Category: meditation and creativity

Discovering the pleasure of alone

Post author By Toby
Post date March 20, 2023

“Enjoying your alone time then offers a whole new experience of being in the company of others. You can enjoy humans and other living beings for what they have to offer, and for the joy of connection, rather than the fear of loneliness”

Dear Integral Meditators,
This week’s article explores our relationship to being alone, and how to move from being lonely to enjoying being alone.
This Tuesday & Wednesday is the annual Spring Equinox balancing and renewing meditation , with the Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat on the Saturday. You are welcome to join either or both, live or online.

Finally, heads up for the next major weekly meditation series starting mid-April: Starts Tues/Weds April 11^th/12^th, 7.30-8.30pm – Meditations for thriving and energy creation – An eight week course

In the spirit of alone not lonely,

Toby

Discovering the pleasure of alone

In this article I want to focus on a few points that lie between going from feeling lonely to the pleasure of being alone. It’s a huge advantage to feel comfortable being alone, and is entirely complementary to a real and deep enjoyment of being in the company of others.

Mammalian and existential loneliness
As humans we are naturally a fairly lonely lot. On the mammalian level we crave the security of the pack, and tend toward a primal nervousness and vulnerability when alone because of this. We also have a natural and understandable desire to be seen and appreciated by others as an affirmation of our fundamental value. On a deeper existential level there is also the challenge of knowing that we are all alone in our experience, no one can truly know us and what we are going through. This is something that we tend to resist, trying very hard instead to been seen, heard and recognised by others. All of this becomes particularly acute if our self-image, and therefore or basic sense of our value and capability is shaky.

Avoiding alone because of loneliness
For all the reasons above we can find ourselves avoiding being alone in order to avoid having to confront our loneliness. This then means that we miss out on all the opportunities to experience what you might think of as the joy of being alone. After all, people can be quite bothersome, and this can be compounded by our own neediness of them. These two together often results in us seeking people out, and then at the same time disliking being in their company, which is a bit of a lose-lose situation!

Reframing alone

Being alone is a way to re-connect to yourself, and make your own inner connection to yourself warm, healthy and stable
It’s time to catch up with yourself, heal your wounds and return to wholeness
Being alone is freedom to enjoy your own company and not be obligate to others for that time
It’s time to enjoy your creativity and imagine new possibilities
It’s time to recover your energy
It’s time to connect to silence, or at least less inner noise
It’s time for you to arrange your thoughts and thinking in a way that sets you up for success in life
And of course, it’s time to meditate and pursue your other interests

What other reasons can you think of to help you start looking forward to the next time you are alone?

Meditation and the freedom of alone
Meditation of course is, at least in part the art of enjoying being alone. Before you start to really enjoy being alone, meditation is a great place to start learning how to enjoy being alone, to notice and make peace with your loneliness, and the other reasons that compel you to seek out company as a way of avoiding yourself. If you sat for five-ten minutes each day for the next week, oriented your mindful attention around the ‘reframe list’ above you might find yourself enjoying it faster than you think.

Happy alone, happy in company
Enjoying your alone time then offers a whole new experience of being in the company of others. Rather than being there because you need to be, you can be there because you want to be in their company. You can enjoy humans and other living beings for what they have to offer, and for the joy of connection, rather than the avoidance of loneliness.

Related article: Independent interdependence

© Toby Ouvry 2023, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Read full details

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Tues 21st & Weds 22nd March, 7.30-8.30pm – Spring Equinox balancing and renewing meditation

Saturday March 25th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Sat & Sunday 1st, 2nd April – Two day integral meditation retreat

Starts Tues/Weds April 11^th/12^th, 7.30-8.30pm – Meditations for thriving and energy creation – An eight week course

Saturday 15th April 9am-12.30pm – Meditations for Developing the Language of Your Shadow Self Workshop

Tues 30th/Weds 31st May – Wesak meditation

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags alone, inner growth, integral meditation, integral meditation asia, integral mindfulness, loneliness, meditation, meditation in singapore, mindfulness, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation

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The cave & the market place (Being in but not of the world)

Post author By Toby
Post date November 21, 2022

“The cave & marketplace are two images to play with to get the feeling of how to really be in the inner world and really in the outer world, and to be able to do both properly. This way we can be in the world but not of the world, participating but not entangled”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article explores the movement into the ‘cave of our heart’ and then out again into the world. There are some distinctions in how to do this that are really important both for our peace of mind and for our high functioning in the world.
If you enjoy the article then do consider joining us live or online for the first of The Wisdom of Awakening Series: Meditations for bringing integration, depth & vividness to your life , on Tuesday or Wednesday.
A final reminder for next Saturday’s Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat.

In the spirit of the cave & the marketplace,

Toby

The cave & the market place (Being in but not of the world)

During the day many people are caught in the middle ground between being either:

Fully deep within themselves and at peace
Fully in the world and committing to being present there

By the ‘middle ground between’ I basically mean being stuck in our heads, too anxious to be committing full bloodedly to the world of experience, but at the same time not fully detaching and relaxing into the silence within…we are neither in the world or out of the world, but rather stuck in the echo chamber of our own mind, talking to ourselves!

One of the things we are trying to do in integral meditation practice is to master the movement fully into the cave of our heart, and also the movement to fully out and into the world. We are trying to commit fully to a wholehearted interior experience of silence, and a full exterior experience of the world. We are not lost in between, in the fuzzy clouds of our mental miasma and abstract nervous thoughts.
This quote from Anthony De Mello captures it quite well:

DEPTH
Said the Master to the businessman; “As the fish perishes on dry land, so you perish
when you get entangled in the world. The fish must return to the water — you must
return to solitude.”
The businessman was aghast. “Must I give up my business and go into a monastery?”
“No. no. Hold on to your business and go into your heart.”

Two images for meditation:

1. The cave of your heart
Centre yourself within your physical heart-space. Imagine in there is a mountain, perhaps one you know. In the side of the mountain there is a cave, just right for sitting and meditating. See yourself sitting in this cave, going deep into your heart and sitting in silence. You can cultivate stillness and silence by:
Stilling time – Letting go of past and future
Stilling space – Withdrawing your awareness from your immediate physical environment
Stilling movement – Stilling your body except for your breathing
Commit to going deep inside and contacting the peace that lies there.

2. The marketplace of your life
Imagine in a valley beneath your cave is a town and a marketplace. See yourself emerging from your cave and waling down the mountain. Enjoy entering fully into the sights, sounds smells and activity of the marketplace; commit to being fully present in the world. When you are in the market place, really be there, be with the people, be with the ups and downs, be curious, courageous and caring. Imagine the market place transforms into your daily life circumstances now. Be fully there with whatever you are having to deal with. Don’t hide away in the abstraction of your mind, let it be vivid and real, don’t miss your life as it happens!
You can use these two images in meditation to play with the feeling of how to really be in the inner world and really in the outer world, and to be able to do both properly. This way we can be in the world but not of the world, participating but not entangled.

Just to finish, here is a quote from Dion Fortune that speaks to this in a different but complementary way. It will be of use once you get to the intermediate and advanced levels:
“No one is capable of the deepest meditation who cannot meditate in a railway station whilst waiting for his train. This involves two things, the power to go so deeply into meditation so as to be completely withdrawn from the physical environment, and the power to keep count of time and return at will.” *

© Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Starts Tues /Weds 23/24th November – The Wisdom of Awakening Series: Meditations for bringing integration, depth & vividness to your life

Overview: The Wisdom of Awakening series looks at different ways to ‘wake up’ and live your life fully and playfully through meditation. The premise of the sessions is that inner wholeness and wisdom are not something that are far away, rather they are something that we can awaken to ‘instantly’ through certain types of mindful attention…read full details

Saturday November 26th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat
In a sentence: Experience unique Qi gong and Taoist breathing techniques to improve your immune system, energy level, psychological wellness and enhance your meditation…read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Saturday November 12th, 9.30-12noon – Zen deep-dive mini-retreat

Starts Tues /Weds 23/24th November – The Wisdom of Awakening Series: Meditations for bringing integration, depth & vividness to your life

Saturday November 26th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags integral meditation, integral mindfulness, meditation class, meditation in singapore, mindfulness class, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation, stress transformation

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The spectrum of mindful freedom and limitation

Post author By Toby
Post date September 12, 2022

“If I understand freedom of awareness then gives freedom of choice, then I understand that I myself and am the creative agent that lies between the freedom of my awareness, and the current limitation of my life”

Dear Integral Meditators,

One of the great pleasures of meditation is the discovery that, wherever you are and whatever else is going on in your life, by sitting in a state of relaxed awareness you can be free, absolutely free, even if it is only for a few seconds. This weeks article explores how to enjoy your freedom creatively, even amidst the apparently ‘fixed’ limitations of your life….

In the spirit of inspiration while working,

Toby

The spectrum of mindful freedom and limitation

The freedom and joy of awareness
One of the great pleasures of meditation is the discovery that, wherever you are and whatever else is going on in your life, by sitting in a state of relaxed awareness you can be free, absolutely free, even if it is only for ten seconds. Of course, when you build your competency, you can drop into this space of freedom for much longer than 10 seconds. It can be extended into minutes and even hours. In the longer term it leads to the realization that, on the level of awareness itself we are absolutely free, even (and especially) when we are surrounded by limitations in our life.

The freedom of choice
The freedom of awareness then gives rise to a second freedom, the knowledge and capability to choose our attitude to life, as per the famous Viktor Frankl quote:
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
By developing stable freedom of awareness, we can then remain free, even under pressure, to choose our attitude to what is happening to and around us. By taking responsibility for our choices we then generate the power to create our experience, by choosing our attitude to what is, and proceeding from there.

The daily path of necessary and appropriate limitation
So of course, in daily life we operate within the context of limitation and non-freedom. By choosing one career I sacrifice many other career paths. By choosing a partner I forgoe an indefinite number of other possible relationships. I operate within a finite body that is ageing. Initially this can look almost antagonistic toward the freedom of awareness, but if we understand freedom of awareness then gives freedom of choice, then I understand that I myself and am the creative agent that lies between the freedom of my awareness, and the limitation of my life.

The birth of creativity between these two
We can then start to see ourselves as artists whose life is a creative act; Our inherent freedom of awareness dancing with the inherent limitation of our life. From these two we sculpt our own work of art; the limitation giving shape and form to the absolute freedom of awareness itself. Our lives are always a combination of different fortunes and misfortunes, sufferings and joys. Whatever that combination, if we are willing to experience the freedom of our awareness each day, and then own our choices, we can create our own work of art from whatever limitations we have to operate in.

Meditating on the freedom of awareness
You can begin practising the dance of freedom and limitation in your own life by:

Sitting and acclimatizing to the freedom of awareness in meditation. As the quote from the Warriors Creed goes: “I have no freedom : I make awareness my freedom”.
Build a healthy acceptance and if possible, appreciation of the limitations that exist in your life.
With a sense of your freedom of your awareness, and reflecting on the power of your freedom to choose your attitude to a challenge in your life, ask yourself “What is the most creative use of my freedom to create something beautiful from my current limitation?”

© Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Saturday September 24th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

In a sentence: Experience unique Qi gong and Taoist breathing techniques to improve your immune system, energy level, psychological wellness and enhance your meditation…read full details

Sat & Sun 22nd/23rd October – Shamanic meditation workshop retreatLearn how to practice the fundamentals of the most ancient meditation tradition on the planet in a clear, practical and concise manner, and understand its relevance and value to you and the challenges that you face in your life.

The workshop will give an overview and introduce some simple but profound shamanic practices on day one, with a deeper dive into Shamanic meditation practices on day two…read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Starts Tues 16^th /Weds 17^th August – An Adventure in Consciousness – The What, Why & How of integral & engaged meditation practice

Saturday September 24th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Saturday October 8th, 9.30-12noon – Zen deep-dive mini-retreat

Sat & Sun 22nd/23rd October – Shamanic meditation workshop retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags meditation, meditation in singapore, mindful living, mindfulness, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation, stress transformation

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Mindfulness for enhancing productivity & creativity in your work

Post author By Toby
Post date September 5, 2022

“Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while working.” – Henri Matisse

Dear Integral Meditators,

“Productivity” is a word that always needs to be held in context to do well in my opinion. In this weeks article I explore seven mindful positions to improve your work and creative output (for me work and creativity are very closely linked).
The subject of this weeks Tuesday & Wednesday meditation class, will focus on a practical exploration of meditation and inner healing. Feel free to join us either online or live!

Quick reminder of this coming Saturdays Full Moon Zen deep-dive mini-retreat, and heads up for Octobers Shamanic meditation workshop retreat on the 22nd/23rd!

In the spirit of inspiration while working,

Toby

Mindfulness for enhancing productivity & creativity in your work

As my own work continues to get busier with the business expanding, the combination of this and a relatively full family life and personal growth program means that being effective with my work time continues to be super important. Consequently, I’m aways looking to get batter at the basics in terms of how to be productive with the time that I have. Below are eight ‘mindful positions’ that I find continue to deliver value with regard to my work.
Applying this to yourself, you could think about them in terms of your paid work, but also and equally any type of work or creative activity that you want to do in your life, and make consistent progress with!

Practice 1 – Sitting with warmth, confidence and calm: whenever you begin a work session, just spend a few moments checking your body energy and posture. The more you can ‘sit well in the face of the next task’ the better you will tend to feel about doing it.

Practice 2 – Sitting with appreciation for what’s good at work right now: Good energy creates good energy. The more you can contextualize your present activity in terms of the other things that are currently good in your work, or other positive things that you have done, the easier it is to spring into action with enthusiasm!

Practice 3 – Going a little deeper into your intention for working: The clearer you can be about why you are doing what you are doing, and commit to the choice to work because of that, the stronger your motivation will be. The motivation could be financial, providing for family, or deeper in the sense of this being a part of your contribution to the evolution of the planet (in whatever way it may be). You need to know what your motivations are, and get them behind what you are doing.

Practice 4 – Acknowledging and accepting what you find difficult at work right now/ what are the obstacles to your productivity: Knowing and accepting what you find difficult in your work gives you the best chance of doing the work despite the challenges. Learn to carry your anxieties & apprehensions well.

Practice 5 – Identifying the most important tasks in the day/period ahead, developing focused intention: This is really a ‘bread and butter’ practice, set up clearly what you want to do, and stay with it! As your going thru your list of ‘to do’s’, your object of mindfulness in the moment is simply the task that you are on. Letting your attention rest on that means you can build some peace of mind as you are doing the tasks itself, rather than waiting until you have completed your tasks to do some mindful calming down…

Practice 6 – Imagining what it’s like when you have completed the work well – the ideal scene: If you imagine yourself at the end of your day having worked well and got what you wanted to do done, then you will notice how good it feels, and how charged with enthusiasm that image makes you feel. A short period of time focusing such a future scene can be a real catalyst for your present creative activity

Practice 7 – Sleep!: This one, like practice five is really something to keep tabs on all the time. Its 100% easier to work when you feel well rested. We can’t always feel well rested, and there are all sorts of obstacles that can get in the way, but to take responsibility for being as well rested as you can consistently will hugely improve your creative output.

So there are seven practices there, if you were to take one a day to focus on explicitly, you could go thru all of them in a week, and do four cycles over a month. Doing that would stimulate a lot of incremental improvements in your productivity, which is really what mindfulness is about; incremental improvement over time that is unstoppably consistent!

© Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Saturday September 10th, 9.30-12noon – Zen deep-dive mini-retreat

Session overview: These 2.5hour Zen ‘mini-retreats’ are a chance to go into much deeper meditation states than you would be able to in your own personal daily practice, or even if you came to a one-hour class. Using sitting meditation methods in combination with breathing techniques and gentle stretching/mobility exercises Toby will guide you into deep meditative flow states that create the experience of a calm, unified, harmonized, resilient body, mind & heart…read full details

The workshop will give an overview and introduce some simple but profound shamanic practices on day one, with a deeper dive into Shamanic meditation practices on day two…read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Starts Tues 16^th /Weds 17^th August – An Adventure in Consciousness – The What, Why & How of integral & engaged meditation practice

Saturday September 24th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Saturday September 10th, 9.30-12noon – Full Moon Zen deep-dive mini-retreat

Sat & Sun 22nd/23rd October – Shamanic meditation workshop retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Concentration creative imagery Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Mindfulness Presence and being present Primal Spirituality Zen Meditation

What is the point of being more present?

Post author By Toby
Post date May 2, 2022

“Imagine you are a tree with deep roots. When wind, rain and storms come, your branches get blown around, but you don’t worry, because the strength of your roots is more than capable of dealing with the stress. You can even enjoy the play of the weather and the extremity of it. Being more present is like that, you can choose to be a bit more like that”

Dear Integral Meditators,

Why strive to be more present? I hope the article below encourages you to keep persisting!
This week there is a break in the Tuesday & Wednesday class. but if you scroll down below you can see all events for May, including the Zen deep dive-mini retreat, and the Qi-gong and Taoist breathwork clinic.

In the spirit of presence,

Toby

What is the point of being more present?

Why is mindfulness a discipline focused on being more present? If I become more present to each moment and my life, what is likely to happen? Here’s a list of six capacities that start to come online when you choose to become more present:

Stability & sanity – Presence implies that you are aware of what is going on in your immediate sensory environment, at least to a degree. This gives a point of grounding and stability for our awareness; not lost in our mind, but present to our senses. From this comes what I would call ‘basic sanity’ or basic reality orientation; our observations and life-strategies start to come more from what is seen and experienced, rather than what our mind is fantasizing about.

Self-awareness and self-regulation – Following on from point one, being present invites a greater awareness of ourself. If we are self-aware in a reasonably balanced manner, then the chances of us doing things to help restore and remain in balance increases. We start to use our natural intelligence effectively.

Creativity – Once we have some stability in the present, this then invites a creative response to the present. We start to recognize each moment as an opportunity for self-expression, innovation and evolution. Life becomes playful, fun and enquiring, rather than automatic, monotone and predictable.

Wonderment – When we start to combine presence with creativity, the world starts to glow, starts to feel more technicolor. The term ‘spiritual’ ceases to become about beliefs and philosophy, and more about the direct perception of our world, which becomes mysterious (in a good way) and invites adventure, curiosity and luminosity.

Appreciation & generosity – Presence invites appreciation of what is, and a sense of being rich, very inwardly wealthy. We experience what we have in a new way, where we really know it. More than this we start to sense within us an infinite resource of life-fullness. This in turn invites a sense of generosity, a sense of benevolence “I have so much, I’d love to pass some onto you” type thing!

Thinking well about the future and past
Solidly grounded in the present, we can re-configure the way we reflect on the past and plan for the future, we can choose how we frame them, we can enjoy the opportunities of the future, rather than being weighed down by anxiety around uncertainty. We become better at learning from the past and creating (see point three) our future.

So, I hope this has convinced you to persist with any practices you may have for being more present in your life, most of my articles are implicitly about presence and the capabilities that come from it. To end with, here is a simple picture:
Imagine you are a tree with deep roots. When wind, rain and storms come, your branches get blown around, but you don’t worry, because the strength of your roots is more than capable of dealing with the stress. You can even enjoy the play of the weather and the extremity of it.
Being more present is like that, you can choose to be a bit more like that today if you want, and why wouldn’t you?

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Ongoing – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

In a sentence: Establish the inner strength, skill and courage needed to make you resilient in the face of life’s challenges, and thrive in both times of adversity and times of peace.

Overview: The Warriors Creed is a poem by an unknown Samurai in the 14^th century. It outlines a code of conduct and a state of presence based around a series of inner qualities that can be cultivated through mindful contemplation, then applied to our daily life…read full details

Saturday 14th April, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

These 2.5hour Zen ‘mini-retreats’ are a chance to go into much deeper meditation states than you would be able to in your own personal daily practice, or even if you came to a one-hour class. Using sitting meditation methods in combination with breathing techniques and gentle stretching/mobility exercises Toby will guide you into deep meditative flow states that create the experience of a calm, unified, harmonized, resilient body, mind & heart…read full details

Saturday May 28th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

In a sentence: Experience unique Qi gong and Taoist breathing techniques to improve your immune system, energy level, psychological wellness and enhance your meditation…read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)
Ongoing – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

Tues 17^th/Weds 18^th May: Wesak meditation

Saturday May 28th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Saturday 14th April, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags integral meditation, integral mindfulness, meditation coaching, meditation in singapore, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation, presence, present moment

creative imagery Energy Meditation Enlightened love and loving Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques Mindful Confidence Presence and being present

Inner strength – Gathering your energy into one place

Post author By Toby
Post date April 26, 2022

Dear Integral Meditators,

This week’s article that aims to use playful techniques to build different but complementary dimensions of our inner strength. Enjoy!
The themes in the article are some that we will be exploring in this weeks Tuesday & Wednesday class. You are welcome to join us at both events, either live or online.

In the spirit of inner strength,

Toby

Inner strength – Gathering your energy into one place

The unified body-mind – Understanding inner strength
This is an article that aims to use playful techniques to build different but complementary dimensions of our inner strength. The working definition of inner strength we will work with here is a mind and body that are unified. This is to say the energies of our mind are mainly focused in our body, and our biological or body intelligence are working in harmony with our rational or reasoning mind. Other aspects of this unity include:

Our intuition and our intellect
Our mind and emotions
Our conscious and unconscious selves

Positively anally retentive – Using your perineum to gather your attention
Meditation and mindfulness are central methods for bringing your mind into the present moment and into your body. One technique that I find very helpful to centre my attention in my body a little faster and stronger is to employ the perineum as I breathe. Essentially it looks like this:
As you breathe in and out gently (to about 20-30% of your strength) contract your perineum, so as you breathe in, there is a gentle sense of solidity in the inside of the bottom of your hips.
To tense the perineum, first locate your anal sphincter, then go up into your body about 3cms, you will find another ring of muscle. If you tense that, you will feel the web of muscles in your perineum activating.
This method is a simple way to ‘retain’ your energy in your body as you breathe, and has a solidifying and gathering effect. Its kind of like being anally retentive, but in a good way!

The eye of the storm – Courageously breathing into your centre
The second technique which you can do (either with the first or on its own) is to locate the approximate physical centre of your torso, somewhere between the heart and stomach level, and:

As you breathe in gather your energy into your physical centre
As you breathe out, relax from that centre point

It’s not easy, especially when your anxious to firmly decide not to be distracted and to rest in the moment. If you like with this second exercise, imagine you are in the eye of the storm of your life. As you breathe in, courageously gather your energy into your centre. As you breathe out, hold your energy in the centre of the storm like a mindful warrior!

The sacred reef – Compassion and accessing your intuition
If you practice mindfulness techniques like those above, you will find that your linear thinking mind starts to settle down. As you move toward stillness, you will find your non-linear, intuitive mind coming online. This is a bit like when you dive beneath the surface of the ocean (your everyday mind), before you hit the deep ocean (stillness), you encounter coral reefs that are vibrant and full of colour and life (the intuitive and imaginal level). It’s worth hanging out on this level and getting to know it, as there are lots of great ideas down here that may come to you. Also, when you are in this state it is relatively easy to feel wonder, connection and compassion for life and the world. This experience helps us to return to our everyday world feeling that life is sacred, and that the people around us (and we ourselves) are worthy of attention, compassion and cherishing. This compassion and reverence for life hugely adds to our inner strength as we go through the world and encounter our tribulations.
Enjoy exploring these different dimensions of your inner strength!

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Ongoing – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

In a sentence: Establish the inner strength, skill and courage needed to make you resilient in the face of life’s challenges, and thrive in both times of adversity and times of peace.

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Saturday 23^rd April, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

Tues 17^th/Weds 18^th May: Wesak meditation

Saturday May 29th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags inner strength, integral meditation, integral mindfulness, meditation, meditation in singapore, mindfulness, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation

Awareness and insight creative imagery Energy Meditation Enlightened Flow Inner vision Life-fullness meditation and creativity Meditation and Psychology Meditation techniques mind body connection mindful dreaming Mindful Self-Leadership Mindfulness Motivation and scope Presence and being present

Envisioning & presence – Climbing the mindful mountain

Post author By Toby
Post date March 28, 2022

“Envisioning involves visualizing with hope, optimism and appropriate ambition a goal that you want to achieve in the future, being specific about what it looks like”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article explores how to combine future, present and timeless presence into a complementary, mutually supporting practice. If you enjoy it, it will be the subject of this weeks Tuesday & Wednesday meditation class, you are welcome to join us, live or online.

Next week the new weekly meditation program begins: The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed. Details below, or just click on the link for the full write up.

Finally, new event for April on Saturday 23^rd, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

In the spirit of the envisioning & presence,

Toby

Envisioning & presence – Climbing the mindful mountain

This is an article about:

How to connect what you do each day to the life you want to manifest
To link your medium and long term goals to your everyday actions.
To enjoy this process and build Confidence in yourself as you do it

It consists of three parts:

The view of the mountain
Climbing step by step the next part of the journey
Watching the sky from the side of the mountain

The view of the mountain and the destination
This first section involves visualising with hope, optimism and appropriate ambition a goal that you want to achieve in the future. For example, I could take how I would like my business to have grown in the next 2-3years.

How much money am I making?
Who are my clients?
What’s my state of mind?
Where am I working?
What are the main components that create value in my work?

I build a picture in my mind of what it looks like. I enjoy being specific about building an ‘inner template’ that I can enjoy inhabiting as if it were true already. The image I build should be achievable, not just fantasy, but it should be as if things had turned out well, and our efforts had translated into manifestation.
This first stage is like when we are climbing a mountain; we look up at the path and plot our course before proceeding. Note that we are being deliberately and consciously future focused for this time.

Step by step
So, once I have the ‘big picture’ that I am working toward, once I have the view of the mountain to climb, I then focus on the next specific stage of the journey; climbing. As a climber this is when I put my head down and just take one step after the next on the path immediately ahead.
With regard to my business, this is where I identify the specific tasks today that I want to focus on doing to take me on the next step of my business journey. At this point I am focused on present moment in time, attending with relaxed attention to the tasks of my day, one after the other, mindfully.
Often when we are going about our day, future thinking comes in in the form of worry or anxiety, getting in the way of our being effective at what we are doing in the moment. Here we are trying to reduce this type of activity, using the task at hand.
If in my business I do a day of tasks related to creating it, one after another, then this is time well spent with regard to my big picture, future goal. I also have the sense of confidence and achievement of having executed effectively the tasks I have set myself, even if they weren’t all easy or pleasurable.

Watching the sky
At points in the journey up your mountain, you want to sit down, look to one side and enjoy the view of the sky and landscape around you. Here you are not focused on the future, or the task at hand, rather you focus on the pleasure and regenerative energy of non-doing, non-thinking and just being. Imagine you are looking out on the landscape. It’s a clear day with plenty of blue sky, few clouds and plenty of sunlight. Just relax into the discipline of doing no-thing, going no-where and allowing all of your energy to come into the present moment. Not just the present moment in time, but the present moment out of time, the eternal present, a place of timeless regeneration and luminous ease. This period in your day enables you to stay fresh, enthusiastic and inwardly young as you continue your journey up the mountain, it prevents burnout and keeps it all in perspective.

These three mindful activities enable us to manifest our goals, connecting our visions
to our actions, without burning out. A part of your day, and your mindfulness practice can be dedicated to each of these.

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

In April – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

In a sentence: Experience unique Qi gong and Taoist breathing techniques to improve your immune system, energy level, psychological wellness and enhance your meditation…read full details

Starts Tuesday 5^th/Wednesday 6^th April 2022 – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

In a sentence: Establish the inner strength, skill and courage needed to make you resilient in the face of life’s challenges, and thrive in both times of adversity and times of peace.

Saturday 23^rd April, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

http://integralmeditationasia.com/workshops-classes/zen-meditation-deep-dive-mini-retreat/

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Ongoing January-March – Zen: The ordinary path to enlightenment – Meditating with the Ten Ox Herding pictures

In April – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Starts Tuesday 5^th/Wednesday 6^th April 2022 – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

Saturday 23^rd April, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

Tues 17^th/Weds 18^th May: Wesak meditation

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags creative visualization techniques, integral meditation, integral mindfulness, meditation, meditation in singapore, mindfulness, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation, vizualization, Zen meditation

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Working Samadhi – The way of the mindful warrior

Post author By Toby
Post date March 21, 2022

“With working samadhi, all our actions an expression in one form or another of the confidence, generosity & compassion that arises from meditative presence in action”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article explores a practice called ‘Working Samadhi’ which for me is one of the most compelling ideas in meditation! If you enjoy it then do check out the new meditation program beginning in April: The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed. Details below, or just click on the link for the full write up.

In the spirit of the mindful warrior,

Toby

Working Samadhi – The way of the mindful warrior

Why meditate?
Meditation in its most simple definition means to hold a focused, relaxed space of awareness. This state of awareness sits in the middle of two extremes:

On the one side, there is being distracted and lost in thought, or conceptuality
In the other side there is sleep or inertia

So, with meditation we are in a state of relaxed presence, in the moment. We are alert, undistracted and relaxed, avoiding the extremes of thinking or sleep.
Initially we meditate using simple objects like the body and breathing, but we can really build a meditative state around a wide variety of objects. Meditation enables us to achieve what I like to call singularity; the ability to gather all of our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual energy into a single energy or presence in the moment. It gives us the strength of calmness, but also acts as the basis for a whole range of empowering states, from joy to compassion, self-trust, confidence and so on…

Working samadhi – Combining singularity and movement
The ability to hold a meditative state whilst sitting or standing takes some work. As our practice develops, if its trajectory is healthy, we find ourselves able to hold the state of singularity more and more in our daily activities. This eventually leads to a state called ‘working samadhi’. Genuine working samadhi means, to quote John Daido Lori:
“Working samadhi (means) we’re able to stay with what we are doing and not disconnect from the moment by chasing thoughts, pre-occupied with something other than the activity at hand, wishing we weren’t there. This single-mindedness on any and all facets of life is working samadhi…. It’s our aliveness and presence, moment to moment. Each instant is lucid and complete.
Within that working samadhi, karuna – real compassion – begins to appear. Compassion is wisdom in action. It is not merely doing good.”

Experiential learning in the moment
With working samadhi, our life becomes our meditation, and all our activities become an expression of the meditative state. This then enables us to find meaning and learning in all our activities, whether they are superficially ‘spiritual’ or ‘mundane’. Everything becomes an expression in one form or another of the confidence, generosity & compassion that arises from our ‘meditative presence in action’.

The mindful warrior
Unless you are careful, there is no guarantee that your sitting meditation starts to translate into working samadhi. For some, meditation can become an escape from daily life, or even an addiction that winds up in them not really being able to function normally without regular periods retreating into solitary meditation. To step into working samadhi takes a lot of confidence and courage, and an ability to skillfully embrace our messy chaotic reality whole-heartedly.

Yourself as a mindful warrior
With your capacity to sustain singularity, not just in formal meditation but in complex daily life, our path opens up into that of the ‘mindful warrior’. Someone who trusts themselves enough to start openly expressing their joy, compassion, inner wealth and generosity in the world, without fear of getting burned, burned out or intimidated. To finish this article, I’d like to leave you with a quote from Chogyam Trungpa (From ‘Cutting through spiritual materialism’) on the compassion that arises essentially from working samadhi. If you imagine yourself like this in your daily life, it gives a taste of what it’s like:
“We could say that compassion is the ultimate attitude of wealth: An anti-poverty attitude, a war on want. It contains all sorts of heroic, juicy, positive, visionary, expansive qualities. It implies a larger scale thinking, a freer and more expansive way of relating to yourself and the wold….it is the attitude that one has been born fundamentally rich, rather than one must become rich. Without this kind of confidence meditation cannot be transferred into action at all.”

Related article: Karuna – Compassion arising from wisdom

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Saturday April 9th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

In a sentence: Experience unique Qi gong and Taoist breathing techniques to improve your immune system, energy level, psychological wellness and enhance your meditation…read full details

Starts Tuesday 5^th/Wednesday 6^th April 2022 – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

In a sentence: Establish the inner strength, skill and courage needed to make you resilient in the face of life’s challenges, and thrive in both times of adversity and times of peace.

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Ongoing January-March – Zen: The ordinary path to enlightenment – Meditating with the Ten Ox Herding pictures

Saturday April 9th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Starts Tuesday 5^th/Wednesday 6^th April 2022 – The Way of the Mindful Warrior – Meditating with the Warriors creed

Saturday 23^rd April, 9.30am-12noon – Zen meditation deep dive mini-retreat

Tues 17^th/Weds 18^th May: Wesak meditation

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags integral meditation, integral mindfulness, meditation, meditation in singapore, mindful warrior, mindfulness, mindfulness in Singapore

Inner vision Integral Awareness Integral Meditation meditation and creativity Meditation techniques mind body connection Presence and being present Zen Meditation

Your body of presence (Sitting sumo style)

Post author By Toby
Post date March 1, 2022

“On a simple level, the aim of meditation is to turn your everyday experience from this ‘PASTpresentFUTURE’ into this ‘pastPRESENTfuture’.”

Dear <<First Name>>,

This weeks article explores how you can make your body a pillar of presence in meditation. It is a subject we will explore in this Tuesday and Wednesday evenings meditation session, you’d be welcome, live-in-person, or online.

In the spirit of presence,

Toby

Your body of presence (Sitting sumo-style)

On a simple level, the aim of meditation is to turn your everyday experience from this “PASTpresentFUTURE” into this “pastPRESENTfuture”. You can see at the bottom of the article another visual representation of this. Basically, at the moment we spend more time in the past and future than we do in the present. As a result, we are often lost in and intimidated by them. When we practice meditation or mindful activity, we bring more of our attention into the present and so become more grounded, calmer and less easily made anxious by our active mind. We become more solid in our own being, and so become stronger mentally and emotionally. You can use your physical body as an object of focus in the moment to build a ‘Body of Presence’, that you can anchor your attention to.

Sitting or standing like a Sumo wrestler
Imagine you are sitting or standing like a sum wrestler. Sumo wrestlers are large, heavy and know how to stay strong and grounded even when their opponents try and push them off balance. Feel your body to be heavy and massive, as well as poised and balanced. Bring your center of gravity low in your belly, upper body relaxed. Breathe and build your ‘body of presence’ in this way. The past and future are just like small insects trying to push you over! You are a mountain of stabile presence, like a sumo wrestler.

The body within the body
If you sit with your body like this in formal meditation, after a time you may start to have the experience of your physical body then dissolving away, and then the experience of an open spacious body of awareness. In Zen meditation, this is called the ‘body within the body’. What it means is that when we ‘drop’ the physical body in meditation, what is then revealed is the formless timeless ‘body of consciousness’ that is our liberated self, Buddha Nature, or awakened Nature.
Your ‘Sumo body’ is a very good basis for then moving into your ‘body of consciousness’ because:

Focus on the ‘sumo body’ helps overcome mental and emotional distractions, building stable presence, and the basis for ‘dropping’ your everyday body-mind
When you pick your physical body back up again after meditating on your ‘body of consciousness’ it is solid and stable, helping you to anchor back into the physical world after meditation.

So, there you go, two ‘bodies of presence’. One, the ‘sumo body’ you build around the physical body, the other one around your ‘body of consciousness’. Both are important aspects of a competent and complete meditator’s repertoire.

Related articles: Zen Meditation on the Body Within the Body (Within the Body)
The body within the body (infinitely small, infinitely big)

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Tues & Weds March 22nd & 23rd – Spring Equinox balancing & renewing meditation

The Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere marks the mid-point between the cooler, darker seasons of the year and the lighter, warmer ones. The forces of day and night, light and dark are of equal strength. As such it represents time to emphasize balance and harmony, both in our life and meditation practice.

It is also good time to attune the life-force in the earth and creative energies within ourselves. We will be taking the time to get in touch with the new ideas, energies and creativity within ourselves as they emerge like new plants and flowers in spring.

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Ongoing January-March – Zen: The ordinary path to enlightenment – Meditating with the Ten Ox Herding pictures

Tues & Weds March 22nd & 23rd – Spring Equinox balancing & renewing meditation

Saturday March 26th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology

Tags integral meditation, integral mindfulness, meditation, meditation in singapore, mindfulness, mindfulness in Singapore, mindfulness meditation, Zen meditation

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Hopefully hopeless

Post author By Toby
Post date February 7, 2022

“When we build competency at ‘conscious hopelessness’, we can then move consciously back to how we approach hope and fear in our life, and seek to do them a better.”

Dear Integral Meditators,

This weeks article is on a meditation technique I’ve enjoyed over the years, and that invites both resilience, peace and insight. If you enjoy it, it will be the subject of this Tuesday and Wednesday evenings meditation session, you’d be welcome, live or online.

In the spirit of hopeful hopelessness,

Toby

Hopefully hopeless

If you look at the movement of your mind, one pattern you may start to see is that part of you is hoping for good things:

For people to like you
For things to turn out how you would like
For the worlds problems to be solved
For the environment to be saved from pollution
For someone to fix your loneliness
To get the pay raise

And so it goes on…. A related movement then also happens in your mind, the wish to avoid the things that we fear

Fear of being disliked or disapproved of
Fear of things not going your way
Fear for the future of the planet
Fear of loneliness
Of not having enough money
Fear of death

Much of the activity and conversation in our mind then comes from this oscillation between hope and fear. So then, a kind of Zen method that I use in meditation is to practice “Hopelessness”. This doesn’t mean becoming depressed, what it means is to temporarily drop as fully as you can both your hoping and your fearing. If you can do this, then the conversation in your mind subsides very quickly, and you land with a ‘bump’ in the present moment! With no hoping and no fearing, your mind temporarily stops trying to solve the things you are afraid of or hoping for, and comes back home.
When you are meditating in this way, you can begin by noticing your hopes and fears, and the way they drive your inner conversation. Then you can choose to gently put them down, and relax into the open state of presence that arises naturally from that ‘putting down’. So ‘hopelessness’ then leads to a state of centered peace that we can drop into regularly amidst the uncertainty of our life.

Picking up hope and courageously facing fear
When we build competency at hopelessness, we can then move consciously back to how we approach hope and fear in our life, and seek to do them a bit better. This is one quote that I enjoy from Nick Cave around hope:
“Hope rises out of known suffering and is the defiant and dissenting spark that refuses to be extinguished”. We can open to hope courageously, despite our fears. We can find reasons to be hopeful and hold onto the brightness that they bring into our lives. We can grow them mindfully.
We can also then begin to face our fears courageously. We can learn to look after the parts of us that are afraid, to re-assure them and to work appropriately to resolve the causes of our fear. We can also bear in mind that potentially, the causes of fear are endless, and thus know when to pick it up and put it down appropriately.

Imagine you are in a landscape. To one side the sun is rising with its bright rays, this is hope. To the other side is a dark, tangled forest, that is your fear. Where you are sitting perhaps there is a pleasant tree, a little stream and some small what flowers amidst the grass. This space, exactly where you are is fine as it is. Relax into it and become ‘hopeless’ for a while, recover there. Then when you are you can go back to you hopes and fears in a more conscious and empowered manner.

To end, here is a quote from Thomas Merton, that I enjoy as a further meditation on the value of hopelessness: “Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.”

Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2022, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Saturday Feb 26th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

In a sentence: Experience unique Qi gong and Taoist breathing techniques to improve your immune system, energy level, psychological wellness and enhance your meditation…read full details

Life-fullness – The Integral Life-Coaching Program with Toby

Are you looking a coach who can help you to:

Meet the challenges, stress and changes that you face in a more effective and mindful way
Become happier within yourself, in your relationships and at work
Be actively accountable for finding a sense of balance/well-being in your life and fulfilling your personal potential?
Guide you to find and operate from a deeper sense of meaning, motivation and connectivity in your life?

Read full details…

All upcoming classes and workshops at IMA:

Ongoing – Weekly Tuesday, Wednesday Online class schedule

Ongoing on Wednesday’s, 7.30-8.30pm – Wednesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (Bukit Timah)

Ongoing on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-8.30pm – Tuesday Meditation for stress transformation and positive energy with Toby (East Coast)

Ongoing January-March – Zen: The ordinary path to enlightenment – Meditating with the Ten Ox Herding pictures

Saturday Feb 26th, 9.30-11.30am – Monthly Qi Gong & Taoist Breathwork Clinic & Mini-retreat

Integral Meditation Asia

Online Courses * 1:1 Coaching * Books * Live Workshops * Corporate Mindfulness Training *Life-Coaching * Meditation Technology