I have taught a course called Dynamics of Stillness for many years now.

With this course, I share some techniques I’ve learnt over the years, from Osteopathy, from my studies in Daoism and Buddhism, and from my interest in indigenous tribes.

In the course, which I hold at Tig Roy retreat centre in the Galtee mountains of Tipperary, we would take time to first find our Neutral, and from there we would go on to explore a series of Sensory Meditations.

One simple practice is to find a place and get comfortable, and just sit quietly in nature. Now this takes enormous patience, as we must sit for at least 10 minutes, quietly just waiting and watching and listening, but not thinking. After about 10 minutes, something quite strange starts to happen. Nature starts to wake up around us, little animals and birds start to appear as if from nowhere.

It is like when we move around in nature our ‘ footprint’ is so large, and we are so loud and possibly frightening, that most things disappear. Try it!, It is quite amazing when you do!

On the course, we go on to start to feel the natural rhythms and tides of nature. These practices bring to mind The Bushmen of the Kalahari who would talk about the Story on the Wind - this great ‘wind’ that connected them with nature and with each other. We work with a ‘feeling sense’ or a ‘felt- sense’, This is much more than just one of our senses - it is a ‘feeling out’ into nature to sense it.

This has the effect of deeply connecting or reconnecting us with nature.

From here we go on to start to feel or sense our own Health. This is a natural, alive, potent feeling within ourselves. We are so deeply attuned to feeling what is wrong with our bodies that we have lost the connection to what feels alive and healthy. This reconnection can feel really liberating, especially in people who are suffering with chronic pain.

As the weekend progresses, we learn to start to get a feeling sense of Stillness, both inside and around us. Behind all the noise, all the commotion, lies a great Stillness - what the Buddhists would call ‘the great natural peace’. It is always there, it always has been and it always will be. If we learn to attune our senses to this Stillness, we start to develop a deep relationship to it. This stillness is fascinating to sense. It has a great power in it. A ‘Dynamic Stillness’. By reconnecting to this Stillness it can bring a great sense of peace.

These courses are wonderful to teach, I spend the whole weekend teaching but afterwards, I feel deeply rested, connected and revitalized, as would all the students.

I was struck by something a participant said to me when we finished this work. She said that the practices were ‘not only very important but are our birthright’. Her words are so true!

This website aims to support people to slow down, find their neutral, reconnect with nature and, in a deep way, reconnect with their own Health, their own sense of aliveness.

I hope you enjoy the podcasts. I suggest you start with the 10-part introduction to meditation. The book or online course in Dynamics of Stillness will be a natural next step on your journey.

I wish you well.