Centring Down with Compassion

Take Ten by Carolyn Baynes

Take Ten, Working With Tiredness by Carolyn Baynes

Take Ten, Noticing The Breath With Curiosity by Carolyn Baynes

**What if the ordinary moments of our lives were already filled with the sacred?**

In this seventh reflection on Quaker Advices and Queries, we explore the invitation to become aware of the spirit of God at work in everyday life — in our joys, sorrows, relationships, creativity and even the seemingly unremarkable moments of our day.

Quaker spirituality invites us to experience the divine directly, not only in Meeting for Worship, but while walking, washing up, working or simply pausing to notice the world around us.

Through personal stories and gentle mindfulness practices, we explore how our thoughts and expectations can sometimes prevent us from noticing what is already here.

I introduce the image of a pendulum moving between **“Ahh” and “Ouch”** — our pleasant and painful experiences — and the often overlooked moments of neutrality between them.

What if we could savour moments of joy without clinging to them, meet difficult experiences with compassion, and discover contentment in the ordinary?

We also reflect on the invitation to remain **open to new Light, from whatever source it may come**, and how spiritual growth can continue throughout our lives, often in unexpected ways.

The recording includes invitations to pause, breathe and explore our own experience with curiosity and kindness.

I'm Carolyn Baynes, a Quaker and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist. You're warmly welcome to join me in discovering how the Inner Light might be present in every part of our lives.

More meditations and reflections:

https://carolynbaynes.co.uk

Sounds can be triggering as sometimes we have very little control over the soundscape in our environment. In this meditation we can learn to allow the sounds while staying in a refuge of calm, non-reactivity.

Using the acronym RAIN we can learn to relate to our emotions with greater wisdom: R stands for Recognise how we are feeling. A stands for Allow the feeling to be there with a kind attention. I stands for Investigate; What am I believing about this situation? and N stands for Nurture; warmly appreciating our ability to be with the whole range of human experience as much as we can.

Sometimes offering ourselves kindness can be hard. This practice has so many benefits for our well being: as we cultivate a loving heart to ourselves this impacts on everyone around us too.

**What would it mean to work gladly, rather than from obligation, resentment or exhaustion?**

In this sixth reflection on Quaker Advices and Queries, we explore the invitation to work gladly with others in pursuit of common goals, beginning with our own relationship to work.

Whether we're caring for family, earning a living, contributing to our community or simply attending to everyday tasks, we can carry beliefs that make our responsibilities feel heavy.

What might happen if we gently changed *“I have to”* into *“I get to”*?

Drawing on Quaker spirituality, mindfulness and reflections on the power of our expectations, I explore how we might move from a sense of individual effort towards a more spacious experience of belonging and contribution.

I also share a story of interfaith cooperation in Farnham, where Quakers and a neighbouring Catholic church came together during the pandemic to create a community celebration.

**The recording includes a short guided mindfulness practice** exploring the thoughts, beliefs and feelings we hold about our work. With gentle curiosity, we notice what arises and practise meeting it with kindness rather than judgement.

We also reflect on how communities can discover their shared values, hopes and strengths, allowing friendship and cooperation to grow across differences.

I'm Carolyn Baynes, a Quaker and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist. You're warmly welcome to join me in exploring how inner stillness and compassion can shape the way we live and work together.

More meditations and reflections:

https://carolynbaynes.co.uk

Our thoughts can have a powerful impact on our mood and our bodies. Being mindful of our thinking can give us the freedom to choose whether we should believe our thoughts quite so much, as Thich Naht Han said: "Our thoughts don't always have our best interests at heart."

Soothing The Body With The Breath by Carolyn Baynes