaning, as Matsumoto reveals, is a form of prayer. And prayer, in the end, is simply paying attention.

5 Lessons That Will Cleanse Your Home and Your Heart:

1. Cleaning Is Not a Chore, It Is a Practice of Presence
In the Zen tradition, monks do not clean to achieve a spotless environment. They clean to cultivate mindfulness. Every action is performed with full attention: the feel of the cloth, the sound of water, the sight of dirt disappearing. There is no rushing. There is no checking your phone. There is only the task at hand, and the awareness that this task is sacred.

Matsumoto writes: "When you clean, you are not just removing dirt. You are removing the distractions that keep you from seeing clearly."

2. Start with the Air, It Is the Breath of Your Home
Before a monk begins any cleaning task, they open the windows. They let the crisp morning breeze flow through the temple, carrying away stale energy and inviting in freshness. This is not just about ventilation. It is about intention. By opening the windows, you are symbolically opening your mind. You are welcoming new possibilities. You are reminding yourself that stagnation is not your natural state, that the air, like your life, should move freely.

Before you scrub a single surface, open your windows. Let in light, let in wind, let in the sounds of the world outside. Then begin. Your cleaning will feel less like a task and more like a renewal.

3. Procrastination Is a Form of Suffering
There is a Zen expression, "Zengosaidan", which means putting all your effort into each day so that you have no regrets. Applied to cleaning, it is a gentle but firm rebuke to the habit of putting things off. Matsumoto argues that when you leave dishes in the sink or clothes on the floor, you are creating a small burden that you will carry with you throughout the day. Every time you glance at that pile, you feel a twinge of guilt. Every time you walk past that cluttered corner, you feel a whisper of anxiety. These small moments of avoidance accumulate, and before you know it, you are living in a state of low-grade stress.

The solution is simple: do it now. Not because you are a perfectionist, but because freedom from regret is freedom from suffering. Washing a dish takes two minutes. Putting away a sweater takes ten seconds. These tiny acts of completion are not just tidy, they are liberating.

4. Dress for the Ritual, Even Cleaning Deserves Dignity
Matsumoto tells us that monks wear samue robes when they clean, simple, comfortable garments that are easy to move in and easy to wash. This is not vanity; it is preparation. By changing into appropriate attire, the monk signals to their mind that something important is about to happen.

We, too, can benefit from this practice. When we clean in our pajamas, or in clothes we wouldn't be caught dead in outside the house, we are unconsciously telling ourselves that cleaning is beneath us, that it doesn't matter, that it's not important. But when we dress with intention, when we put on something that makes us feel capable and present, we elevate the task.

5. Cleanse Your Mind by Tending to the Most "Unclean" Places
In the Buddhist tradition, the toilet is not a place to be ignored or dreaded. It is a place of profound importance, a space where the body releases what it no longer needs, both physically and metaphorically.

Matsumoto encourages us to clean our toilets with special care. Not because they are dirty, but because they are symbolic. When you scrub the bowl, you are acknowledging that life is not all beauty and light. It is messy. It is imperfect. And that is okay. By tending to the most humble places in your home, you are tending to the most humble parts of yourself,the parts you would rather hide, the parts you would rather forget.

A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind is barely longer than a pamphlet, but its impact is immense. It is not a book you read once and forget; it is a book you live. It will change the way you hold a broom, the way you face a sink full of dishes, the way you breathe when you walk through your front door.

Matsumoto writes with the gentle authority of a man who has spent a lifetime learning the art of attention. He does not scold. He does not lecture. He simply invites you to see cleaning as a path to peace, a path that is available to anyone, at any time, with nothing more than a cloth and an open heart.

So pick up this book. Read it slowly. Let its wisdom settle into your bones.

Then, roll up your sleeves. Open your windows. And begin.

Because your home is your temple. Your mind is your sanctuary. And the dust, in the end, is just an invitation to come home to yourself.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/3QVuLd1

You are exactly where you’re meant to be. Simply breathe and know you’re breathing…

Everyone tells you to find your purpose. That’s the worst advice I ever took.
Years ago, a young woman sat on my temple steps, weeping. She felt lost, like a ship without a compass. "I have no purpose," she whispered.

I looked at the moss growing on the stones beside us. I asked her, "Does the moss worry about its purpose? Or does it simply embrace the rain and the shade?"

We aren’t meant to be machines designed for a singular function. We are meant to live. Sometimes, being lost is simply the beginning of a different path.
Just breathe. You are already exactly where you need to be.

Now on my MUST READ list…

Pema Chödrön has spent decades helping people sit with discomfort. As an American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun and former acharya of Shambhala Buddhism, she became a principal teacher at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in North America for Westerners . Along the way, she wrote dozens of books and became one of the most beloved spiritual teachers of her generation.

How We Live Is How We Die arrives at a particular moment in her life. Now in her mid-eighties, she draws upon decades of study within Tibetan Buddhism to explore the recurring cycles of life and death . The book carries the weight of someone who has spent years contemplating mortality, not abstractly, but as a daily practice.

The title is the thesis: how we live is how we die. How we deal with smaller changes now foreshadows how we'll deal with bigger changes later. How we relate to things falling apart right now shows how we'll relate to things falling apart when we die.

This is not a book about the afterlife in the abstract. It's not a theological argument about what happens after the heart stops. It's a practical guide to working with the flow of life, learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear .

Chödrön explores the "bardos"—a Tibetan term referring to states of transition, including what happens between this life and the next . The book covers six bardos: the present moment, dying, and becoming, among others . The realization that there are continuous bardos "because impermanence never takes a break" can enhance life's natural flow and ease the passage toward death . Conversations begin and end; the weather changes; a meal is prepared and enjoyed. Every ending is accompanied by a beginning, though the beginning may be unclear .

The book also details the bodily aspects of dying, the final heaviness of the limbs, intense thirst, chills, and the struggle to breathe . But this gravity is lightened by Chödrön's tone of caring wisdom and her distinct personal experiences that reinforce a sense of humanity, humor, and connection .

Five Lessons from the Book:

1. Groundlessness is not a problem, it's an opportunity
Chödrön shares the most personal story she has ever told: her husband suddenly announced he was leaving her. One moment she was in a long-term marriage, the next moment she wasn't . For some time, she completely lost her bearings.

But instead of seeing this as a catastrophe, she saw it as a gift: "Something just disappeared on me, leaving me in a fertile, tremendously meaningful place where anything could happen and I could go in any direction I wanted" . She calls this experience "groundlessness." And she argues that every time our bubble is burst, we have a chance to become more used to the nature of how things are .

The teaching is radical: abrupt and shocking transitions can upend our world, but no experience of groundlessness is as powerful as the end of our own life. If we can learn to meet smaller losses with courage, we'll be better prepared for the biggest loss of all .

2. We don't have to wait for tragedy to practice
Chödrön is emphatic about this. We don't have to wait for enormous transitions to force us into reckoning with groundlessness. We can begin right away to notice the transitory nature of each day and each hour . Every ending, a breath, a day, a relationship, a meal, is an opportunity to practice letting go.

She recommends simple practices: notice when you're caught up in thoughts and pause. Slow down enough to notice there are always gaps in dense, thought-filled experience, and become familiar with these gaps as glimpses of the unfabricated, nonconceptual nature of mind.

3. Toxic emotions are not enemies, they're teachers
Chödrön addresses the "kleshas"—toxic emotions like craving, anger, and ignorance. Instead of resenting these emotions, we can appreciate them for giving us insight into the experience of others . They can help us develop empathy with all humanity.

The practice is deceptively simple: "Whatever is happening, stay there, right with what you're feeling. Slow down and pay attention. Develop the capacity to stay in those uncomfortable, edgy places of uncertainty, vulnerability, and insecurity" . This is not about fixing or suppressing emotions. It's about being present with them.

4. You can't feel for others what you can't feel for yourself
Chödrön writes: "We can only stand in the shoes of others to the degree that we can stand in our own" . To the degree that we can feel what we feel, to that degree we will be able to know firsthand what others feel . This is why sitting with discomfort matters. It's not self-indulgent. It's the foundation of compassion. By contemplating our sameness with others, we may begin to question the illusion of separateness.

5. Trust the natural choreography
Chödrön shares a phrase from a teacher: "Life has its own natural choreography" . She found that when she lets go and trusts this choreography, what emerges is much more inspired, creative, and interesting than anything her mind could come up with.

This is another way of talking about trusting reality. We can start by letting go in small ways, leaving notes behind when speaking, allowing a conversation to unfold without planning. The more we practice, the more comfortable we become with uncertainty. And that comfort is what we'll need when we face our final moments.

How We Live Is How We Die is a book about death that makes you want to live more fully. Chödrön writes with the wisdom of someone who has spent decades practicing what she teaches and the warmth of someone who has suffered and found a way through.

The core message is simple and profound: how we deal with change now is how we'll deal with change later. How we relate to things falling apart today foreshadows how we'll relate to things falling apart when we die . The more we can be present with uncertainty, vulnerability, and insecurity—without running away, the more fearlessly we'll confront death and what lies beyond .

Read it slowly. Let each chapter settle. And when life falls apart, as it inevitably will, remember: this is practice.

One line to carry with you:
"Habituating ourselves a little every day to the basic groundlessness of life will pay large dividends at the end of life."

That's the whole thing. Not easy. But true.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/4w09qhg

Enjoy the audio book with FREE trial using the link above. Use the link to register on audible and start enjoying!

Trust is key… May we trust each other and those that are othered. May we trust ourselves and this world…

‘There is no harm in you or any other. There is only the thought of it, and the thought has no substance.’

🎶 WOMEN WHO LOVE TO SING — and who live within cooee of Stroud NSW - Newcastle, Hunter, Midcoast – THIS IS FOR YOU 💛

A beautiful midweek Meditation & Women’s Song Circle Retreat is happening this May (within a few hours’ drive), and it’s something a little different…

✨ No performance
✨ No experience needed
✨ Just simple songs, silence, and space to breathe

This is for women who:
• love singing (even quietly!)
• are craving rest, calm, and connection
• want a few days away from the busyness of life
• feel nourished by music, mindfulness, and meaningful spaces

It’s a gentle, welcoming environment — many women come on their own and leave feeling deeply connected.

💛 If this speaks to you, or reminds you of someone who might love it, let me know in the comments below…

These retreats often fill through word of mouth, so feel free to tag or share with a friend who’d enjoy this.

Sometimes all it takes is someone saying, “This made me think of you.” 🎶

Yes! Yes! Just for today. Just this…

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Don’t expect praise or gain or anything else. If you let go a little you a will have a little peace; if you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace; if you let go completely you will have complete peace.

~ Ajahn Chah
🤍🧘‍♀️🌸