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Issue 10, August-September 2022

Hello and welcome to August 1st!

Famously the horse’s birthday.

Were you, like me, a horse fanatic in your tweens/teens? The poster of the chestnut mare on the bedroom wall? Riding boots glued to your feet? Pining for your own horse ... or perhaps lucky enough to own one?

The local library's copies of Hoof and Horns and Thelwell's riding academy series were prized borrows. Sadly, the real horse never eventuated.

For that matter, neither did the pet chimpanzee or the lion cub. Oh well.

Horses and mindfulness

"There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle;

one is a sense of humour and the other is patience.” - John Lyon

The mindful horse-whisperer

What do training a horse and the human mind have in common?

Lots, it turns out. Lisa learned from her big bouncy hard-to-handle horse. If you sometimes struggle with your own hard-to-handle mind, take heart. Follow the lead of Lisa the horse-trainer to discover a fresh approach.

read here: Joyful Mind blog

Horses, bread and roses

Nish, a post-war baby, remembers the baker delivering bread by horse and cart in Awaba st, Mosman. Yes, this is living memory, 1950s suburban Sydney! No sooner had the horse clopped by than Nish's father would rush outside to scoop up manure for the garden. Voila, freshly baked bread delivered to the door AND thriving fragrant roses!

Cooking up an emotion potion

The nervous system bucks like a horse at a rodeo when faced with difficult emotions.

Cracking the whip and digging in the spurs only makes our colt crazier.

How about finding a smarter way? To stay on the horse, move with the horse, instead of being knocked against the fence and thrown to the ground.

You can take the reins, you can stay in the saddle coz while unruly emotion does everything it can to unseat you.
Find out more

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?

I've had a busy couple of months condensing ingredients gleaned during my two-year mindfulness certification. Kneading them into a digestible online course, Embodied Mindfulness for Emotional Flourishing (4x4).

I'm very excited that the pilot is starting soon, with four committed riders rearing to go. Four live Zoom calls as part of the mix. Keep your ears pricked coz I plan to run the program next year (2023) for a larger group. Click here if you'd like to be in the saddle.

OVERHEARD

As Time Goes By

As time goes by and old sayings get forgotten. Twenty-something nephew Eric arrives in Morocco, sends a message "safe and sound in Casablanca". Mum back home messages "here's looking at you kid." Son replies "I don't get the reference mum, but I love you." *Sigh*.

Recommended You tubes

The Time You Have (in a lifespan) counted in jelly beans

The Two Wolves in the Heart narrated by Sharon Salzberg on Happify

The New Winnie the Pooh by Charles Mackesy

In the dark days of the pandemic, Mackesy's whimsical pen and ink drawings went viral. Their refreshingly simple, uncomplicated and fresh quality, encouraging kindness and support, found their way onto the sides of buildings and as tatoos on peoples' bodies.

DOWNTIME

Fallow time, or time spent not doing anything we usually think of as productive, is valuable. It’s in this time that we can refuel, find inspiration and solve problems.(Bonnie Tsui, NY Times 2021)

PODCASTS

In the downtime vein, I was excited to come across The Ten Disciplines to manage energy and avoid burnout by people-driven entrepreneur Rob Dube.

What did I love? Discipline number Four: Sit in silence for 30 minutes every day. Hooray!

How interesting that business leaders are brushing up against mindfulness principles and adapting them in interesting ways. Other principles: “Get good at saying no”. “Be humble”. “Take time off”. Yesss!!

Even better is Dube's interview with mindfulness luminary Jon Kabat-Zinn. (2021)

In his compassionate and fluent style, scientist Kabat-Zinn pulls no punches. Mindfulness: forget fluffy. It’s about waking up as a society to the root causes of suffering and disease. Including personal relationships, identity and our responsibility to the planet.

LISTEN:

The Ten Disciplines on Podcast here or similar on Youtube (headsup, entrepreneurial bent)

Kabat-Zinn interview "A Well-Lived Life Is Made in the Present Moment" (highly recommended) here

What's to Watch

The Secret Garden

A new take on the beloved classic novel. Set in England during 1947, the film follows a young orphan girl who, after being sent to live with her uncle, discovers a mysteriously neglected garden on the grounds of his estate. (2020)

Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Dixie Egerickx

The Secret Garden: ABC iview

Born!

Our grandson is born! His name "Bliss" is causing quite a stir. Definitely a choice of the younger generation and perhaps baffling to the older. I told my friend Marie his name over the phone. She's a sparkly raconteur not usually lost for a word. Radio silence. Lengthy extended radio silence. It continued until I discovered my phone at that very moment had run out of battery!

Btw, being a curious person (busy body?) I'd like to picture where you're reading this. Is it at the breakfast/dinner table? On the train? In a cafe? While streaming your fave series (which is ... ?) Lazin' back on your bed?

And guess what, since last issue I've bought an exciting brand-new standing desk!

Here's looking at you, kid.

That's all folks!

Thanks for opening and reading. It's lovely to have your company.

If you're in the mood to stop the gallop and send a hi, just hit reply. I'd love to hear from you. Tally-ho!

Till next time,

whinnies,

Big hugs, Shakti x

* if you've been forwarded this newsletter and would like to get your own in future, please subscribe here

- Look out for the next edition of the Joyfulmind Newsletter on 1st October -

Find all the usual goodies on my website:

> My Guided Meditations on Youtube

>A six-session online Gentle Yoga Course

>The Self-Kindness Bootcamp online course

> Picture books Rest is Best and ZipZap Brain Snap: Meet the Amygdala

Yoga in Kyogle happens fortnightly, Mondays 4pm

joyfulmind

PO Box Joyfulmind, Maclean
Australia

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