Cancer Support Association

In recent years I have cultivated a beautiful little garden of succulent plants and cacti. I’d never seen any of these plants in flower, but still considered them interesting in their own right.

Just the other morning I went out to water this little garden and to my amazement the smallest of the cacti had quite suddenly produced three perfect white flowers which majestically towered above the tiny plant.

The beauty of these blooms was astounding, particularly as they lasted onlya day, then disappeared from the planet, and the little cactus was again merely a little cactus. What a moment - I could easily have missed it.

It reminded me that life is truly beautiful. Just when we forget, just when we have started to believe the stories of suffering, wars and terrible events, just when we think everything is hopeless or start to think ‘what’s the point?’, life presents us with such a moment of pure beauty which somehow captures the essence of what life is all about, and instantly reawakens our faith and connection to the world we live in, restoring our enthusiasm for life.

It is these moments strung together which make a life. It is our perception of these moments which determines our happiness. There are potentially many beautiful pictures in life, yet in all our busyness and preoccupations it is quite likely that we walk right by without even noticing.

In every moment of our lives we are unconsciously choosing to see certain things, for example, we can see the problems in the world and feel despair, or we can see the beauty in nature and feel joy. How we perceive the world and how we respond to it is largely up to us. This explains how two people can observe the same thing but ‘see’ something completely different! It is not indulgent or myopic to focus on what is beautiful in the world to the exclusion of the horrible stuff.

It is okay to be happy even if others are not! It is okay to have faith in ourselves and humanity when others are cynical and disbelieving. It may even be essential for our health and healing to look for the beauty within ourselves, within others, within every moment! Beauty has the potential to heal on many levels.

Our mere gaze has so much power. Turning it in on ourselves and seeing the beauty within helps us cultivate self-acceptance and an inner tranquillity. By looking for the beauty in others we are affirming what is good and lovely in them, giving them the confidence to realise their potential. By admiring the beauty in nature we are helping to heal our wonderful planet. Be careful where you cast your gaze, use the power of it for good, look for beauty in the world, and pause to appreciate life’s precious moments - you will be amazed at just how beautiful life can be!

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past posts…

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile the future faces huge risks as well as great potential. In order to go on we must unite to create a sustainable global society based on respect for Nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.

This requires a huge mental and emotional transformation. It requires a new idea of what global interdependence and universal responsibility means. We must use our imagination to develop and implement a vision of a sustainable way of life at local, regional, national and global levels. Our cultural diversities are a priceless inheritance and every culture will find its own way to express this vision.

Often life involves tensions between important values, implicating difficult choices. Nevertheless, we must find a way to harmonise diversity into unity, the right of freedom with the common good and short term objectives with long term results.

Every individual, family, organisation, business and government has a crucial role. Our time should be remembered for the reawakening of a new respect for life, for a serious undertaking towards sustainability, and for a joyful celebration of life.


Excerpt from “Universal Ethos” by Leonard Boff.

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One thing that illness, or any other hardship, can potentially teach us is that everything is actually okay. When we find ourselves in a situation which we don’t have the power or capacity to change there is only one thing we can do -- take a deep breath, accept it graciously, perhaps even gratefully, and reassure ourselves that whatever happens we will be okay.

No-one’s life is without pain. There is absolutely no use in comparing our lives to anyone else’s or feeling resentful that others are better off than we are. The nature of life is that one day each of us will have our challenges to face. The real challenge of course is to stay positive, to be kind to ourselves and others in the face of hardship, to accept the challenges life throws our way graciously, to calmly look for positive pathways into the future, and to make the world a joyful place by our presence in it.

By taking this approach we can keep a clear, calm head and make sensible, healthy choices which lead us towards healing and wholeness. Staying positive means that we will be much less likely to descend into a negative or fearful state of mind which could potentially alienate our loved ones. Isolation only adds to our sense of suffering!

The practice of positive thinking will ensure that whatever our circumstances, we make the most of every precious moment in this precious lifetime.

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As the days shorten and the mornings become crisp I rejoice that winter is almost here! The calm, still beauty of cold winter mornings and the wild storms which keep us indoors offer quiet downtime for personal reflection and healing meditation – time to reassess and count the blessings in our lives. The winter season is the perfect time to turn our attention inwards and take a closer look at our personal choices. From inside the warm cocoon of our homes we have an opportunity to appreciate the good things in our lives and to think about the future.

To stay balanced during winter, our lifestyle, diet and habits need to change from the carefree, sociable and busy pace of the warmer months. Eating warming foods such as nurturing soups, slow-simmered stews, beans, roasted root vegetables, and warm drinks provides a good way to replenish energy. More time at home means more time with your family and close friends, more time rugging up in coats and scarves taking winter walks with beloved pets, more time to read, reflect, write, create -- activities all conducive to deep healing. Winter is the time for a gentle approach to exercise and self-care.

Activities such as yoga and saunas maintain health and provide the perfect counterbalance to time spent in stressful workplaces, shopping centres and overspending. After a gentle winter of self-love and healing you will be ready to emerge from your cocoon of quiet and warmth with renewed vitality and a fresh, powerful, positive outlook.

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If you spend time in nature and observe the animals and the trees you will realise that unhappiness, and depression, do not exist in the natural world. Have you ever seen an animal in its natural habitat depressed? Have you ever seen a sombre bird, an anxious insect, or an unhappy tree?
Just like the animals in the natural world, we are essentially joyful. Just like animals in captivity some of us have become a little disconnected from this ‘inner’ joy. Even so, it doesn’t matter what our outside circumstances are, this inner joy is always present ! If only we could look within and realise this – we would be less dependent on outside stimulus to make us happy, we would be less concerned with ‘becoming’ something (healthy, thin, wealthy, wise – whatever it is we are not but think we should be) and more content with who we are right now and more willing to enjoy our lives just as they are.

The ancient art of yoga teaches us to accept ourselves in the present moment just as we are, to be centred, and grounded in our own wisdom and knowledge.

Complicated? Not at all. It’s just a matter of ‘letting go’ of inner obstacles (thoughts and worries) and not concerning ourselves with external obstacles (other people’s judgements and actions). ‘Letting go’ is an inward process – we sit quietly and let all the unhappy thoughts, fears, anxieties arise and then we choose – to let them go. Try this simple exercise: take a deep breath in and then as you breathe out imagine you release these stresses, thoughts, fears, anxieties. Continue to do this until you feel empty and then, eventually, you will glimpse it, you will realise it, you will become it – beyond all these things you are joy!

I realised early on that yoga suited me as a spiritual path and lifestyle. Yoga provides a positive and inspiring framework to live within, and provides many tools for self-healing. I know, from my own experience that when practiced diligently yoga has the power to heal.

Other people who do not have this degree of faith in yoga may find that yoga practices do not heal. That’s fine, they will of course choose a different path. It makes little difference what path you choose, what really counts is your faith, your firm belief in whatever it is you choose to do, and your resolve to live life fully, to be happy, to heal, and to make the world a better place through your involvement in it.
It is faith which will ultimately empower you, and lead you to succeed at your goals. Particularly in the context of health and healing – with complete faith in whatever course of action you take it is likely you will succeed.

With faith miracles are possible!

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If you spend time in nature and observe the animals and the trees you will realise that unhappiness, and depression, do not exist in the natural world. Have you ever seen an animal in its natural habitat depressed? Have you ever seen a sombre bird, an anxious insect, or an unhappy tree?

Just like the animals in the natural world, we are essentially joyful. Just like animals in captivity some of us have become a little disconnected from this ‘inner’ joy. Even so, it doesn’t matter what our outside circumstances are, this inner joy is always present ! If only we could look within and realise this – we would be less dependent on outside stimulus to make us happy, we would be less concerned with ‘becoming’ something (healthy, thin, wealthy, wise – whatever it is we are not but think we should be) and more content with who we are right now and more willing to enjoy our lives just as they are.

The ancient art of yoga teaches us to accept ourselves in the present moment just as we are, to be centred, and grounded in our own wisdom and knowledge.
Complicated? Not at all. It’s just a matter of ‘letting go’ of inner obstacles (thoughts and worries) and not concerning ourselves with external obstacles (other people’s judgements and actions). ‘Letting go’ is an inward process – we sit quietly and let all the unhappy thoughts, fears, anxieties arise and then we choose – to let them go. Try this simple exercise: take a deep breath in and then as you breathe out imagine you release these stresses, thoughts, fears, anxieties. Continue to do this until you feel empty and then, eventually, you will glimpse it, you will realise it, you will become it – beyond all these things you are joy!

I realised early on that yoga suited me as a spiritual path and lifestyle. Yoga provides a positive and inspiring framework to live within, and provides many tools for self-healing. I know, from my own experience that when practiced diligently yoga has the power to heal.

Other people who do not have this degree of faith in yoga may find that yoga practices do not heal. That’s fine, they will of course choose a different path. It makes little difference what path you choose, what really counts is your faith, your firm belief in whatever it is you choose to do, and your resolve to live life fully, to be happy, to heal, and to make the world a better place through your involvement in it.
It is faith which will ultimately empower you, and lead you to succeed at your goals. Particularly in the context of health and healing – with complete faith in whatever course of action you take it is likely you will succeed.

With faith miracles are possible!

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