Recent Activities

While living in Australia for 4 years I came across something on the net that interested me greatly. As a relieving teacher and after school tutor of young students all of whom were having difficulty keeping up in classes, I realised that there were many gaps in the mainstream way of teaching children the basics of reading, writing and spelling.

What I found on the net was a very successful method of helping children and adults with these basic skills. It is called the Spalding Method (has no relationship with tennis !) I eventually did the training at a primary school in QLD and was not disappointed with what I learned. Before undertaking the course I sat in on a class in Brisbane watching how this method is delivered to a group of 26 students. So inspired, I set about finding some students to help while in Australia. Several months passed and I decided to head back to my hometown Nelson in South Island.

I am so enthusiastic about the effectiveness of this way that I advertised a bit in the local paper looking for students to help. Through a conversation I had with a woman at a cafe, I was recommended to someone with a son of 8 who was having problems with these subjects at school and subsequently have been helping him now for about 8 weeks. He has dyspraxia and I understand that this method works very well for children with Dyslexia also. Already he and I have noticed the difference in his handwriting and his teacher at school has also noticed some good changes. Firstly, it affects their self confidence in a major way as they move along the course step by step gaining success at every step. I have given several free talks around the district to inform parents of what it can do for their children and am now picking up a few more students. I am certain ther are a lot of children who need help in these basic important areas.

It works for adults who have trouble with literacy too so if you know someone who would love to be able to read the newspaper or books or whatever please mention that there is help out there. I can help people one-on-one or with a small group of 5 - 6 would be ideal. Whatever level they are at we can help them. Before we begin teaching them we give some simple tests to work out exactly which level they are at then can go from there.

What's Awesome in your life ?

A great way to start your day is to think of everything that was awesome in your previous day or even your previous week. Think about it or write it down.

This will keep you focussed on the good things in your life and will attract more of it - increase your awareness and notice what happens.

If you are a school teacher why not start each lesson with this short exercise. I did it twice yesterday as I was relieving in a high school and unfortunately not many people could think of anything awesome that happened in the previous week. Maybe if they become more aware they will find something eventually. I plan to do it in every class I teach in future, also with everyone I speak to in my day.

Practicing with Money

At Home in the Muddy Water - a guide to finding peace within everyday chaos. by Ezra Bayda

At the beginning of this book there is a quote: "All I can experience and work with is what my life is right now. That's all I can do. The rest is the dream of ego" - Charlotte Joko Beck

The author comments that "... it made me realise how often we forget that practice is actually about living, about opening into whatever life presents. Isn't it true that we tend instead to equate spiritual practice with a particular technique such as sitting in meditation or with feeling a particular way such as calm or centred?"

(Her book) is simply about clarifying the confusion of daily living, cultivating equanimity even within the high-speed messiness of life and transforming our everyday suffering into the genuine life that all of us want. This entails knowing ourselves and all the ways we hold ourselves back in fear. These things are not easy but they are possible. Her intent is to communicate how to make the genuine life a lived reality. Using topics such as relationships, trust, sexuality and money the emphasis is on ways to become willing to "Just Be" right in the middle of life. To do this we must see the endless ways we keep ourselves stuck in the mud of our spinning minds, our habitual and protective patterns and of course our fears.

Chapter 10: Practicing with Money

Money issues, along with sexual issues obviously play a dominant role in everyday life. Yet we rarely consider either of these issues in terms of practice. Money issues tend to be seen as not even worthy of "spiritual" consideration. But given how much of our daily life distress is related to finances, it is unfortunate that we tend to overlook this crucial area of practice. Money issues make an especially rich field for practice because our relationship to money is predominantly determined by unconscious beliefs and behaviours. Money issues rarely are just about money.

What good is it to sit in meditation even if we're having great experiences, if we plunge into the anxiety of our financial situation as soon as formal practice ends? Practice includes everything, even the mundane world of money. Until we are free from our deep-seated beliefs about money, as well as our deeply conditioned behaviours, we cannot truly be free.

What's the practice here? It begins with knowing what we're up to, by precisely observing our believed thoughts around money. We can begin to discover them by asking ourselves questions such as the following: Do I experience tightness and anxiety around money issues? Do money issues provoke feelings of losing control, chaos, danger or doom? If so, what strategy do I fall into: excessive frugality, frantic obsessing or withdrawal into hopelessness ? How much of this strategy is based on fear-based projections that have almost no relationship to what's actually happening right now? With each belief and strategy that we blindly adhere to, we restrict and narrow our life.

It's only through endlessly observing our beliefs and behaviours that such patterns can be uncovered. And then what? The only thing we have to change is our awareness. The practice is first to see clearly our beliefs and strategies. Then we need to locate the well of fear from which they arise. Finally we must learn to gradually welcome the experience of fear into our awareness, especially the fear of losing control, of not feeling safe and in charge. THis requires courage - we need to exercise compassion here which comes from seeing our conditioning as just our conditioning.

So ask yourself "What is the price of practice?" The price may not be monetary, but it still needs to be paid, because we always have to pay the price for what we do.

A Zen student walked in to see the master. Sitting down he blurted out "There's something terribly wrong with me!" The master looked at him and asked "What's so wrong?" The student, after a moment's hesitation, responded "I think I'm a dog" To that the master responded "And how long have you thought that?" The student replied "Ever since I was a puppy"

An extract from "At Home in the Muddy Water" Ezra Bayda author of "Being Zen"

Living in the Present

Can anyone learn to sing? (or dance, or play piano, or learn anything new for that matter )

Of course they can.

Does it matter how old you are?

While muscles are more difficult to develop as we get older, age is far less a factor than is mindset. However, age is indeed a terrific excuse.

The question really is: are you willing to let go of judgment and allow yourself to experience something new? So, a rapid learner is involved in curious exploration and discovery.

In contrast, a quick-fix mentality seeks external rewards. The goal is to seek internal rewards. Internal motivation is far more powerful than external motivation. Since rapid learners are involved in the process, they are also engaged in the present moment. Judgment and anticipation are reflections on the past and the future, respectively. Awareness is just that; being aware of the here and now - without judgment or anticipation. The present moment is where rapid learning takes place and where peak performance occurs. The rapid learner and the peak performer may love results. There is nothing wrong with that. However, they learn that the way to achieve remarkable results is to love the process.

This excerpt is from the website of Per Bristow at www.BristowVoiceMethod.com

How was the experience of learning for you? Would appreciate your comments.

Come with Me to the Hills

Today is Anzac day and I chose to go to the hills for a walk in the lovely beech forest and visit a new DOC hut near Lake Rotoiti just over the Nelson Marlborough border, top of the south island here in NZ.

The drive is approx 1 1/2 hours south and we set off early picking up 2 others around the town and headed off to the lake through the Golden Downs Pine Forests and through the fog and low morning cloud hovering in the valley. Just as we arrived the sun was beginning to peep through the clouds so we knew it would be a good day.

I will pause that story here for a bit and explain that I frequently have numerous serendipitous events in my life and I love writing about them. Today was yet another of those occasions.

Some background first. I have returned to NZ with my dream of building a Straw Bale house but have a long journey ahead as I don't yet own any land. Over the past couple of years I have been collecting info, reading books, talking to people and finding similar houses in the area. Later on I anticipate knocking on a few of those doors and chatting to the owners about the process of building their house, pros and cons, etc.

Anyway as we were walking back down the hill after our lunch stop I found myself walking with a guy and we started chatting about different things. I mentioned that I was hoping to build a house from straw in the near future and he then told me that he was a building inspector with the local council!! Just the person I needed to be talking to !! He was telling me that the council are not all that encouraging of giving permits for these kind of houses as the damp in this area is a bit of a problem, I guess he meant in the Winter time when it does get cold with hard frosts and a bit of rain usually. I won't be put off by that of course but will just need to talk to a few more owners about how they went about it and overcame this small hurdle. Where there's a will, there's a way!


At the end of our walk about 4.30 this afternoon the leader of the group very kindly took us back to her house nearby for a very welcome cuppa and chocolate cake and a much needed sit down to rest our weary bodies. I also had a good conversation with her en route as well and she informed me that her house was made from Adobe bricks so I was really looking forward to seeing that one too.

Some of the views up on the mountain looking down to the Wairau river were very spectacular. As we were admiring the scenery on our way up a huge full rainbow appeared. Considering we had traversed some of the land belonging to the Rainbow skifield at the beginning of the walk that was rather a coincidence as well.

I have been longing to get out into the countryside here ever since I returned from my travels so at last I have accomplished that. It really makes me feel great getting being in the bush, the smell is amazing and of course it's so good for the fitness too. You can even smell the sweetness of the Honeydew which hangs in tiny droplets at the end of hairs coming out of the trunk of the beech trees. That is one of the special features of the NZ bush.

We were with an interesting group of people from all walks of life, quite a few from UK and a couple from Scotland, plus a few native Kiwis, and all about 50's - 60's age group I think. (just guessing of course!) They were part of the Forest & Bird Association and many were very clued up on their botanical knowledge which made it so much more interesting. We heard many tuis and bellbirds along the way of course as they love the bush.

Since coming back to Nelson, I have promised myself that I will do more of the things that I really enjoy and that includes getting out into the hills, yoga, playing table tennis at the weekly club night in the new sports stadium here, taking up Feldenkreis and doing more meditation plus making bread for myself and a few other things. I can now tick off quite a few on that list. SInce installing myself in this house at the beginning of Feb I haven't bought a loaf of bread. Instead have found a recipe from Cranks Restaurant where I worked in the 70's, in London. It is a wholemeal loaf and I add linseed and a variety of seeds and use organic wholemal stone ground flour so it is a rather special loaf and is so nourishing. No kneading required for this recipe which makes it very quick to produce. I have made a few for some friends who are willing to pay me to do it and I feel it would be a great idea to keep doing this. Bit of pocket money at this stage. Watch this space to see how it develops.

Cirque de Soleil Show at Macau

Recently while at our 5 day Influence Conference in Macau at the Venetian Macau Hotel I was lucky enough to get to see this show. It was fantastic in one word. I couldn't believe it was real - felt like I was in a dream. More on my experience there to come.

http://www.venetianmacao.com/en/show/zaia

Words of Wisdom

I was browsing today on the website www.visionsofjoy.com and found these few words which I can relate to. As some of you may know I am very interested in restoring my eyesight to "normal" or as I'd rather put it "totally clear" in the near future.

"If only we could give up, let go, let the thing be done for us,
of how much strain would we rid ourselves!
What a difference between trying to do a thing and doing it;
between trying to see and seeing!"

L.M. Stanton, MD
(Better Eyesight magazine, January 1927

Am finding out some great information about our eyes and minds that is totally fascinating. My favourite book on the subject is "Take off Your Glasses and See" by Jacob Liberman. He was an optician and decided to do a few experiments of his own and discovered that it is our minds that govern our vision and ability to see. I quote "Vision care is still overwhelmingly based on the assumption of the old medical paradigm. However, my clinical experience overwhelmingly shows that these beliefs are actually a major source of the current epidemic of vision problems." (book written 1995) I have found that vision doesn't occur at any single point in the body - such as the eyes - but throughout the body and the energy field that surrounds us. I have found that our eyes are also made up of thinking cells, just like every other part of the human body. When we feel sad or scared, we see in a depressed or fearful way; when we feel expansive, are vision literally "opens up" "