James Happe Mindfulness Counseling & Coaching

During the first lockdown I made this video. It's an argument for why meditation and mindfulness are useful during a global pandemic. It's linked to a free 21 Day meditation "challenge" that you can access through my website (jameshappecoaching.co.za). It's a small offering of a few minutes a day of making time to check in with yourself. Good luck to us all.
https://youtu.be/QQDfG72OKdY

Why Meditate During A Global Pandemic? In this video I highlight some of the pragmatic reasons why we should practice meditation at this time, during the global Covid19 pandemic.This is particular...

I am currently revisiting the 21 Day Meditation Challenge that I created last year around this time. I am reviewing it together with the latest group of participants on the Meditation for Normal People course.

I didn't have a chance to reply to all of the comments and messages as we were busy going into the first COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa (I was lucky enough to end up on a farm for the first 2 months but often had limited internet signal). Nevertheless, I am really enjoying going through the course again, day by day and responding to the messages.

If you haven't taken the challenge, give it a try. It's completely free and open to anyone. Here is the sign-up link:

Sign up for the 21 Day Meditation Challenge ...to help you start and sustain a daily meditation practice. The course is FREE so sign-up here today join in the challenge. Over the course of 21 days we will gradually work our way up from 5 to to 15 minutes of formal meditation practice. I'll be providing daily guided meditation recordings, answ...

Like many things we do, meditation may seem like a waste of time unless you're "into it”. There are more important things to do, right?

But meditation is different from the other activities that we prioritise, more often than not, on the basis of personal preference. Meditation conditions our state of mind, or the quality of our awareness. And it's a verifiable, self-evident truth that our state of mind affects our experience of the world.

It's true that some activities can cheer us up or help us to destress or move us closer towards the life we would like to have. When we are in a difficult emotional or psychological state however, even the most enjoyable, valuable or rewarding activities can become dull, tiresome or frustrating, all because of the “frame” that is our state of mind at the time.

So meditation isn’t just another activity, it is the maintenance of the space in which all other activity takes place. It can be compared to the cleaning up and organising of an area at the begin of the day in which some activity is going to be taking place: the sorting out of your desk before you begin work, the clearing of a room before practicing a dance, the inhale of a gathering breath before starting a presentation.

Meditation is the maintenance of the space that is your awareness and the activity that happens is your life.

Ever tried to push a thought out of your mind? Here is great article looking at the rebound effect and why this strategy doesn't work. If you experience this problem and are looking for alternative solutions, drop me a message and let's start the conversation.

https://www.spring.org.uk/2009/05/why-thought-suppression-is-counter-productive.php

Most of us believe we far into one of these two categories, and to some extent that may be true since we most likely sit somewhere on the spectrum between these 2 extremes. We may also fluctuate between these poles depending on how we are feeling or the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Take a look at this short video from TheschoolofLife. Which pole to you feel you are closer to?

The Dangers of Thinking Too Much; And Thinking Too Little There are dangers associated both with thinking too much - and thinking too little. The trick is to use our minds to access our most sincere, authentic and o...

Always great to get some feedback from a past client :)

"Having connected with James in the beginning of 2020 has been the most valuable gift I could have invested into myself. The tools that he gave me during our sessions have carried me through a very tough year. I would recommend him a million times over!"