Some posts from a variety of training at a variety of venues from over the last decade.
How to Breathe
Breathe into your belly. ✨🌿
Stress can cause us to breathe with our shoulders and chest. We can even find ourselves holding our breath without noticing. This is your body bracing for an impact that never comes.
With shallow breathing, you only use the top part of your lungs, and the air at the bottom becomes stale. Less oxygen reaches your blood. So you breathe faster to compensate. Which can then form a negative feedback loop signalling stress to the body.
Deep breathing (also known as diaphragmatic breathing) can break this loop and reduce your stress.
When you breathe into your belly, your diaphragm pulls down and opens up the lungs at the base, leading to more efficient oxygen exchange. Fewer breaths are needed, and your nervous system now gets the message that you're safe and everything is okay
Try this:
😌 Close your mouth and place your tongue gently against the back of your top teeth. Breathe in through your nose and let your belly expand. Focus your attention on the rising and falling of the belly
🌊 Don't fill your lungs completely. Aim for about 80% on the inhale, and make the exhale just barely audible so only you can hear it. This will slow it down. A sound like waves on a distant beach
🤍 After a few minutes of this, you'll notice that your breathing slows down on its own. Less effort. More ease.
Acceptance
I took this photo during our walking meditation on the winter retreat last Sunday. 🌲✨
As I walked, each step slowly released more of the baggage that the modern world brings, and as I looked around the winter forest, bare of leaves but still beautiful, Ram Das's famous talk about the trees came to mind. 🌳🤍
I would like to share it with you. It is worth remembering. 💚
“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever.
And you look at the tree, and you allow it.
You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.
The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, ‘You are too this, or I’m too that.’
That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees.
Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
~ Ram Das. 🙏
What AI says about Bromley Mindfulness
Robert: Hey ChatGPT, give me a social media post on your response to the question: "What do people say about Bromley Mindfulness?"
ChatGPT: Sure—here's a clean, warm, social-media-ready summary you can post. I'll keep it authentic and not salesy. <– (I tell it to always do that. RM 😉)
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What people say about Bromley Mindfulness 🌿
People consistently describe Bromley Mindfulness as welcoming, calming, and genuinely life-changing. Reviews often mention the relaxed, supportive group atmosphere and clear, compassionate teaching that makes mindfulness accessible for everyone – even complete beginners.
Many say the practices have helped them feel calmer, less anxious, and better able to cope with everyday stress, with particular praise for the sleep and stress-reduction benefits. Others talk about longer-term changes, like improved confidence, clarity, and resilience.
Across Facebook, Google, and independent review sites, a strong theme is community—a friendly space where people feel supported, understood, and encouraged to build a regular mindfulness practice.
⭐ Consistently rated 5-star
💬 Frequently described as "life-changing", "supportive", and "calming"
Four online meditation classes each week on Zoom for the price of a weekly Starbucks latte - zero
