Take a moment to mentally step back. Ask yourself, 'how important would this issue look six months from now? ..A few years on?' I find that in most cases, the answer is 'not important at all'. Sometimes, this flags up what is  important. Often, this is to do with our relationships. It matters how we treat people, including ourselves.   By this time of year, hedgehogs, dormice and bats have tucked themselves away for the winter. Hibernation is nature's way of surviving the cold and dark....

The nervous system does not differentiate 'social' threat from bodily threat. We all meet risk in our lives. Even if we do not practice extreme sports or live in a war zone, we still have to negotiate busy roads. Yet, for most of us, times when we are at physical risk are few. More often it is not a physical threat but everyday interactions that seem to present danger. Here, the sense of threat arises in relation not to the body, but to one's idea of oneself . Most of us like to be seen in...

A quality of solidarity, free from the social pressures that can hover as we navigate our interactions with others As the meditation drew...