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.