2025 Review and What's Coming in 2026!
- Mar 4
- 5 min read
A short refection upon what’s been occurring this year. And…coming soon 2026! |
 Hi all We thought that it might be nice to take a look back at the year with one or two highlights, as well as looking ahead a wee bit! (And Damian has kindly contributed a reflection again!) Our favourite activities from the year Andrew “I particularly enjoyed delivering the MBSR programme with Joe to a really thoughtful and engaged group of people” Joe MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) “I am so happy that we were able to put on our first ever MBSR as a CIC. I am personally happy because; it has been 5 years since the last one I facilitated and it took a fair bit of time to rewrite and shape. I always enjoy delivering courses with another teacher, in this case Andrew. The group were fantastic! It takes a lot of time and commitment to join and complete such a course and also, a certain degree of bravery. The half day retreat at Washington Wildfowl Park went off really well. The feedback has been very positive indeed. Some of the things that we would like to run don't come off, but this one did. The collective stress gage of the group came down 20% from pre to post course questionnaires. Finally, a comment from one participants’ feedback to the question “what does Mindfulness mean to you now?” “Taking the time to focus on you, the real you, and understand that thoughts may be misdirecting you and with considered time and practice, your intentional actions can shift towards a more balanced kinder relationship with yourself” Liz Mindfulness and Nature “Practising outdoors has to be one of the highlights of the year. Whether it was walks in our local parks, school sessions in Barnes Park, or working with Durham Wildlife Trust through its’s Links with Nature project. I have seen first hand how the combination of mindfulness and nature has really helped boost peoples’ well being. And every season has something marvellous to offer!” And what’s to come? 2026 sees us continuing our Lottery Awards for All project to break down the barriers to mindfulness, especially those who are experiencing anxiety, we are doing that through the activities listed below Regular weekly Mindfulness Based Practice Sessions Calm at Carnegie Tuesdays at 2.00-3.00pm Calm at St Michael’s Thursdays at 5.30/45-6.30pm Mindfulness Qigong and Yoga with Ashbrooke Yoga Fridays 12.30-2.00pm Mindfulness Coaching. All of the sessions have been taken up this year, and we have another year of sessions to offer. They are a one to one “way in” or “way back” for people who are interested but tentative about the practice of Mindfulness, that can be from anxiety, a feeling of “stuck-ness”, or simply looking to make sense of the masses of practices out there, that may or may not be helpful and interesting Please email hello@tlcoc.co.uk to enquire. Streams of Calm A weekly online meditation and brief intro, left as a recording to view in your own time. They appear each week and sometimes from outside when we are feeling braver about the weather ! You would be part of a closed group and one purpose is that it is a safe online place, offering practice time with a teacher, and also at your own time and in your own space. A lot more Mindfulness and Nature - Watch this space! YouTube This is something that we are learning! So it isn’t the smoothest and slickest channel that you will ever see!! But like the Streams of Calm, it is a way to connect with us and get a feel for what to do. Thanks to Anthony McDermott at the BIC who has been helping us out with this The name of our channel is @thelittlecompanyofcalm7993 , feel free to subscribe, like and share! Some thank-yous coming up! To all of our volunteers who give their time up freely to help more people access mindfulness. Thanks to all of you who did our survey this year. it is already helping to and continuing to shape our offer of activities for 2026. In the next newsletter we will share some findings from the survey And thanks to all of you partners and participants for all of your support over the year. we really do appreciate it! And now a reflection from Damian Buddhist psychology talks of 3 “characteristics” including “non-self”, better translated as “not self”. The extent to which we are attached to our self-identity connects directly with our degree of suffering and the reaction that comes with it. This is a different light and humorous take on this pretty weighty topic, thanks for this Damian! “Is that yer-self?” Last Christmas, not knowing what else to get him (apart from whiskey), I bought my dad a DNA test. Some years before I had my own DNA tested and had discovered that I was 67% Irish. I had told my dad and this had formed a bit of a bond between us and even led us to making a pilgrimage to Ireland, to try and track down relatives and share memories. He remembered from his own parents that his grandfather had been born in Ireland, in County Sligo and that some of his cousins had also been back to Ireland. We sent a sample of his DNA away by post. After 6 weeks of great anticipation his results came back. He was 99% Irish! Just 1% short of being fully Irish. To my dismay my dad seemed underwhelmed. Even with 99% DNA he admitted, he simply didn’t feel very Irish. He likes Scotch whiskey, and knows very little about Irish History. I felt disappointed. Was I looking for confirmation that we were both Irish ? Was I looking for confirmation of a Self or an Irish self ? I was definitely trying to make a connection. Most Buddhist traditions reject the idea of a permanent, unchanging atman (self or soul). The five aggregates or heaps of clinging; form, sensations, perceptions, mental activity and consciousness are said to cause us dukkha (unease, suffering). These aggregates do not constitute a “self” of any kind. By clinging to the mental activity of “Irishness” I wondered if I was causing my own unease and dissatisfaction. I wondered if an Irish Buddha might be asking: “Is that yer non-self ?” My dad, however, was not clinging to any of this malarkey and seemed much more focussed on the football results and how much whiskey he had left in his whiskey store. I wondered if our ancestors experienced their world in a similar way to us? What cultural expectations shaped the way they listened to their sensory experiences? Identity politics and populism are now very much part of our culture. At the same time, we also have perhaps a greater understanding of mental health issues. Maybe we can learn to be happier and freer from suffering through simpler and more peaceful lives, loosen up our attachment to self- identity? https://vimeo.com/850191937/dc49591612?share=copy Love Peace and Best Wishes for 2026! Joe Liz and Andrew |
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