Recently I have had cause to reflect on what it means to feel 'inspired'. That lovely feeling of flow when energy for a project seems to bubble up without much effort, a natural sense of confidence just arises and the next steps seem clear. In the organising of our symposium in August, I have, over recent weeks, … Continue reading Meeting ‘uninspiredness’ through community

Hello I am pleased to share my recent keynote presentation at the Mindfulness in Education Symposium at the University of Vienna in February which was kindly hosted by Dr Karlheinz Valtl. You may be interested in taking a look. It is my attempt to pull together and develop thoughts about the importance of contemplative pedagogy in higher education … Continue reading The quest for meaning and transformation in higher education

Many thanks to Dr Geoff Taggart for contributing this very helpful and practical blog on a contemplative activity that supports PhD students to reflect on and deepen their understanding of their research process. If you have any comments or questions for Geoff please comment below. I recently ran a session for new Phd/EdD students in all disciplines called ‘making … Continue reading Reflecting on Phd research with a contemplative technique

I wanted to take this opportunity to send my good wishes to you all and thank you  for your on-going commitment and engagement to this blog and pursuit of contemplative pedagogy. This is a picture from the blog's stats page showing how the number of visitors (in dark blue) and views (mid blue) have increased … Continue reading Post-truth heartbreak and no hope!

In the midst of this rather hectic end to the term it is a real joy to take a few moments out to let you know that our plans for a summer school type event have come together. This is the blurb for the event: Coming to our senses: embedding contemplative pedagogy in higher education This four-day event … Continue reading Creating the time and space to learn together

This blog has generously been contributed by my colleague in the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex, Ness Woodcock-Dennis. Thanks Ness! I have just returned from International Health and Wellbeing week at Turku University of applied sciences in Finland after giving a workshop to Finnish nursing students based on the theme of health promotion. … Continue reading Resilience, narrative and common humanity in self-care

Compassion is a word that seems to be everywhere at the moment so I thought I'd kick off the first blog of the academic year with some reflections about it. I am reading about compassion, researching compassion, attempting to teach compassion…and it’s not just me! It is something of a buzzword. But amidst all the … Continue reading The deliberate cultivation of love

Earlier this month, I was asked by Dr Amy Armstrong to deliver teaching on self-compassion to her undergraduate business students at Ashridge Executive Education as part of a module on ethics and care, which had embedded contemplative practice from the outset. I am hoping that Amy might agree to share some more details about the … Continue reading Labyrinths, lads & letting go of how ‘learning’ looks

A huge thank you to Mariana Funes for writing this thought provoking blog, that really gets to the heart of what contemplative pedagogy is about. I have been reading the beautifully titled article by Sandra Braman 'When nightingales break the law: silence and the construction of reality' and it has made a big impact on … Continue reading Becoming a contemplation activist

When we are at our strongest and most resilient our sense of needing others diminishes. It feels, rather deceptively I have found out, as though we are the masters of our own destiny. As both an academic, and in the past as a student, I have had times when things just feel under my control, that … Continue reading The importance of community for balancing self-doubt and omnipotence