Category Archive: anxiety

Will Meditation Heal Me?

Question: I suffer from chronic fatigue, and meditation has been recommended, as was your blog. I went through your posts and though it was very interesting, I didn’t find anything specifically dealing with… Continue reading

To Succeed, Learn to Fail

Most people, when they decide to try meditation, assume it’ll be easy. And the books and spruikers and ads for meditation and mindfulness classes certainly make meditation seem easy. After all, how hard… Continue reading

It’s All Drugs

Question: Hi Roger … I like your blog and I bought the audio course a couple of years ago. I still have difficulty practicing meditation though and part of the reason is I’m… Continue reading

The Meditation Audio Course is Back

A few years ago, (well, almost a decade ago – golly how time flies), after I closed Practical Meditation & Counselling and began travelling (again), I recorded the entire course as a series… Continue reading

Knowing Yourself

Throughout a life, we accumulate habits. Some work for us, other’s don’t. And the key to a good life is being able to nurture those habits that work for us, and weed out… Continue reading

The New Science of Death

Recently, a couple of very good friends have died. And being months away from my seventieth year and sensing the approaching end of my own life, I have been contemplating the nature of… Continue reading

Releasing The Breath

I recently spoke with a friend who had just begun meditating – she was having difficulty with using her breath as a main object. She said as soon as she turned her attention… Continue reading

Our Attention Creates Our Reality

I think there is a core principle in meditation, and in life, and it’s this: Our attention energises whatever we attach it to. Whether it’s a thought, an idea, a feeling or emotion,… Continue reading

Embracing Anatta: The Wonderful Reality of Non-Self

I got an email the other day, with A very concise question:‘Hi Roger, what do you think of the Buddhist idea of non-self?’ So it occurred to me that, even though I’ve posted… Continue reading

The Way to Stillness

Question: Roger, I read your book and I get what you’re saying about how meditation isn’t all fairy dust and bliss, and how we’ve got to build a mental and physical skillset to… Continue reading

Thich Nhat Hanh: Know How to Suffer to Suffer Less

A friend referred me to the following video by one of the great contemporary meditation masters, Thich Nhat Hanh, in which he talks about how essential it is to learn how to suffer.… Continue reading

Perfect World Syndrome

A long time ago, I had a client who was constantly angry. She was quite wealthy, lived in a big house, drove a Porsche and had a family who loved her – but… Continue reading

Routine is Everything

So let’s get back to basics.Essentially, meditation is no big deal. The problem is, people keep making it into a big deal – investing all kinds of significance into a skill which, ironically,… Continue reading

Using Mindfulness to Deal With Anguish

Question:Roger, I suffer from chronic depression. I’m not sure what triggers it – it can happen anywhere. All I know is it usually happens when I’m among crowds of people. When it happens… Continue reading

Reactive Cycles

Question: ‘Hi Roger, in your book you talk about reactive cycles. I’ve not heard of them before and it’s an interesting idea, so I was wondering if you could flesh it out for… Continue reading

On Living To Forget

A short while back I received an email with this very curt question:  ‘I read your book. Interesting. One question. Why do you talk so much about how hard meditation is?’ Aside from… Continue reading

The Immaculate Inbetween

Question: ‘Hi Roger … In stories of the Buddha that I’ve read, enlightenment seemed very easy to people. Just by listening to the Buddha, they used to suddenly become enlightened. Is this just… Continue reading

The Monk and The Bell.

Back in the 90’s, when I was researching stuff during the writing of my first book on meditation, ‘Happy to Burn’, I happened to find a fascinating article, (long since lost) which clarified… Continue reading

Keep It Simple

Meditation is very simple – just sit still with your attention resting lightly on the breath. Notice what arises in the mind and body, accept that it’s there, let it go and return… Continue reading

It’s Not About Relaxation

I think for this post I’ll get back to basics. It’s in response to a question a friend asked me the other day … a very, very … very … basic question which… Continue reading

Life Is A Monastery

Interesting observation of my new book, ‘Being Still’ which I think I’ve commented on before, but which I think I will again:‘Hi Roger … read your new book and loved it, but I’m… Continue reading

Meditating Without Faith is Like Breathing Without Air

It occurred to me today, that one thing I’ve neglected to write about on this blog is perhaps, one of the most important requirements of efficient meditation. And that is the notion of… Continue reading

Why Does Meditating Make Me Anxious?

Got this question in an email from Marc. “Hi Roger … I recently started meditating and frankly I find it makes me even more anxious than I usually am. But I persevered and… Continue reading

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