Hello! This Thursday 8am UK session offers anyone a chance to experience some Buddhist-flavoured practice. It's ideal for people who are interested in Buddhism but don't know all the jargon. And it's a chance for the Mindsprings community to anchor their dharma practice. There'll be clear instruction each session so anyone can join - even (or especially) complete beginners. We practice for about 30 minutes and then have some time to talk and discuss what's going on. I'll use the last portion of the session to chat about some of the Buddhist ideas and clarify any questions people have.

Hello! This Tuesday 6pm UK session is a chance to plug into the Mindsprings methods for soothing the nervous system and unpicking the mechanisms of anxiety. We'll be practicing body-based techniques, breathworks and energy psychology each week. There'll be clear instruction each session so anyone can join - even (or especially) complete beginners. We practice for about 30 minutes and then have some time to talk and discuss what's going on. Many people find sharing their anxiety a great boon. Come along and finally do something about your shredded nerves.

A 45-minute conversation with Alistair to explore new aspects of a problem or issue that has been snaring you.

Are you battling with high levels of stress and anxiety? Alistair's online course Mastering the Monsters of Anxiety might be the way to tackle your anxiety in 2025. It's a self-paced online course you can work through from the comfort of your own home. And find the body-based solutions that can reduce those horrible sensations of panic and fear. Click through to access the course for just £50 this year. Use code MMA25 to get that discount. https://mypersonal.mind-springs.org/courses/mastering-the-monsters-of-anxiety-selfstudy

Guilty Feelings - a Community Enquiry by Alistair/ Mindsprings Guilt is one of those feelings that almost everyone recognises but very few people examine closely. But it can be corrosive, eating away at our well being and resisting analysis. I've been thinking about guilt a lot recently, and I suspect it's more complex — and more varied — than it first appears. I'd love your help exploring it. This isn't a formal survey — it's an invitation to look honestly at your experience of 'guilt-ish' feelings, and your answers will genuinely shape how I teach and write about this. There are no right answers. Take as much space as you need. And thank you in advance! Your name (optional) Email (optional — only if you'd like to hear what we find) Part One: The raw experience 1. When do you tend to feel guilty? Are there particular relationships, situations, or times that bring it up? Try to be specific — a particular person, a recurring situation, a time of day or week. 2. How does guilt show up for you — in the body, in the mind, in your behaviour? Is it a thought, a physical sensation, something you notice in how you act? Or something harder to locate? 3. How long does it tend to last, and what — if anything — makes it shift? Does it pass on its own? Does doing something help? Or does it tend to linger regardless? 4. Who is it usually directed toward? A particular person or group? Yourself? Something more diffuse — a sense of having let life, or your own values, down? Part Two: Looking more closely The next questions invite a little more reflection. You might find that guilt isn't one single thing — that there are different flavours of it, or that some instances feel quite different from others. 5. Have you ever felt a guilt that seemed entirely appropriate — where you'd genuinely done something wrong, felt bad about it, and found a way to make amends or repair the relationship? What was that like, and how did it resolve? 6. Have you noticed a guilt that persisted long after any reasonable amends had been made? Something that felt more like a permanent condition than a response to a specific event — and that no apology in the present could quite reach? 7. Have you ever felt exposed or unmasked — caught being less than the person you thought you were? Not 'I did something wrong' but 'something about me has been revealed'. This might show up as an urge to explain, defend, or deflect — or a hot feeling of wanting to disappear. Part Three: Language and nuance 8. When you use the word 'guilt', what do you actually mean? Does it capture one feeling, or several that got the same name? Are there other words that feel more precise — shame, remorse, regret, embarrassment? Do these feel meaningfully different, or roughly interchangeable? 9. How much does guilt — in whatever form — affect your daily life? (1 = barely at all, 5 = a significant and persistent presence) Anything you'd want to add about that rating? Finally: Is there anything about guilt, shame, or remorse that these questions didn't quite reach — something that feels important to you that you'd want to say? Thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to probe this sensitive subject here. I hope that our mutual exploration will be of benefit to beings. All best, Alistair Share your reflections

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 >

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