Following one of the live sessions, Alistair talks about the experience of dissociation. This is a natural function of our minds, but it can also erase our natural kindness - especially towards ourselves. How do you work with dissociation? #dissociation #psychology #Buddhism #Mindsprings Please do join our 3x weekly meditation group on Zoom. You can find the details on how to come along here: https://www.mind-springs.org/online-live

An excerpt from the Holy Island Retreat October 2022. Alistair is talking about the theory of Buddha nature, that we are already enlightened at our core. And even it's not true - is it beneficial? Does it change the way we are in the world. And does it lead us to the beautiful moment of taking our bodhisattva vow.

This is an excerpt from the Holy island Retreat in October 2023 which was focusing on the wisdom aspect of compassion. Alistair sketches out the way compassion is seen within the various yanas of Buddhism and how 'forgettery' lies in the centre of our suffering and the suffering of others.

Discussing with Mindsprings member, Dameon, about the issue of other people's anxiety. Our anxiety work often - rightly- focuses on getting our own nervous systems under control. But what about the people around us? if you would like to join the Mindsprings anxiety community come along on Tuesday evening 6pm UK for an hour's stressbusting practice: https://www.mind-springs.org/online-live

Following a meditation exploring self-love, we were talking about the nuttiness of hating your experience. After all, it's the only one we're going to have. I then went on to flag up the social prohibition against loving ourselves - it's a bit "grandiose", or "selfish" or worse: "narcissistic. But narcissism is very different from love... Please do join our 3x weekly meditation group on Zoom. You can find the details on how to come along here: https://www.mind-springs.org/online-live

The negative news industry. Responding to a student’s comment on the distractions of the news media, Alistair speaks about the nature of news as an industry and the myth of ‘being informed’ that drives it. What if we were to question the mechanism of news and what it means for us? Join in the conversation live at the Mindsprings Practice Space. It's free and friendly. https://mindsprings-practicespace.org/sign-up/

Jane asked: "Is awareness the same as consciousness? And how do you deal with someone with a lot of shame or someone with no shame, like Donald Trump?" Alistair discusses how the definitions of awareness and consciousness are different in Buddhism and Psychotherapy. What do you think?

In this podcast, Alistair, (after being interrupted by Ben the dog 😀) discusses distractions with the Mindsprings students. He says tension is the motor of distraction. The tenser you make the mind the more thoughts and thinking arise. Just as the more you squeeze the bottom of the toothpaste the faster it comes out of the top. Do you get distracted by thoughts when meditating?

Alistair talks about the three things that dance the waltz of Samsara - Delusion, Wanting & Hatred .

From a Mindsprings meditation Zoom class discussion. Buddhists take aim at the fixed nature of our sense of selves. They believe suffering is caused when we try to keep ourselves in a fixed state. Alistair says at Mindsprings we are exploring if there really is an unchanging person within us, a 'self.' Perhaps we will find out the Buddhists are wrong. You can join Alistair in 3x weekly live sessions to practice meditation. Interact with the Mindsprings community and join in these conversations about meditation, Buddhism and life. It's free! https://mindsprings-practicespace.org/sign-up/

Alistair discusses lasting happiness following a question from Jane, a Mindsprings student. We have to look in the right place for bliss. Blissful happiness is in the field of awareness, not in our emotional bodies.

Are you a worrier? In this Podcast recorded from a Mindsprings meditation class, Alistair busts the myths around worrying.

Alistair discusses toxic relationships and how to empower yourself to change things. Do you have any difficult relationships in your life?

We're not made up of one coherent self, Alistair explains, but rather there are different parts of us at play or at war. When our internal managers, firefighters and exiles are fighting we suffer. Loving our different parts is a route to finding inner peace.

Alistair discusses Maitri with his students. Maitri meditation is kindness and compassion for ourselves and others. He says it starts with recognising the knarly patterns within ourselves that get in the way of loving other people.

Alistair remembers his mother saying 'People who ask don't get.' Yet, he says, in Tibetan traditions asking for blessings is an act of devotion. This discussion with students centres on the differences between western attitudes and religion where prayer and asking are supreme spiritual activities. Can you ask for help or are you afraid of asking?

Alistair talks about Internal Family Systems. The different parts inside us, identified by therapist Richard C Schwartz. We all have parts playing out an internal role, some are vulnerable, whereas other parts of us are protectors or managers. Learning to recognise these parts and understanding how they interact is key to understanding ourselves.

How do you react when someone hurts you? In this recorded teaching, Alistair says it's not ok to be a punchbag. A healthier way is to acknowledge our pain and then try to understand where it is coming from in the other person.

It's easy to be compassionate with yourself when you're feeling OK but we are often very mean to ourselves. In this recorded teaching, Alistair says the essence of self-compassion is being OK with whatever our experience is. Even if that experience is crazy-nuts.

We don't meditate to become good meditators. We meditate to become kind human beings. In this recorded lesson, Alistair discusses steadying the mind and the benefits of different mediation teachings.