Tag Archives: mind

Saluting the Sun #1: Standing Prayer and Mountain

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Aidan

Tadasana 1 and Tadasana 2: Urdhva Baddha Hastasana            “People do not pay attention to the correct method of standing,”1 says BKS Iyengar in his comments on this basic, initial pose, from which everything else emanates. May … Continue reading →

Posted in Salute to the Sun | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seeing the beauty #2

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Aidan

“Giving your complete attention,” I said in Seeing the beauty #1. Observe. Let’s mine that idea a little, because its influence and impact spread out into all areas of the process of balancing the Ecology of the Soul. Observation is … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seeing the beauty #1

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Aidan

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius  Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. Franz Kafka  The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spiritual / Physical / Conscient

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Aidan

Spiritual/physical; matter is energy and You are energy. Yoga allows you to experience the flow of energy in your body; it opens your physical ‘channels’ up to that universal force. Chinese medicine and a host of other Eastern schools of … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dispassion & Detachment

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Aidan

8 August 2015: The manuscript for the book is done, copy edited and waiting only for final versions of the illustrations done by my long time friend, accomplished musician and all round good egg @Michael_Munday. It goes back to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, The Critical (but positive) Enquiry Track | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Grace and Gratitude

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Aidan

They’re all talking about it, the Law of Attraction folks. And a good few more besides, many if not most if not all of the West Coast philosophers, gurus, spiritual teachers and self help leaders, all busily sending their daily … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hope, Positive Thinking and Disappointment

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Aidan

In which we explore the tension between positive thinking and protecting yourself against disappointment. You guard against disappointment by not having high hopes. Be optimistic, positive… but detached. Otherwise, if you just ‘un-hope’ yourself so as to avoid disappointment, you’re already disappointed anyway. … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Past, presence, balance

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Aidan

‘If your mind carries a heavy burden of past,’ says Eckhart Tolle, ‘you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, The Critical (but positive) Enquiry Track | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Phew, nearly left me mind behind there

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Aidan

It’s a quote from a lone stoner, tripping on something very long and strong, that we picked up hitchhiking after a gig many years ago. We giggled then; we giggle now. The Mind as an oft-misunderstood faculty comes in for … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, The Critical (but positive) Enquiry Track | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Silence in the throat

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Aidan

Vishuddha, the fifth chakra, is located in the throat. It governs self-expression, independence, fluency of thought, hearing and speaking – communication, in other words. Which is why in the Ecology of the Soul, the power of communication rests here. Meditation … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How does a pinpoint create so much light?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Aidan

How does a pinpoint create so much light? You’re subsumed, enveloped, overwhelmed, inundated, engulfed, absorbed, obliterated, swallowed up… in a voluptuous ocean of bliss – of your own making. Not even of your making, because this is You. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dark to Light: The Mouse Hole of Your Mind

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Aidan

Heard the one about the mouse hole? No, not a joke but a tried and tested method of quieting the mind. Eckhart Tolle mentions it in (I think) The Power of Now. As you sit in meditation and settle yourself down, … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making inner space

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Aidan

In the early days of my Hatha Yoga study I was privileged to be taught by the powerful, beautiful and eloquent Angela Farmer, who I notice is still working and teaching all over the world (http://www.angela-victor.com). She had a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Chakra Christmas Tree

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Aidan

Who knows where it comes from or where it leads. In this case it’s not rocket science to answer the first question: it comes from the ancient wisdom of the Chakras, which I touch on here and there on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Magic Minute #5: Nature is cruel love

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Aidan

So we’re looking at the two sorts of energy, both of which, when all the bits and bobs, surface accoutrements, distractions and detours, are stripped away, are best understood as Love, because they are life, and if life isn’t love … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Magic Minute #3: Power Seeds

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Aidan

Power Seeds are mental devices, thought triggers to create, enhance or encourage Soul Consciousness, and hence change your actions. They can be aimed at specific behaviours or specific problems, or they can be random insights, even word games, which lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Magic Minute #2: Insight

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Aidan

Almost every word in the English language – or any language for that matter – can be a trigger for a meditation. Thinking about the process by which we can get people to start exploring what’s going on inside their … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wisdom of Home

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Aidan

This is a theme that pops up in the book right at the beginning. Always useful to look at the origins of words and how their meanings truly resonate. Eco, or in the Greek (where are the Greek characters?)οἶκος, means … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Conscious, Conscient Being with a Conscience

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Aidan

Word games, here. But I love it, and in truth there is a lot of benefit in mining the meaning of words, ‘churning’ it, as they say in Raja Yoga. Look at the roots of the word, how it has … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Peace of mind – a piece of my mind

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Aidan

This is a ‘today I have been thinking about…’ post. Much of the thinking around the Ecology of the Soul comes from deconstructing words, really digging into language, figuring out why we say the things we do and how they reflect … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Soul conscious, body conscious

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Aidan

The Ecology of the Soul is about consciousness, which, as we all know – or would, if we stopped to think about it for one moment – operates at different levels. Mostly when we say we are aware of our own consciousness … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Blackboard Blog #5: Build a fire inside, solve your own energy crisis

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Aidan

Moving  away from those nasty vices, we continue on the theme of Energy. We make the connection between energy efficiency in the accepted eco sense (buildings that don’t waste energy, cars that use less energy to achieve the same performance, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Blackboard Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Blackboard Blog #3

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Aidan

Oops. Got distracted from the Blackboard. Here’s one of the really early ones. You’ll have to ignore the shopping list and daily family reminder stuff. In amongst all that is some ancient wisdom, as I’m sure you can see: Create … Continue reading →

Posted in The Blackboard Blog | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Blackboard Blog #1

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Aidan

The Blackboard in the Kitchen has a special ‘testbed’ relationship to The Ecology of the Soul. It’s where I chalk up ideas as they occur, usually late at night, so I can look at them again in the morning and … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic Minutes, The Blackboard Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment