I am thankful for...Your 3 minutes begins

I have been trying a new thing. Mindful journaling. Mindful journaling is essentially setting aside a few minutes each day (I do three minutes) to write exactly whatever arises in your mind. Whatever crops up you write it. You set a timer (in this case for three minutes) and you can't stop writing until it buzzes. If you can't think of anything to write and your mind goes blank, then the object would be to write "I can't think of anything to write". I have done that. It's quite funny. There are no rules about what you can/can't write about - just keep writing! You can even let your grammar go to pot if you like. I do. In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a stickler for good grammar. Your when it should be you're, it's when it should be its. Tut tut. But actually (and please don't tell anyone this), I find it quite liberating to let it all go for a few moments.

Anyway, I've just finished today's writing and the topic I chose was "I am thankful for....". Here is the unedited result. I thought I would share it. Just because.

I wonder what experiences your neurons might give to you if you try this. Let me know?

"I am thankful for giving myself better mental habits to engage in. I'm thankful for supportive friends. I'm thankful to the efforts of the IAPT team. I'm thankful for the invention of electricity, for broadband, and the internet and Google and laptops and mousepads and mobile phones and texting, and taps with clean running water, and twitter and freedom of speech and snooker and the snooker coverage and radio 4, and shoes, and insoles and science."

So there you have it. In those three minutes I wanted to be thankful for those things. I suppose raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are pretty cool too, but they didn't crop up during those three minutes.

I wish you well.

Looking Lovely

I just like this, so I wanted to share it :)

Please take from this whatever happiness you feel comfortable taking.

Hope...

Whether you're interesting in politics, whether you were eligible to vote in US elections, whether you wanted Mitt Romney or Barack Obama to win, now doesn't really matter because Barack Obama has won this one. This short post is not about political persuasion.

So, to put all those factors to one side and look simply at the words, I wanted to share a very small portion of Obama's victory speech from last night. It is just one sentence about hope. Whether you like him or not, I think that this is a very powerful statement and so true as to what hope really is.

Please allow this to inspire you.

"I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us, so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting."
A full transcript of the speech is available on the The White House website.

It's All Over...

Here is a photograph that I took today of the flypast over central London to mark the end of London 2012.


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Thames Festival Fireworks

So, here's a few photographs that I took tonight of the Thames Festival Fireworks.


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In Memory of Neil Armstrong

This is a photograph that I took of the moon a couple of months ago. After hearing about the very sad passing of Neil Armstrong, I researched the location of the Apollo 11 landing sites to see if I could see that part of the moon in the photo. I could, so Neil, this is for you. Thank you.


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A Perfect Geographical Tribute

This is just so poignant.

Discovered recently by a passing hot air balloonist, this heart shaped feature emerges as a vision from the surrounding woods.



The story behind it which I saw in the Daily Mail is a real tearjerker though.

A man who's wife passed away 17 years ago wished to create a lasting tribute to the woman he had loved for so many years.

"The farmer planted thousands of oak saplings in a six-acre field – but left a heart-shaped area in the middle, with the point facing towards his wife’s childhood home."
-- from the Mail Online

You can actually see this in Google Earth.



Or if you don't have Google Earth, you can see it upside down in Google Maps.

Rochester Row

Eight thirty, and shutters up,
The lone drummer, swaying in the breeze,

Chimes ring out for ten,
The bookbinders bound by the awning,

For some their time has come,
With dignity, she lays them to rest,

Ants search for their next lair to colonise,
Pacing to the beat of the speaker's voice,

With wispy hair and apple in hand,
The ink pours into storytelling mode,

Back to their posts in all directions,
March the armies of orange blue and white,

Five thirty the exodus begins,
Delta, Victor, India, India.

I Could Listen To You All Day

We all have voices that we like to listen to. Sometimes, it's the familiar, comforting person such as a parent, or good friend. Other times though, there are certain people who we don't know per se, but there is something about their voice that we really like.

Below are some clips of famous people who have voices that I really like. So in no specific order, here are my favourite voices! It turns out that I really like English accents that are well enunciated, with a hint of Scottish sometimes!

Who would be yours?

Richard Wilson



Judi Dench - who is said to have components of the perfect voice



Joanna Lumley (she starts speaking at 1 minute)



Sir David Attenborough



Matthew Macfadyen - specifically in the M&S Simply Food adverts. Even though I am a completely straight guy, I almost go weak at the knees when I hear his voice in these adverts.....almost!



Ronnie Corbett



Dick Van Dyke, specifically as Dr Sloan though! And when it's combined with some singing, I can't help but smile. This starts around the 2 minute mark.



Keeley Hawes, who is actually married to Matthew Macfadyen! Their kids are destined to grow up with the perfect accents!

June Has Flown Past - Literally!

June has seen two military flypasts for London with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and annual Trooping the Colour. Here are some photographs that I took of the flypasts. Some are better than others, but enjoy!

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Flypast



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Trooping the Colour 2012 Flypast



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The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Sixty years in the making,

Four days of pomp and pageantry,

Giddy-up, giddy-up,

The sun reflects off the stirrups,

The armada sets sail,

The river teaming with oars,

A guard of honour lines the route,

A magic horse opens up the clouds,

A sea of ants sets up camp beneath a clear sky,

Crotches and quavers ring out for "Mummy" and co,

The ants dance, shout and sing,

A million diamonds launched into the sky,

Her loyal subjects offer their thanks,

Together with the roar of fast jets,

Trooping the colours of red, white and blue,

United we say in God save the Queen.

My Latest Shot of The Cheese

I grabbed this one the other night. Quite happy with it!


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How Homer Simpson Is Helping Me To Breathe

Recently, I made a post about how I was starting the practice of Mindfulness Meditation. I said in that post, regarding any changes that I may notice as a result of the practices that "As these evolve, I may share some of them here." In fact, I am going to change that slightly and not share a change per se, but a process I am struggling with, but beginning to improve upon -- all with the help of my hero, Homer Simpson.

A key component of Mindfulness is to pay attention to the breath to help develop attention training.

I have been finding this very difficult. I am still finding it quite challenging, but hey I am in the process of learning. I have just embarked upon this practice. I would not expect myself to become fluent in a language I cannot speak instantly. I would need to spend time on my verbs, or trying to figure out why if I only want to thank one person I still say thanks when I think it should be just "thank". Anyway, I digress.

Yes, so focusing my attention on the breath. What I found has been happening, is that as soon as I turn my attention to my breath, it feels awkward, unnatural and forced. I think what is happening here in part is that I am making a judgement on what it should/shouldn't feel like and trying to force my breathing to fit that idea, instead of just letting the breath be.

Enter Homer Simpson. What I've been practicing is to pretend that I am Homer Simpson. One of the scenes that Homer is often shown in is repeating the simple action of something. In this case below, you'll see him activating a hospital bed. "Bed goes up, bed goes down, bed goes up, bed goes down", and so on. I am trying to just have that notion of "notice the breath goes in, notice the breath goes out" (whether that be noticed in the nostrils, abdomen or whole body experience). The only point of difference from the video is that Homer is making the bed go up and down, where as I am just noticing when the action of breath takes place.

If you're like me (first contact your doctor and ask to see their psychiatrist), and struggling to breath properly, let Homer help you. He is a man of great wisdom.



Mmmmm forbidden happiness.

Hope For My Amygdalae

For me, the Amygdalae are the most interesting part of the brain. Known for its role in the processing of memory and emotional reactions, it is thought to play a key role in the response of fear.

My interest is largely due to having had a rather strained relationship with amygdalae. Having suffered from anxiety, sometimes to a highly debilitating level for many years, it is probably fair to say that I have somewhat of an "overactive amygdalae"! I like that it's there - I'm most likely alive because of it, but sometimes I do wish it would quieten down a bit. I find it quite humourous that I am talking a part of me as if it's a separate character. I suppose we'll leave the debate on what makes a person, a person for another time though!

Anyway, it seems as though there is hope for "me" and my amygdalae and all I have to do is to search in a place rather close to home - myself.

For some time now, I have been interested in the practice of Mindfulness. There are several opinions as to its exact definition, but as I understand it, it's a form of meditation in which you pay very close attention to the present moment in a non judgemental and compassionate way. My interest has, up until quite recently been passive, in the sense that I have had an interest in its concept, dabbled in it a bit, but never really got to a practicing stage. Very recently, this has begun to change. I have noticed a few positive changes already, enough to make me want to stick with it too (which is impressive as I usually get all impatient and give up on anything that hasn't worked after 30 seconds!). As these evolve, I may share some of them here.

Right, I'm mindful of the fact I'm beginning to waffle. So to get the point. Recent FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans taken from Buddhist monks have shown that practicing mindfulness can actually have a effect on the amygdalae and down-regulate it. Chances are I'll never become a Buddhist Monk (orange doesn't suit me for a start!), but the good news is that changes have been observed in those regular folk who have only practiced it for a short period of time. So, there is hope for my amygdalae!

I would recommend highly that you take one hour of your time to watch the video below, in which the above is described in more detail  (around the 15 minute mark if you don't have time to watch the whole thing). It's about a program developed by Chade-Meng Tan, an engineer at Google called "Search Inside Yourself" and is designed to cultivate your "Emotional Intelligence". I found it to be insightful, inspiring and humourous.



I wish you happiness.