ANIMATED CHAOS
Only a few things are better than sitting alone on my bed in front of an open window in my tiny studio in Amsterdam, watching the sun set behind the railway and a countless number of aeroplanes descend behind the three wind turbines, listening to crickets singing outside. These are moments of peace, serenity, and … Continue reading I’m coming home
It was a splendid morning in the Netherlands. The weather was nice. The sun was shining. Around 8 a.m., Eva was stretching her sleepy limbs. She heard people unlocking their bikes, seagulls fighting over garbage, and trains riding off to who-knows-where. A gentle wind squeezing in through the half-open window was caressing her forehead. She … Continue reading How violence is sometimes the correct answer
Surveys are a tricky data collection method. On the one hand, they enable reaching thousands of people and gathering a magnitude of data in a short timeframe. On the other hand, they rarely capture the information they ought to. The reason for that is often bad design. Survey design is no joke. A fool can ask … Continue reading Welcome to every researcher’s worst nightmare
I received this beautiful pink see-through day curtain material the other day. It was a perfect match with my pink bedsheet and the pink decorative pillow that I had been given by a girl moving out of the housing complex. I knew it would be a great complimentary item to my room. There was this … Continue reading How to hang curtains (the clever way)
I saw a post on Reddit the other day where a Grinberg practitioner was looking for volunteers who could help him try out an online session. Of course, I signed up. We did a session via Zoom for approximately 1 hour with introduction and cooldown included. In the beginning, we talked a bit about what … Continue reading Grinberg method. Done remotely.
I am attending a module on Creative Thinking and Innovation at Trinity College Dublin. I hereby want to share some topics that Fergal Brophy covered today and what thoughts they triggered in me. Design thinking Design thinking is an iterative process of empathising with the users, defining the problem, ideating, proposing solutions, prototyping, testing, gathering … Continue reading TCD: Creative Thinking and Innovation
I find it fascinating how the mind tricks us. When I close my eyes and meditate for 30 minutes, all sorts of peculiar things happen. For example, thoughts. No matter how hard I try to focus on the body scan, these rogue thoughts keep attacking me. Thoughts about whose couch I should ask to crash … Continue reading MBSR 4: Virgin meditation
aka Body scan for pain relief I have been having weird pains these last couple of days. It all began with my right wrist. I noticed it during yoga. There was a sharp pain whenever I had my wrist at an angle. It wasn't intolerable, but it was also far from being pleasant. The next … Continue reading MBSR 3: How I achieved a state of no bones
There is an old Zen Buddhist story about how we tend to see events as either good or bad, not simply neutral happenings in life as a bigger whole. I have copied the story at the end of this post and I encourage you all to read it because what happened to me today was … Continue reading Maybe so, maybe not
Exercise Take a few moments to be still. Congratulate yourself for taking this time for meditation practice. Begin this mindful check-in by feeling into your body and mind and simply allowing any waves of thought, emotion, or physical sensation to just be. Perhaps this is the first break you’ve taken amidst a busy day. As … Continue reading MBSR 2: Mindful check-in