Mindfulness Classes With Oli Doyle

In the old days, miners didn't have any way to know what gases were in the shaft. Potentially deadly chemicals might be silently drifting through the air, bringing about certain death without you even noticing. That's why they had a canary.

A canary would detect something that might be killing you and send you a signal (it would get sick). Similarly, your body reflects back the stress arising from your resistance to the present moment, it alerts you when it's time to get out of that pit.

Resistance is the cause of all stress, all worry, all anxiety, but often it is sneaky, it hides in the background, almost undetectable. Luckily, work can bring resistance to the surface, as it brings us challenges, difficult situations and people we might normally avoid. Resistance and work are often good friends.

And when resistance arises, we have a wonderful opportunity. We can use this state of unease to bring us back to alertness, awareness and our natural inner joy.

Today, I will walk you through a simple way to do this, from Eckhart Tolle's wonderful book Practicing the Power of Now.

Enjoy.

Sitting at my desk I hear the clatter of cutlery from the staff kitchen. It sounds like a toddler looking for their special spoon, banging and scraping away in a mad rush to get to the bottom of the drawer. But I know that's not it. It's just Jill (name changed), unstacking the dishwasher. Well maybe 20% of her attention is on the dishwasher. My guess is that the other 80% is working through her list.

They say a rushed job takes twice as long, and today I would like to invite you into the quiet, peaceful world of being precise and focused.

Learn how to sharpen your attention and return to now, and you will experience peace and clarity every moment of the day.

Let's get started.

The day begins, and it's one thing after another, one appointment to the next, one meeting to the next as your to-do list grows (along with your stress). Arriving home at night, did you even remember to breathe? Did you really live that day, or were you somewhere else, drifting through thought?

Join me today as we explore the power of stopping and learn how to use body awareness to pause, recharge and reset in the midst of this busy world.

My friend is lovely, but I know she doesn't really listen. She's far too busy you see. Busy with her thoughts, with big ideas, with important side notes. She hears people, but she doesn't truly listen...

As we continue our journey through mindfulness at work we will explore the power of listening as the connective tissue of positive relationships.

We will also examine the value of true listening in keeping us present in the here and now.

This week at A Little Peace and Quiet is all about mindfulness at work, and let me start with a question: Are you really there at work? Or are you only half present, distracted, procrastinating, and watching the day slip by? Or perhaps you are on high alert, stressed, anxious and highly strung as you lurch from crisis to crisis.

Most of us are probably somewhere in between (depending on the day perhaps), which is a massive shame for two reasons:

1) You could be alert, curios and peaceful at work each day, regardless of what is happening.

2) That peace will have a powerful positive impact on everyone you cross paths with each and every day.

This week, I hope to help these two possibilities to emerge, and I will share every tool I have to assist you in making work a place of mindfulness.

You're in the supermaket and of course you picked the slowest queue. The person in front of you can't remember their PIN, and the person coming to help the newly trained server must be coming from across the Atlantic.

What will you do? Spend ten minutes in frustration, anxiety and useless anger? Or spend ten minutes in heaven, with no-one to bother you, nothing to do, ten minutes of pure being.

After today's class, you can make a choice. Will you spend your life waiting to get somewhere else? Or will you sink deep into the wonders of this moment.

Enjoy.

The student asked the Master: "What is the secret to happiness?"

The Master replied: "Just do one thing at a time."

Joy and peace are begging for your attention every second of the day, but most of us humans never look.

Happiness is right under your nose, but most people are too busy to stop and smell the roses.

And in calm, careful attention, we become both happier and more efficient, and it costs nothing.

Today I invite you to pay attention to the details of life.

The only difference between misery and happiness is the relationship you have with thought.

If you're lost in thought, it becomes a dictatorship, ordering its loyal subject (you) about according to its whims.

But take a step back and thought becomes an advisor (or perhaps a board of advisors), ready to give helpful guidance, which you can accept or ignore.

Most humans live in a mental dictatorship. Today I will show you how to find freedom.

If you find yourself drifting through the day, struggling to stay present, this week is for you.

All this week I will bring you a series of simple exercises that can wake you up out of the dream of thought, starting with awareness of breath.

Right through your day, breathing is happening, but do you notice it? Or does it drift past, obscured by thoughts which clamour for your attention?

Amazingly, peace is as simple as noticing one breath. This simple practice is the doorway to awareness, and passing through that door is joyful indeed.

I hope you enjoy it.

Eating is a universal process for humans; we all need to do it most days.

But what happens when you start munching? Do you really taste the food? Or are you lost in your mind, rushing through on the way to a better future?

Most of us only vaguely notice taste, unless it's amazing or awful. In between, we barely notice, we're much too busy thinking about something else.

Learning to eat mindfully has some powerful benefits. You will notice, when you really taste food, that fresh, healthy food actually tastes better than processed sweet or fatty food. You will know when you are full and cravings for more (or for sugar) can become a part of your present moment, something to experience, not something to fight.

But best of all, you will experience a deep sense of peace during meals, a feeling of groundedness that is vastly different to our usual anxious state.

And how can we experience this? Simply sit, breathe and chew, nothing else is required.

So get your knife and fork and join me at the table today for a session of mindful eating. Sit down, relax and let me show you how simple this practice can be.