I couldn’t stop myself from marvelling at the bright-eyed woman across from me who I knew was experiencing what most people would consider intolerable pain, but was somehow nevertheless radiant, light-hearted and completely present as we sat eating a meal together. The lunch date was both professional and personal. I was profiling Vidyamala Burch in my documentary My Year of Living Mindfully as a case study in coping with chronic pain. She’s the founder of Breathworks, an organisation with a global reach that, among other things, aims to teach people living with chronic pain and illness how to reclaim their... Read full article »

On a stinking hot summer Sydney afternoon I lay in a room with 15 other people, eyes closed, attempting to focus on the present by paying attention to my sensations, thoughts, emotions, and breath. The person next to me was snoring peacefully but I was far from feeling blissed out and “one with the moment.” I was feeling hot, fidgety and frustrated and I kept thinking, “Shit, I’m supposed to endure this every day, for the next eight weeks. Why didn’t I sign up to a cooking class instead?”Far from developing my culinary expertise, I had in fact signed up... Read full article »