I'm on a diet! Botheration - there I've said it - it's out there publicly. Grrr! I love food and hate diets. So why? Well, the obvious reason is there is more of me than there used to be hence I can't fit most of my wardrobe plusI know there are health issues in the... Continue Reading →
A Manual for Heartache – Book Review
This is an extraordinarily good book. Practical and direct but overflowing with compassion Cathy Rentzebrink will gently talk you through how you can be kind to yourself when overwhelmed by grief. And she should know. Her 'back story' is of surviving a devastating and protracted loss which began in her teens when her brother, to... Continue Reading →
Reverse Contagion?
Earlier this week I anointed someone with oil. It's been a very long time since I've done that. Naturally I took appropriate precautions but as the person concerned was already in that fragile space somewhere between life and death, the risk to her of anything transmitted from me was out of all proportion with the risks she already... Continue Reading →
“The marmalade made me do it!”
I've been away for two days and blown the diet. Forgive me Helen, my fab healthy eating guru friend. It was the marmalade that made me do it. Here is the little mini message that was on the underside of the mini marmalade pot I opened each morning at breakfast. (Yes, I know, opening the... Continue Reading →
Managing your mind
Here is a second talk I did recently. This one is very practical: what to do with difficult feelings and whirling thoughts. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/authentic-2018-managing-your-mind-sheila-bridge/id1359049384?i=1000406713333&mt=2 Here are the slides I refer to through the talk Look at the shape made by the intersect of your body, mind and spirit. This is a traditional image representing God the... Continue Reading →
‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ and other books by Brené Brown
This isn't so much a book review as a library review - this woman has written alot and it's all very good. Where do I start? 'The Gifts of Imperfection' is annoyingly brilliant. why annoyingly? Because she kind of says the exact same thing that I wrote TWENTY-THREE years ago! Only she says it alot... Continue Reading →
‘It is what it is’
This is a phrase that has got me through some difficult experiences and some low moments. I've found myself saying it again to a couple of people lately. It may sound like resignation but there is a world of difference between resignation and acceptance (see image). So when I say this phrase I mean acceptance.... Continue Reading →
Bird-watching is a lot like thought watching
I am not much of a birdwatcher but I am learning to become a thought watcher and I was intrigued the other day by a metaphor which connected the two ideas. For about six months now I have been practising meditation. Practising is what you do when you are not very good at something and... Continue Reading →
Mindfulness: end of course conclusions
I’ve been leading a mindfulness group for the last 9 weeks. “Leading” is actually a slightly misleading word. All I did was invite 10 to 12 friends to purchase the same book that I myself had decided to read and then I set up a closed group on Facebook with the idea that we could... Continue Reading →