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MENTORING As you may know, I've been working as a qualified, UKCP-accredited psychotherapist for more than 8 years and see clients on Zoom for long and short-term work. This is profound work that looks to free up the unhelpful patterns that build up over a lifetime. I use integrative psychotherapy and energy psychology to work with trauma. If you're interested in this psychotherapy work, then you can find out more here . But sometimes that intense, long-term work is not what is needed. And so, from March 2026, I am offering one-to-one mentoring: compassionate conversations where we can discuss single issues in one or two sessions. In a friendly, 45-minute conversation, held in a warm and relational space, we might look at: spiritual issues from any direction where a Buddhist lens might prove inspiring advice and solutions for your therapy work or meditational teaching relational gridlocks where friends, family or partners are causing you anguish blockages and whirlpools at work or in creative endeavours financial, physiological, work-life conundrums the complexities of the LGBTQ+ experience mid-life issues and positioning yourself for new adventures Compassion conversations can bring a fresh set of eyes to any issue where you're stuck. Even a single session might bring solutions and plans that help you move forward. Less intense than therapy, but perhaps the kindly space you need to move things on. Sessions can be one-offs or on a monthly or sporadic rhythm when they are needed and we can agree time-slots to suit your calendar. A 45-minute session costs £45. You can arrange a session by filling in the form below. If you have any further questions, please message me on therapy@mind-springs.org. Don't struggle on your own when a compassionate conversation might set you right. Please note that compassionate conversations are not a substitute for medical care. If you are in serious psychological anguish, then please contact your GP or medical doctor for treatment. I am not an accredited therapy supervisor, so please check before bringing client work. My mentoring work also adheres to the UKCP Counselling and Psychotherapy guidelines, which can be found here . All discussions remain strictly confidential in line with those guidelines. For deeper, prolonged work that involves the treatment of trauma, please read my psychotherapy page here . Request a Mentoring Session Please take a moment to fill out the form. First Name Last Name Email Phone number Give brief outline of what you would like to discuss Submit

ALISTAIR APPLETON Hello there! I'm so happy that you've taken a moment to follow your nose and find out more about the face on the telly! As well as my TV work on Escape to the Country , House Doctor and Cash in the Attic , I'm also an accredited psychotherapist and meditation teacher living down in Sussex with my husband, Daniel, and my dog, Ben. Please scroll down and have a nose around... Keep up to date with me Living more calmly... Following my own advice, I escaped to the country from London in 2013 and live near the sea in East Sussex. I'm a very enthusiastic Buddhist meditator and I've been teaching people how to meditate for more than 15 years! That passion gave birth to Mindsprings the organisations I run that explores the uses of therapeutic meditation. Learn to meditate with me Beating anxiety... Around 2012, I got ill. After a very stressful breakup, working crazy hours, finishing an intense therapy training and buying and renovating a London home. At the time I didn't know it was anxiety, but I couldn't sleep, felt constantly tired and worried about everything. In the last 10 years, I've worked hard to understand and transform my anxiety. And that's one of the things I help other people to overcome too. Master your anxiety safely Inviting you to stay in touch... I'm always so happy when people say hello or stop to say how much they like the show on TV. I'm also very happy when people pick up something from my on-screen work and follow a hunch that they might like to know more about me. So I've built this beautiful website to help you stay in touch and join the community of people who meditate with me or who are exploring therapeutic meditation. Please do explore the Mindsprings site Meditation Explore all the free teaching, video, podcasts as well as retreats, self-study courses and classes. Read More > Presenting If you're a producer or filmmaker and would like to contact me for TV and film projects Contact me > Therapy To find how therapeutic meditation can help you with anxiety, please click below Therapeutic meditation > Public speaking I'm always delighted to give keynotes, offer corporate training and give talks. Don't hesitate to ask me. Book me >

Alistair Appletons Mindsprings Podcast PODCAST

Resources for LGBTQ+ and Allies in the Legal Profession This is a collection of resources and guided practices following Alistair's presentation 'Rainbows Brighten the Workplace'. Please feel free to browse and do get in touch in you have any questions. Excellent Online Resources https://pinktherapy.com/resources/ https://genderedintelligence.co.uk/ https://switchboard.lgbt/ https://www.consortium.lgbt/about-us/ https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/lgbtqia-mental-health/useful-contacts/ https://www.lawcare.org.uk/get-information/articles/lgbtq-lawyers/#links Four Exercises to Break the Stress Spiral THE DECOMPRESSION BREATH THE EYE STRETCH THE CALM POINT THE HA! Principles of Allyship don’t be prejudiced take action against discrimination have humility re. LGBTQ+ issues Four Thoughts Your Human Life is Precious It is Also Fleeting What You Do Matters Place Your Energy Wisely

Alistair Appletons Mindsprings Videos VIDEOS Tauchen Sie ein in diese kostenlose Bibliothek mit Videounterricht von Alistair. Diese Videos stammen aus Live-Sessions und beinhalten: geführte Meditationen (normalerweise ca. 30-40 Minuten) Lehre zu verschiedenen Themen: Körperbasierte Meditation, Mitgefühl, innere Familiensysteme und vieles mehr.. Alistairs Antworten an Studenten Wir haben die über 150 Videos in verschiedenen Kanälen und Kategorien organisiert. Klicken Sie unten, um ein Thema zu erkunden, das Sie interessiert. Films and Fun Things Good for Beginners Tips and Talks on How to Meditate Bringing the Body Online Buddhist Dharma Soothing & Centring the Body-MInd Maitri: Loving Your Inner Parts Community Favorites Opening the Heart to Others All the Guided Meditations All the Teaching Untangling Thoughts & Thinking Films and Fun Stuff This is a collection of some short films and documentaries Alistair has made: An Introduction to Holy Island Green Tara Island Thoughts on the Sea Sitting the Downs Video abspielen Video abspielen Kapalabati unpacked Another nuts and bolts explanation of a practice we often do in Mindsprings sessions, Skull Brightening Breath (Kapalabati). This is potential energy clearing breath practice #pranayama #explanation #kapalabti #meditation #short Video abspielen Video abspielen Is meditation in the real world better than meditation at home? Is meditation another thing you do or is it part of your everyday life? From the car park of M25 Services at Cobham, whilst away filming for Escape to the Country, .From the carpark of M25 Services at Cobham, I answer Jane's question about the benefit of formal practice vs. everyday practice. #short #meditation #practice #dzogchen #shamata Video abspielen Video abspielen Images for suffusing awareness As we practice the rising-descending torus meditation, the question of how to describe the process of 'suffusion' in energy leads to discussion of various images #short #imagery #awareness #meditation #suffusion #Pali #Tripitika Video abspielen Video abspielen The purpose is not to be calm Jane speaks about John Kabat-Zinn's refutation of meditation as a 'calming' thing. And I agree... It's much more powerful than that. Video abspielen Video abspielen Intro to the Practice of Five The introduction to my shamata-vipassana meditation called 'The Practice of Five'. This involves an alternating practice of calm abiding and beingful awareness, measured out by the fingers of each hand #explanation #practiceoffive #shamata #vipassana #meditation #teaching Video abspielen Video abspielen Practice of Fives unpacked From the car in Pembrokeshire, I unpack the practice of fives, which combines shamata and vipassana in an alternating sequence. #teaching #shamata #vipassana #explanation #meditation #guide Video abspielen Video abspielen The aerated sense of self Following on from Valerie's description of her experience in the four fields practice, I talk about the 'aerated' sense of self which comes when we learn to see our self as constructed of discrete phenomena. #fourfields #beingfulness #noself #self #teaching Video abspielen Video abspielen The Three Stages of Shamata Following Dameon's question about the shamata / self-soothing practice (without mantra) I go through the three stages of the practice and outline some of the benefits. #teaching #meditation # shamata #soothing Films & Fun Stuff Video abspielen Video abspielen 01:55 Without string a violin is just a box A snippet from our Tuesday evening live sessions where the focus is on stress-reduction and anxiety. This was a wonderful exploration of grief. Come and join us - the first month is completely free : https://www.mind-springs.org/online-live Video abspielen Video abspielen The Island For those who have never been to Holy Island, Alistair gives some introductory pointers and a little taste of why it's so magical... Video abspielen Video abspielen Green Tara Island Alistair speaks from Holy Island about the need for clean, compassionate action in the world, represented by the Tibetan figure of Green Tara. Video abspielen Video abspielen Caves Alistair continues his exploration of Holy Island. In this video he ponders the magic of meditating in caves. Video abspielen Video abspielen The Sea! The Sea! Alistair ponders the role of the sea in spiritual practice Video abspielen Video abspielen Mindsprings - Sit the Downs Alistair Appleton teaches us how to open to the landscape below us using somatic meditation Video abspielen Video abspielen Head-in-the-Sand Land Alistair speaks to the psychological underpinnings of climate change denial. We can find a way of empathising with that desire to dissociate the unthinkable. Beginners Good for Beginners Here are a dozen practices that give you a good taste of embodied meditation. Many of them done standing up: Starting with a lovely set of energy practices, bring energy into the standing body Then moving into the classic Mindsprings relaxation, Polyvagal Tuning . Then a brace of practice looking at tracking the energy around the somatic circuit And three practices working with awareness and stillness: 3 Objects , Mantra and the Practice of Fives Then there are two tasters of Beingfulness and Tonglen Finishing with a recap of the energy workout with my dog, Ben. Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:39 Windhorse Practice I During the Summer 2025 retreat on Holy Island, Alistair introduced a new, short meditation practice that is based on the Tibetan Windhorse practice. This was the first time he taught it to the Zoom community. #windhorse #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 36:07 GM Windhorse III Video abspielen Video abspielen 36:03 Windhorse Standing and Sitting A 40' guided version of the Windhorse practice - both standing and sitting. A great everyday practice that uses 7x7 breaths. #windhorse #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 32:06 Fighting Festive Frazzle The Annual Mindsprings session giving some tips and tricks from the world of therapy and meditation to navigate the ups and downs of Christmas #fightingfestivefrazzle #XmasFirstAid #holidaystress Video abspielen Video abspielen 22:09 Festive Do's and Don'ts A list of 10 Dos and Don'ts for getting through Xmas in one piece #FightingFestiveFrazzle Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:37 GM Kaleidoscope Returning to a classic Beingfulness practice, in this Monday session from Spring 2024, we enjoy sitting in the four fields like a child playing with a kaleidoscope. #kaleidoscope #beingfulness #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 42:23 GM Expanding Through the Senses Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:38 Three Objects 2024 Starting 2024 with the classic meditation for sharpening our experience of awareness and how we have the power to move it at will. A wonderful practice for any occasion. #threeobjects #Beingfulness #Monday #awareness Tips and Talks on How to Meditate After and during many of the live Mindsprings sessions, Alistair talks about some of the misconceptions and common questions arising for meditators. These 13 short talks address a potpourri of subjects: Eyes shut or open during meditation? Not identifying with our thoughts The goal of the 'aerated' self Meditation on the cushion vs. meditation in the 'real' world Not falling into the pitfall of looking for calm Some practical unpacking of practices like kapalabati and the practice of fives How to Meditate Video abspielen Video abspielen Kapalabati unpacked Another nuts and bolts explanation of a practice we often do in Mindsprings sessions, Skull Brightening Breath (Kapalabati). This is potential energy clearing breath practice #pranayama #explanation #kapalabti #meditation #short Video abspielen Video abspielen Is meditation in the real world better than meditation at home? Is meditation another thing you do or is it part of your everyday life? From the car park of M25 Services at Cobham, whilst away filming for Escape to the Country, .From the carpark of M25 Services at Cobham, I answer Jane's question about the benefit of formal practice vs. everyday practice. #short #meditation #practice #dzogchen #shamata Video abspielen Video abspielen Images for suffusing awareness As we practice the rising-descending torus meditation, the question of how to describe the process of 'suffusion' in energy leads to discussion of various images #short #imagery #awareness #meditation #suffusion #Pali #Tripitika Video abspielen Video abspielen The purpose is not to be calm Jane speaks about John Kabat-Zinn's refutation of meditation as a 'calming' thing. And I agree... It's much more powerful than that. Video abspielen Video abspielen Intro to the Practice of Five The introduction to my shamata-vipassana meditation called 'The Practice of Five'. This involves an alternating practice of calm abiding and beingful awareness, measured out by the fingers of each hand #explanation #practiceoffive #shamata #vipassana #meditation #teaching Video abspielen Video abspielen Practice of Fives unpacked From the car in Pembrokeshire, I unpack the practice of fives, which combines shamata and vipassana in an alternating sequence. #teaching #shamata #vipassana #explanation #meditation #guide Video abspielen Video abspielen The aerated sense of self Following on from Valerie's description of her experience in the four fields practice, I talk about the 'aerated' sense of self which comes when we learn to see our self as constructed of discrete phenomena. #fourfields #beingfulness #noself #self #teaching Video abspielen Video abspielen The Three Stages of Shamata Following Dameon's question about the shamata / self-soothing practice (without mantra) I go through the three stages of the practice and outline some of the benefits. #teaching #meditation # shamata #soothing Maitri How to Meditate Buddhist Dharma Every Thursday, Alistair lets his 'dharma flag fly' and leads the Mindspringers in an exploration of Buddhist teaching (known as dharma). How do the 2,500 years of Buddhist practice and teaching help us suffer less, and how can we apply these amazingly useful skills in our meditation and in our everyday life? Some teachings are arranged in series (Karama, Atisha etc) and some are more diffuse. Please explore! Video abspielen Video abspielen 40:55 Karma 7- The Gap between Affect and Interpretation is the Point of Liberation Still exploring the theme of karma. And the ultimate karmic 'mistake' which is Selfing. Alistair unpacks this and leads us in a meditation to experience it. #karma #discussion #dharma #vipaka #imprint Video abspielen Video abspielen 21:31 Karma 7 Discussion: No-Self is just Chuckling The puzzle of pratitya samutpada or interdependent co-arising. How does that apply to pleasure for example? How pleasure tips into grasping and thence suffering. #karma #discussion #dharma #selfing Video abspielen Video abspielen 40:01 Karma 1 - The Buddha's Radicalism Following Alistair's course in Scarborough in 2025, this is the first of short group of sessions unpacking this central Buddhist theme, and dispelling some of the misconceptions about it. #karma #dharma Video abspielen Video abspielen 41:19 Karma 8 Finale - Don't Take Things So Personally This is the last part of our 8-week series on Karma, ending 2025. We look at the Vajrayana understanding of Karma and the ultimate view of karmic conditioning. Alistair unpacks this and leads us in a meditation to experience it. #karma #discussion #dharma #vajrayana #vajrasattva #tantra Video abspielen Video abspielen 12:41 Karma 2 Discussion: You Can't Control Karma but you Can Influence it Intentionality is central to the Buddhist idea of karma. Meeting the circumstances of life through the framework of intention or cetana. The basic flavour of this framework might be kindness. #karma #discussion #dharma #intentions Video abspielen Video abspielen 14:37 Karma 3 Discussion: Guilt in Buddhism and Dante's Inferno Going deeper into the notions of vipaka and imprints. How does Buddhism think about guilt or shame? If Lucifer is at the bottom of the pit in Christianity, what is at the bottom of Buddhism? We shouldn't be ashamed of correcting our vipakas. #karma #discussion #dharma #intentions Video abspielen Video abspielen 14:06 Karma 8 Discussion: The Vajrasattva Waterfall It's not your fault. The only thing you can do is tend your mind now. You can let go of guilt. Don't take it so personally. Alistair recites the Vajrasattva mantra #karma #discussion #dharma #vajrayana #vajrasattva Video abspielen Video abspielen 10:53 Karma 5 Discussion: The difference between asavas and sankharas Exploring the subtle difference between outflows and constructs. Our intentions are on the same trampoline as all other intentions. #karma #discussion #dharma #intentions Bringing the Body Online Bringing the Body Online Mindsprings grounds a lot of the meditation we do in the body and this is a great selection of somatic practices: We start with two simple energy exercises which you can use before any practice session. Then there's little talk on the specific nature of somatic practice. Two practices introduce Alistair's Polyvagal Tuning which is a great somatic practice for bringing us into a positive body-mind state. Then there is a suite of practices introducing the Somatic Circuit - a great way to find your way back into the body. Next, are practices opening up this space: the Somatic Tent . Followed by a more advanced energy practice known as the Torus . Finally, there is the classic practice of Earth Breathing and some somatic practices opening the heart for Compassion work. Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:29 GM Energy Workout & Tune Ups Starting a new sequence of Tuesday teachings looking at energy psychology, Alistair explains the concepts of online/offline and guides us through Donna Eden's energy workout #energypsychology #tapping #online #tuneups #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 42:07 GM Being with the Body Following the May Cliffhouse retreat with the subject of "Sitting with the Body", this Monday morning session took up the same theme. #4fields #7cycles #body #beingfulness Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:18 GM Earth Breathing & Ego Loop From our Tuesday evening session in late March 2024. Combining the classic earth breathing practice with an exploration of the source of our anxiety - the ego loop. #earthbreathing #egoloop #tuesday #meditation Video abspielen Video abspielen 34:56 GM Voo & The Jellyfish From our Tuesday session in April 2024. This was in 2 parts. The first using the VOO breath to calm the nervous system and then a lying-down practice exploring the vagus nerve. #vagus #nervoussystem #calming #guided #breathing Video abspielen Video abspielen 42:43 GM Shamata on Sounds From our 2024 season looking at Shamata - Vipashyna. This Shamata practice uses sound as the anchor. #shamata #sounds #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 33:15 GM Polyvagal Tuning The classic stress busting exercise from Mindsprings. Lie down and let the ventral vagal tone take over. #PVT #Stress #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 33:36 GM The Blind Body From our Monday session in mid June 2023, where we were exploring the body-from-within. #beingfulness #body #somatic #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 43:12 GM 8 Cycles of the Body From our Monday session on 3rd July 2023, looking at the body field in our exploration of Beingfulness. This is a lying down practice exploring the 8 interlocking and inter-nested cycles of somatic phenomena. #beingfulness #somatic #cycles #guided Thoughts & Thinking Untangling Thoughts & Thinking After and during many of the live Mindsprings sessions, Alistair talks about some of the misconceptions and common questions arising for meditators. These 13 short talks address a potpourri of subjects: Eyes shut or open during meditation? Not identifying with our thoughts The goal of the 'aerated' self Meditation on the cushion vs. meditation in the 'real' world Not falling into the pitfall of looking for calm Some practical unpacking of practices like kapalabati and the practice of fives Soothing & Centring the Body-Mind Central to all meditation is the ability to calm and soothe the body-mind. Without this, all further therapeutic elaborations tend to disappear in a morass of fizzy distraction: The soothing practice of Earth Breathing Shamata or calming practice: the practice of Fives Working with mantra Frond breathing Tonglen and compassion for our own experience Soothing & Centring Maitri: Loving Your Inner Parts Before we can love others we have to be aware of and love the multiplicity of parts within our own psyche. The practice of maitri (of self-compassion) explores this with the help of Richard Schwartz' Internal Family Systems. Beginning with a short overview, we dive into the crucial experience of the 'backspace which gives us the somatic field of loving-kindness into which our parts can peep. we can explore the parts that Schwartz identifies as firefighters, managers and exiles in our practice and bring some kindness and clarity to them. These parts often manifest in specific somatic ways as explored in the teaching around cylinders Two more talks about the wider ramifications of this work in our lives. Maitri Opening the Heart to Others Ultimately all our practice comes back to how we relate to others. The cast-iron patterns of selfishness are hard to soften. But therapeutic meditation turns a lot to Buddhist practice here: Guided practices to feel the embodied 'backspace' essential for compassion practice Embodied versions of the Buddhist practice of tonglen Explorations of the awakened heart or bodhicitta Discussing the practical challenges of loving others Compassion All the Guided Practices The Mindsprings Video library contains more than 50 guided meditations ranging from 10 to 50 minutes. Please use the search function to pinpoint the practice you want or look through the categories to find inspiration. All GMs All the Teaching The Mindsprings Video library contains more than 100 recorded teachings. Some are short answers to questions Alistair gave during sessions. Some are longer teaching on meditation, therapy or Buddhism. Please use the search function to pinpoint the practice you want or look through the categories to find inspiration. All Teaching

Relax and Enjoy — a community enquiry from Alistair / Mindsprings I've been exploring two deceptively simple questions for most of this year: what does it mean to genuinely relax, and what does it mean to genuinely enjoy your life? Not as self-improvement goals but as something more fundamental — a natural condition that somehow keeps getting squeezed out. I'd love your help thinking this through. This isn't a formal survey — it's an invitation to reflect, and your answers will genuinely shape how I teach and write about this. There are no right answers, and partial or uncertain responses are just as useful as confident ones. Take as much or as little space as you need. First name Last name Email Part One - Relaxation 1. In your own experience, what most gets in the way of relaxing? This might be external (circumstances, busyness, other people) or internal (thoughts, physical tension, a feeling that you shouldn't). Feel free to be specific and personal rather than general. Obstacles to relaxation 2. And on the other side — what conditions, if any, tend to allow relaxation to happen? Not what you do to relax, but what seems to create the ground for it to arise naturally. Things that foster relaxation 3. On a scale of 1–5, how easy do you find it to relax in ordinary daily life? (1 = very difficult, 5 = comes fairly naturally) Ease of relaxation 4. A word question: does "relax" feel like the right word for what we're pointing at, or does it carry unhelpful associations for you? Some people find it implies going limp or switching off. Others associate it with effort ("I'm trying to relax"). Does the word land well, or would something like ease feel closer? "Relax" - is it the right word? Part Two - Enjoyment NOTE: When I use the word "enjoyment" I'm talking about a state of mind that makes experience meaningful and enjoyable. It's not necessarily linked to pleasurable conditions. We might for example be able to enjoy sadness. It's more akin to an ability to savour our existence. 5. What most gets in the way of genuine enjoyment in your life? Again, external or internal, circumstantial or habitual. Try to be specific if you can — the particular is more useful here than the general. Obstacles to enjoyment 6. What conditions, if any, seem to allow enjoyment to arise naturally? Conditions for enjoyment 7. On a scale of 1–5, how much genuine enjoyment would you say is present in your daily life? (1 = very little, 5 = quite a lot) Star rating 8. Another word question, and possibly the most interesting one: When you hear the word enjoy , what does it evoke? Pleasure? Happiness? Something forced or performative ("enjoy your meal!")? Does it feel like a shallow word, or does it carry real meaning for you? And does savour feel different — more embodied, more present-tense, more about quality of attention? Or does it feel precious or food-specific? "Enjoy" - is it the right word? Part Three - A little terminology 9. Have you encountered the idea of "observer consciousness" — the sense of a part of you watching your own experience from a slight distance? Observer Consciousness Yes, I'm familiar with this I've heard it but I don't know what it means for me This is not something I recognise If you're familiar with it — do you find it a useful concept in your own practice, or does it create problems? Further thoughts on observer 10. Is there a word or phrase that YOU use — in your own inner life or practice — for the quality of enjoyment and relaxation we're circling around here? Something that captures what it feels like when experience is being met well, received fully, without grasping or aversion? This is genuinely open — I'm curious what language arises naturally for people rather than what I've been teaching. Other language for 'relax and enjoy' Finally: Is there anything else you'd want to say about relaxation, enjoyment, or the relationship between them that these questions didn't quite reach? Final thoughts Many thanks! I really appreciate you taking the time to think about this stuff with me. I hope that it will all add up to something of benefit to the world. Best wishes, Alistair Submit

Alistair Appletons Mindsprings Videos VIDEOS Tauchen Sie ein in diese kostenlose Bibliothek mit Videounterricht von Alistair. Diese Videos stammen aus Live-Sessions und beinhalten: geführte Meditationen (normalerweise ca. 30-40 Minuten) Lehre zu verschiedenen Themen: Körperbasierte Meditation, Mitgefühl, innere Familiensysteme und vieles mehr.. Alistairs Antworten an Studenten Wir haben die über 150 Videos in verschiedenen Kanälen und Kategorien organisiert. Klicken Sie unten, um ein Thema zu erkunden, das Sie interessiert. Good for Beginners Tips and Talks on How to Meditate Bringing the Body Online Untangling Thoughts & Thinking Soothing & Centring the Body-MInd Maitri: Loving Your Inner Parts Opening the Heart to Others All the Guided Meditations All the Teaching Community Favorites Beginners Good for Beginners Here are a dozen practices that give you a good taste of embodied meditation. Many of them done standing up: Starting with a lovely set of energy practices, bring energy into the standing body Then moving into the classic Mindsprings relaxation, Polyvagal Tuning . Then a brace of practice looking at tracking the energy around the somatic circuit And three practices working with awareness and stillness: 3 Objects , Mantra and the Practice of Fives Then there are two tasters of Beingfulness and Tonglen Finishing with a recap of the energy workout with my dog, Ben. Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:39 Windhorse Practice I During the Summer 2025 retreat on Holy Island, Alistair introduced a new, short meditation practice that is based on the Tibetan Windhorse practice. This was the first time he taught it to the Zoom community. #windhorse #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 36:07 GM Windhorse III Video abspielen Video abspielen 36:03 Windhorse Standing and Sitting A 40' guided version of the Windhorse practice - both standing and sitting. A great everyday practice that uses 7x7 breaths. #windhorse #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 32:06 Fighting Festive Frazzle The Annual Mindsprings session giving some tips and tricks from the world of therapy and meditation to navigate the ups and downs of Christmas #fightingfestivefrazzle #XmasFirstAid #holidaystress Video abspielen Video abspielen 22:09 Festive Do's and Don'ts A list of 10 Dos and Don'ts for getting through Xmas in one piece #FightingFestiveFrazzle Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:37 GM Kaleidoscope Returning to a classic Beingfulness practice, in this Monday session from Spring 2024, we enjoy sitting in the four fields like a child playing with a kaleidoscope. #kaleidoscope #beingfulness #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 42:23 GM Expanding Through the Senses Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:38 Three Objects 2024 Starting 2024 with the classic meditation for sharpening our experience of awareness and how we have the power to move it at will. A wonderful practice for any occasion. #threeobjects #Beingfulness #Monday #awareness Tips and Talks on How to Meditate After and during many of the live Mindsprings sessions, Alistair talks about some of the misconceptions and common questions arising for meditators. These 13 short talks address a potpourri of subjects: Eyes shut or open during meditation? Not identifying with our thoughts The goal of the 'aerated' self Meditation on the cushion vs. meditation in the 'real' world Not falling into the pitfall of looking for calm Some practical unpacking of practices like kapalabati and the practice of fives How to Meditate Video abspielen Video abspielen Kapalabati unpacked Another nuts and bolts explanation of a practice we often do in Mindsprings sessions, Skull Brightening Breath (Kapalabati). This is potential energy clearing breath practice #pranayama #explanation #kapalabti #meditation #short Video abspielen Video abspielen Is meditation in the real world better than meditation at home? Is meditation another thing you do or is it part of your everyday life? From the car park of M25 Services at Cobham, whilst away filming for Escape to the Country, .From the carpark of M25 Services at Cobham, I answer Jane's question about the benefit of formal practice vs. everyday practice. #short #meditation #practice #dzogchen #shamata Video abspielen Video abspielen Images for suffusing awareness As we practice the rising-descending torus meditation, the question of how to describe the process of 'suffusion' in energy leads to discussion of various images #short #imagery #awareness #meditation #suffusion #Pali #Tripitika Video abspielen Video abspielen The purpose is not to be calm Jane speaks about John Kabat-Zinn's refutation of meditation as a 'calming' thing. And I agree... It's much more powerful than that. Video abspielen Video abspielen Intro to the Practice of Five The introduction to my shamata-vipassana meditation called 'The Practice of Five'. This involves an alternating practice of calm abiding and beingful awareness, measured out by the fingers of each hand #explanation #practiceoffive #shamata #vipassana #meditation #teaching Video abspielen Video abspielen Practice of Fives unpacked From the car in Pembrokeshire, I unpack the practice of fives, which combines shamata and vipassana in an alternating sequence. #teaching #shamata #vipassana #explanation #meditation #guide Video abspielen Video abspielen The aerated sense of self Following on from Valerie's description of her experience in the four fields practice, I talk about the 'aerated' sense of self which comes when we learn to see our self as constructed of discrete phenomena. #fourfields #beingfulness #noself #self #teaching Video abspielen Video abspielen The Three Stages of Shamata Following Dameon's question about the shamata / self-soothing practice (without mantra) I go through the three stages of the practice and outline some of the benefits. #teaching #meditation # shamata #soothing Bringing the Body Online Bringing the Body Online Mindsprings grounds a lot of the meditation we do in the body and this is a great selection of somatic practices: We start with two simple energy exercises which you can use before any practice session. Then there's little talk on the specific nature of somatic practice. Two practices introduce Alistair's Polyvagal Tuning which is a great somatic practice for bringing us into a positive body-mind state. Then there is a suite of practices introducing the Somatic Circuit - a great way to find your way back into the body. Next, are practices opening up this space: the Somatic Tent . Followed by a more advanced energy practice known as the Torus . Finally, there is the classic practice of Earth Breathing and some somatic practices opening the heart for Compassion work. Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:29 GM Energy Workout & Tune Ups Starting a new sequence of Tuesday teachings looking at energy psychology, Alistair explains the concepts of online/offline and guides us through Donna Eden's energy workout #energypsychology #tapping #online #tuneups #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 42:07 GM Being with the Body Following the May Cliffhouse retreat with the subject of "Sitting with the Body", this Monday morning session took up the same theme. #4fields #7cycles #body #beingfulness Video abspielen Video abspielen 39:18 GM Earth Breathing & Ego Loop From our Tuesday evening session in late March 2024. Combining the classic earth breathing practice with an exploration of the source of our anxiety - the ego loop. #earthbreathing #egoloop #tuesday #meditation Video abspielen Video abspielen 34:56 GM Voo & The Jellyfish From our Tuesday session in April 2024. This was in 2 parts. The first using the VOO breath to calm the nervous system and then a lying-down practice exploring the vagus nerve. #vagus #nervoussystem #calming #guided #breathing Video abspielen Video abspielen 42:43 GM Shamata on Sounds From our 2024 season looking at Shamata - Vipashyna. This Shamata practice uses sound as the anchor. #shamata #sounds #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 33:15 GM Polyvagal Tuning The classic stress busting exercise from Mindsprings. Lie down and let the ventral vagal tone take over. #PVT #Stress #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 33:36 GM The Blind Body From our Monday session in mid June 2023, where we were exploring the body-from-within. #beingfulness #body #somatic #guided Video abspielen Video abspielen 43:12 GM 8 Cycles of the Body From our Monday session on 3rd July 2023, looking at the body field in our exploration of Beingfulness. This is a lying down practice exploring the 8 interlocking and inter-nested cycles of somatic phenomena. #beingfulness #somatic #cycles #guided Thoughts & Thinking Untangling Thoughts & Thinking After and during many of the live Mindsprings sessions, Alistair talks about some of the misconceptions and common questions arising for meditators. These 13 short talks address a potpourri of subjects: Eyes shut or open during meditation? Not identifying with our thoughts The goal of the 'aerated' self Meditation on the cushion vs. meditation in the 'real' world Not falling into the pitfall of looking for calm Some practical unpacking of practices like kapalabati and the practice of fives Soothing & Centring the Body-Mind Central to all meditation is the ability to calm and soothe the body-mind. Without this, all further therapeutic elaborations tend to disappear in a morass of fizzy distraction: The soothing practice of Earth Breathing Shamata or calming practice: the practice of Fives Working with mantra Frond breathing Tonglen and compassion for our own experience Soothing & Centring Maitri: Loving Your Inner Parts Before we can love others we have to be aware of and love the multiplicity of parts within our own psyche. The practice of maitri (of self-compassion) explores this with the help of Richard Schwartz' Internal Family Systems. Beginning with a short overview, we dive into the crucial experience of the 'backspace which gives us the somatic field of loving-kindness into which our parts can peep. we can explore the parts that Schwartz identifies as firefighters, managers and exiles in our practice and bring some kindness and clarity to them. These parts often manifest in specific somatic ways as explored in the teaching around cylinders Two more talks about the wider ramifications of this work in our lives. Maitri Opening the Heart to Others Ultimately all our practice comes back to how we relate to others. The cast-iron patterns of selfishness are hard to soften. But therapeutic meditation turns a lot to Buddhist practice here: Guided practices to feel the embodied 'backspace' essential for compassion practice Embodied versions of the Buddhist practice of tonglen Explorations of the awakened heart or bodhicitta Discussing the practical challenges of loving others Compassion All the Guided Practices The Mindsprings Video library contains more than 50 guided meditations ranging from 10 to 50 minutes. Please use the search function to pinpoint the practice you want or look through the categories to find inspiration. All GMs All the Teaching The Mindsprings Video library contains more than 100 recorded teachings. Some are short answers to questions Alistair gave during sessions. Some are longer teaching on meditation, therapy or Buddhism. Please use the search function to pinpoint the practice you want or look through the categories to find inspiration. All Teaching

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