Ganb8te 4 - Putting on my giraffe ears

[gan]

(Boko Haram....sure...but they're not so different to other rebel groups in Africa. Dreadful violence on a somewhat limited scale. But oil is the stuff of major wars, feeds government corruption and opens up the door to foreign exploitation...difficult to build strong governments that can quash rebel groups in the face of that).

Re February - starting to think about it a bit (in a non-anxious, no expectations kind of way). Will post sometime soon on that as I'd like to test out some ideas on how to approach a possible meetup.

Yoga should help with settling your mind over time. When I was struggling with the same issue my IC recommended I take a walk first. So I used to walk to the park and meditate there first thing in the morning - which helped a lot. Doing that for a few weeks helped me know what it felt like to not to be distracted so I can now just do it at home. But really I think it took me learning a couple of other techniques (visualisation and reflection) after Level 3 to really feel like like I was getting somewhere. Creativity pack was particularly good. Stick with it. I've been reading a bit of the scientific literature around the benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and the findings are pretty remarkable - even after 8 weeks. Several medical and nursing schools are incorporating it into the curriculum as a way to build resilience in their students.

Did you see my post to Elsa the other day? In short, yes I am noticing giraffe and jackal language. Haven't advanced my own practice much though...but I do feel like meditation/yoga is helping me stand back from situations and be more conscious of what is coming out of my mouth which is a positive first step. Did you end up watching the videos?