Hi there,

I just got off the phone with meditation teacher Will Duncan, hearing his thoughts on what he calls “sideways approaches” before his talk with us tomorrow. 

The idea is that some challenges are best approached side-on. A forward charge might simply increase resistance, whether it is change we seek from others, or even from ourselves. 

One example is replacing optimisation with intimacy. Instead of rushing to make things different, it means slowing down. Getting curious. Investigating the way things are right now. 

It chimes with something Feldenkrais pointed out (which I've benefited from so much when I've remembered to apply it): You can't do what you want if you don't know what you're doing. 

It means becoming more intimate rather than insistent, and noticing what happens when you do.

I met Will on a month-long meditation co-live a few years ago, and immediately loved his down-to-earth approach. He's one of the few westerners I know who have completed a 3-year silent retreat in the Tibetan tradition. He teaches using stories, he's got a great sense of humour, and draws on 40 years of study, practice and meditation.

I'm so happy tomorrow he'll come speak with us, on the theme of navigating turbulent times, and the groundless states of meditation, psychedelics and life. Some themes include:

•⁠  ⁠Techniques for working with groundless states
•⁠  ⁠An exploration of the idea of avidya which lies at the heart of almost all the wisdom traditions that have come out of India
•⁠  ⁠⁠How Indic-soteriology can give us a framework for understanding the integration of psychedelic insight

It's recorded for everyone registered, but it would be wonderful to see you live online, Thurs 29th Oct. You can register here.