I recently attended a retreat by my favourite monk, Ajahn Brahm.

He spoke at Google Headquarters in California - a cool place for a forest monk to hang out.

Ajahn Brahm expressed the problem of separating mindfulness and compassion - they work far better together.

Check out the video when you have a sec - you may spot me getting told off for laughing too much. :)

Mindfulness on it's own is simply a present moment awareness. But to develop the beautiful peace, gentleness and stillness of meditation, a kindly awareness is required. So he's developed a new term - Kindfulness. And I like it!

Mindfulness and kindness are the two wings to help you soar to the dizzy heights of wisdom, insight, joy and freedom - wow, that sounded wise AND poetic.

Most good meditation teachers encourage a warm, kind, friendly awareness. But I think rather than using the word mindfulness, perhaps kindfulness is better - it reminds you to be forgiving and friendly as you practice.

What do you think?

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Want to deepen your self-compassion? Secure your place on our self-compassion retreat on Holy Isle off the coast of Scotland (11 - 15 September 2015)