I’m not a Catholic. Unless you can genetically inherit religion I am most certainly not Catholic. My Irish grandmother was Catholic, but I think she had God whipped out of her by the nuns at Erskine College at age 13. She was one of the naughtiest girls in her year, and the reckless auburn-haired nymph Read more
Apodaca prison in Monterrey, Mexico, was the the scene of a violent uprising in 2012 now it is a place of peace and stillness. A quarter of the 2000 prisoners, guards and management in the overcrowded prison regularly practise meditation It has transformed life in the prison. Suicides are down 40 per cent; there have Read more
Since I started meditating two years ago, my practice has been shamefully sporadic. When I do manage to stop what I’m doing and sit down, device-free, I find following my breath to be a relief from—and a contrast to—what happens at work. But as David Gelles observes in his new book, that contrast is dissolving, Read more
In a suburban Wellington dining room 10 people sit silently. Condiments pass across the table at the raising of an eyebrow or flick of a finger. One diner sees a neighbouring table’s empty water jug and rises quietly to fill it. A mix of religious and non-religious, the group had never met until a month Read more
It starts with the slightly awkward heave — leg up and over the seat, feet locating the stirrups — and the indrawn breath that says ‘Let’s go.’ This is a new discipline for me, this stationary bike, and I make sure to pace myself. I tip from side to side, easily and rhythmically, with a Read more
At Holy Cross School in Mirimar, Wellington, meditation is seen as another way for children to feel calm and closer to God. It is one of a number of Catholic schools in New Zealand that has adopted the practice of teaching Children to meditate Principal Celeste Hastings said the school had introduced meditation so children could learn Read more
Meditation halves the rate of heart attacks, strokes and the rate of death according to a nine-year scientific study. The results published in the Archives of Internal Medicine provide hard data from the first long-term randomised clinical trial of its kind on the topic. “These findings are the strongest documented effects yet produced by a Read more
