I was asked this week at a panel in London at the Blue Earth Summit on men's mental health; "What do you wish that you'd known/had when you were younger?" The eloquent version only really came to me later - I wish I'd have known sooner that emotions weren't a threat. They're essential information about what's happening, and what's happening will help determine what needs to be done. So emotions are essential for clarity. The more we suppress them, the more lost we become. I don't think many people knew that in the 80's in North Yorkshire. Then later in the week I read something that resonated: "Too many people have told me to "just trust my intuition" without acknowledging that trauma messes with your ability to trust ANYTHING — Real intuition comes after you've done the work to differentiate between body wisdom and survival patterns. It's earned. So no, you can't always "just trust your gut." Sometimes your gut is still terrified." Linnea Butler - Substack. And then this: "“Overthinking” could equally be called “underbodying.” When a person’s body is effectively numb, their cognitive mind is basically all they can feel. So there’s nothing else to do but think. As soon as one reconnects to the fullness of their body, thinking automatically becomes less compelling." Vacha - Substack. This is where we arrive at quiet time. Quiet time is foundational to patiently sort through all the sensations of the body, and the stories the mind has made up about them, to see what's relevant still, to see what can be let go. Add quiet time to somatic and embodied practices as well as mindset and you have a potent recipe for genuine transformation. But first, we get quiet. Let the water still, so we might see. 9pm UK time go here: https://inner-journey-jam.onrender.com/ Unless you're a first timer, then 8:50pm go here first https://www.canva.com/design/DAHPv51x5M0/ciEMbSvDkWiNdEdLoOep1A/view?utlId=h7590d60eb0

“Ultimately, the problems we face cannot be solved at the same level at which they were created. The current problems of the world are bigger and more complex than the institutions established to deal with them. Meaningful change requires a true transformation that shifts the levels of understanding and opens the realms of possibility. Yet, there is a poverty of imagination when it comes to facing the size and depth of the problems we all face. In mistaking appearances for the real thing, people wind up with the appearance of strength, the appearance of leadership and the appearance of meaning while suffering a loss of all that is truly meaningful in the end. Genuine change, whether it be in the hearts of people or in the culture at large, is more difficult than changing the appearance of things and therefore can be a more rare occurrence. In hard times, inner changes must precede changes to outer circumstances.” - Michael Meade, “Awakening the Soul” So many reasons to get quiet. How will you ever see a peaceful world if you cannot bring that resonance through your own being? 9pm uk https://inner-journey-jam.onrender.com/ First timers go here https://canva.link/ijsquiettime

I used this quote from Murakami's Kafka on the shore in a breathwork mix. The mix is called Larimar's Storm. We talk about the quiet after the storm, and it's real. What's also real is the quiet in the Storm. We might call it the eye. The place where you see. It exists when you've cultivated an inner ground of stillness and spaciousness. It allows you to choose a response rather that be re-acted out by one. To descend down into sensations that feel solid, is a little like that part on a plane journey where you fly down towards the clouds. They look like mass beneath you, but when you get in them, they're actually just a fine mist. Your emotions are like a fine mist. They're not solid things. And when you spend enough time in quiet, you can move through them, while they move through you, saturating, nourishing and giving you gravity. All you have to do it keep breathing. Breathing is better than thinking. Quiet time at 9pm UK tonight First timers go here 10 mins before and get familiar with the instructions

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. A PRACTICE OF QUIET WILL BRING EVERYTHING THATS NOT WORKING IN YOUR LIFE INTO FOCUS. BUT IT’S RARELY THE THING THATS NOT WORKING. IT’S HOW YOU’RE PERCEIVING IT. WHEN YOU CHANGE HOW YOU’RE PERCEIVING IT, THE EMOTIONAL TENSION DISSIPATES, AND THE PROBLEM EITHER SELF CORRECTS..OR THE RE-SOLUTION BECOMES OBVIOUS. YOU ARE THE IN-FORMATION. BUT YOUR MIND MIGHT BE TOO NOISY. SO THE SIGNALS ARE HARD TO HEAR. “BOREDOM IS THE SENSATION OF DOPAMINE REPLENISHING.” “CONFUSION IS THE SENSATION OF NEUROPLASTICITY.” There's more of this stuff on substack, where I write this kind of nonsense all the time. But anyway, it's Sunday. Time to wind down the week and put a full stop on it ⚫️ New features in quiet time Arabic and Farsi languages for our quiet fans abroad! We welcome you wholeheartedly. As ever the link is here and in the calendar. (Always the same link on every post). And First timers go here 10 mins before to familiarise yourselves. 9pm UK time. See you on the cushion.

This was something I did getting back from the gym the other day. Never a bad time to breathe..