Mindfulness Classes With Oli Doyle

Did you know that inside, you're always peaceful, even if you don't notice it? I know, you may think this sounds crazy, but underneath all thoughts and turmoil, we are all completely silent. Today I invite you to find that silence by noticing what is there when thought is not. For more thought un-provoking classes, join me at www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com

WARNING! The following podcast may cause your false identity to explode, leaving you peaceful, free and perhaps appearing slightly unhinged! Please exercise caution if you are attached to your story, if you fear losing the false future or if the past is more important than your happiness. For more classes, catch the internet bus over to www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com To get a copy of Oli's masterful book Mindfulness Plain and Simple get the tube over to Amazon.com or  Amazon UK  

Listening to silence can change your life. It can remove you immediately from the churn of continuous thinking, the stress of a world seemingly filled with noise. In truth, there is silence everywhere, inside and out. Silence is the background from which all sound emerges and into which it returns.  Life and silence are synonomous, and when we listen to silence deliberately, it unleashes great peace almost instantly. Today I would like to share with you this simple, powerful peace. For more classes, head to www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com

Do you ever feel like life is always busy, like time is always stretched as your to-do list grows like a garden weed?  Have you ever arrived at the end of the day feeling like it was all a blur of rushing and busy-ness? If you answered 'yes' to either, you're probably a modern day human. Congratulations! If you are searching for an alternative, this week is for you. Each day, I will be celebrating the joy of going slow, of being still and enjoying this wonderful peaceful world. Join the full journey at www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com I hope you enjoy the un-ride! Oli Doyle

Let everything be exactly as it is and you will discover a radically different world, one that is peaceful, calm and perfect already. How freeing! For more classes from Oli Doyle, visit www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com

How to make peace with the people you can't stand! For more mindfulness classes, resources and workshops, visit www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com

For more classes go to www.alittlpeaceandquiet.com

  When we practise allowfulness, what we are doing instead is taking a step back whenever the thoughts start to take over. We come back to experiencing the feeling as it is—as a sensation. That’s it. If you can learn to do that, you will never have an emotional problem again. When the emotion tries to take over your thinking, or vice versa, you can just sit and experience the feeling while watching the thoughts roll by. It’s as if you are sitting in a nice warm house watching a thunderstorm roll through. Beautiful, powerful and unable to stop your happiness.  

Does resisting what we see as negative actually help us in any way? Does it provide any positive benefits or help us to resolve those situations, or does it merely reduce our ability to effectively deal with what's arising now? As we begin the week, we will see how to step out of this struggle and bring curiosity to this wonderful life.

For a new mindfulness class every day, go to www.alittlepeaceandquiet.com

  When you learn to sharpen your attention down to this moment, you can focus just on the time you are spending with the person Now. You can really notice the person’s facial expressions today, the way the person is talking today—you can really listen. And in that listening, the relationship changes.

  So you are no longer worried about the next Now or the last Now. It is just this; it is all just this. And suddenly difficult situations aren’t difficult anymore. They are just challenges that either require action or don’t. If they require action, you act, and if not, you leave it—very simple. The mind will try to complicate this and say, “Yeah, but … Yeah, but … Yeah, but what about … What if …” But there is no situation where being in the Now doesn’t apply. In any situation, all you can do is act in the best way you can, or not act. There is no other path or option. When you keep this in mind, life is very simple. 

  Experiencing life as it happens is not possible through the mind - it is only possible by stepping out of thinking and into curiosity and openness. If you listen to a friend without worrying about what it means for you, how what they’re describing may affect you and what you might say next, that listening will open up a whole new perspective. You can be wholehearted in your actions, which brings a sense of calm, peace and joy. It also makes you increasingly effective as old beliefs, assumptions and conditioning no longer contaminate your actions in this moment. 

Instantaneous focus means bringing your attention so sharply into this moment that there is no room for anything else, for any thought, to take over. Now thoughts can still arise and they will and that’s fine, because we’re not trying to get rid of thought or to block it. We’re not trying to have a quiet mind. We just want to be primarily focused on our object of awareness, which in this practice will be the breath. With instantaneous focus, you are so sharply aware, so alive in this moment, that everything else fades to the background.

Today I want to ask you a question: What will you make of this life?

What is life like when we just stop thinking, unless it is absolutely necessary? Today we will explore what that world is like, and how we can all step into it whenever we decide.

Humans make one simple mistake that causes all our stress; we look for stability in the wrong place. We seek a predictable, safe experience in the outside world, which is constantly changing and evolving. We look for peace and happiness through external events and experiences. And in the end, we are left frustrated and disheartened. Instead of blaming the external world, we should just stop asking it to give us what we want. And rather than giving up on what we want, we should start to look for it inside. In truth, you are peace, joy and brilliance all rolled into one. All you need to do is look.

Whether you call yourself religious or not, we all follow the biggest religion of all time - Should-ism. Those of us who (at least occasionally) follow this religion believe in a whole lot of 'Shoulds', which are different for each of us. Today, I will show you a simple practice to help you notice when the shoulds are taking over and to step back into curiosity.

The mind and the world have convinced you of a simple but powerful lie: that happiness is determined by what happens to you on a day to day basis. This lie keeps your attention focused outside, your main interest in what others do, what life does, and how it affects you. Today I will illustrate how this process itself prevents any chance of finding peace, of being truly happy. I will also show you how it is possible to take a different path and find peace right now.

So far this week we have explored how to catch your thinking before it takes over your attention, your feelings and your life. Today I will summarise the practices from this week into one powerful experience.