I know you love me. But probably not so much that you read every single thing I write!

So…I thought I’d share our most popular posts in 2017 with you today.

Enjoy a summary of the content here, or click through to the posts and read them more fully. Enjoy my friends, in reverse order. Drum rolls....

10. Quantum Physics and Mindfulness.

Here’s an extract from the conclusion…
This means, for me, there is some kind of underlying way in which the whole universe can be connected. In some way, everything is connected to everything else and able to influence each other instantly.

So, if quantum phenomena is connected to consciousness, our consciousness could have an immediate effect on another person on the planet, or even on an alien on the other side of the universe, immediately.

This means, if you are 'entangled' or have a connection with someone else on the planet, and you send them compassion and loving kindness in your mind and heart, you could have an immediate positive effect on that person. They effortlessly transform in that moment.

I admit, this is a very wild extrapolation of quantum physics, but it does nicely explain some of the observations from my experience of mindfulness and compassion practice.

9. Feeling Shitty? Here’s some advice.

From the conclusion:

Open the door of your heart to your difficulties.

Have the courage to allow the feelings to enter your being.

Breathe them in and out.

Relax into them.

I guarantee you, if you’re patient, they will transform into the most beautiful flowers in your beautiful mind.

And if you are to believe the greatest teachers from wisdom traditions, within you, you have a very beautiful and luminous mind, waiting to meet you.

8. How to Practice Gratitude - The Ultimate Guide

From the introduction:

Whenever life gets me down, I turn to two things: mindfulness or gratitude. If things are so bad that I can't focus on my mindfulness (and kindfulness) practice, then gratitude works really well for me. Gratitude practice is easy to do and can certainly make you feel better.

Gratitude practice is simply taking the time, as often as possible, to think, write, talk or draw about what's going well in your life. It's about saying thank you rather taking things for granted. And gratitude practice is more powerful than you probably thought.

7. Ultimate Meditation

From the summary:

There are many different forms of meditation taught by many different teachers.

Perhaps highest form of meditation is also the simplest: do nothing.

If you find yourself getting too frustrated by this approach, you can try the more traditional meditations like awareness of breath or the body scan meditation.

But once you get used to meditating, you will probably enjoy coming back to this simple yet profound, relaxing and blissful approach to meditation.

And if you find meditation too hard, or find yourself stuck in the rut of a particular technique, try simply doing nothing and let whatever happen, happen. You may surprise yourself at how much you enjoy it.

6. 3 Ways to Enjoy Deeper, Happier Meditation

From the Summary:

Deeper meditation is not achieved by trying harder to have a deep meditation.

Deep meditation comes when you step out of the way.

When you let your experience be, you’re ‘moving’ in the right direction.

Be at peace with your experience now. Be kind to your body and mind.

You’re good enough.

You’re already home.

5. The best (and worst) Mindfulness and Meditation Jokes of all time

I’m so glad this is a popular post! Here’s one for you:

Q: What’s the most mindful bug in the world?
A: Bees. They are always in ‘be-ing mode’.

Check them all out, and please send me some more good ones to add to the list!

4. 4 Powerful Steps to Deal with Difficult Emotions

Use this 4-step RAIN process to cope with difficult thoughts, feelings or situations.

The essence of RAIN is to empower you to gently work through the difficulty rather than running away or avoiding the challenge.

3. 10 Ways to Be More Mindful at Work

2. 12 Books on Mindfulness and Spirituality that Blew My Mind!

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” ― Francis Bacon

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle 

This book has sold millions of copies, I think mainly after appearing on the Oprah Show. Eckhart made a major breakthrough in his life when he realised he was not his thoughts, saving him from suicide. He’s gone on to be one of the most popular spiritual teachers in modern times.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

This is a beautiful, poetic book, and an absolute joy to read. It makes the Buddha seem almost human, and creatively weaves a story of his path to enlightenment.

Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh is a very popular Buddhist teacher, probably second only to the Dalai Lama. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King. This is a lovely book to introduce you to his writings and teaching. Ideal for those keen to deepen their mindfulness.

1. How to Stop Thinking

Here’s the summary:

Here’s three steps you can take to stop thinking so much:

- Let your body be as comfortable as possible and see what happens. Don’t control your body. Remember how I let my body be in whatever position it wanted to be? Try the same.

- Treat your mind like a lovely friend. Say 'mind, what do you want to do now?'  I did that rather than trying to control my mind. My mind wanted to sleep and wander off. So I let it. Eventually the mind became very still. Effortlessly.

- Cultivate contentment right now. I didn’t try to still my mind. Instead I let it go and stopped trying to control. Then, with time, it calmed down all by itself. Be content with the way things are with your busy, crazy, agitated mind. Your poor mind is tired and stressed. Let it be.