Alan Watts

Now, who hasn’t come across this figure if you’ve even touched the world of ‘spirituality’. YouTube algorithm especially loves the man. And why not! He’s fabulous. With the mystique of a wizard and the sense of humour of a kindly uncle. He’s a great guide through the world of the mysterious. Here are some notes from various sources that I have recorded of him: On growth: remember, an oak is no better than an acorn. After all, what does the oak produce but more acorns. The oak is just an acorns way of becoming more acorns. So do not see yourself as more superior to people who are not spiritually enlightened. We are living different life’s.

Awaken the heart - connect with the feelings in your heart

Brene Brown

There’s one undisputed Queen of shame and vulnerability. Brene Brown. Her TED talks are great and so are her books. Her ideas genuinely changed the way I related to vulnerability. I shared this once at sharing circle and a woman laughed at me 😅 She thought that I was joking because Brene Brown has become a bit of a buzz word. But for me, Brene Brown seriously changed my life 🙌 Here are some of my notes from her stuff:

Courage to be disliked

This book was another game-changer for me. I grew up as a people-pleaser as a survival tactic. It served me well, until I looked around at my life and realised I didn’t belong. I’d said yes to everything except myself. Learning that being disliked is actually a sign of a well-lived life was breathtaking. And it’s a space I continue to lean into at my edge. The root idea is that interpersonal relationships are the cause of all problems, because to live as a social being you must confront the life tasks of work, friendship, love.

Dopamine - identify unconscious addictions and patterns of behaviour

Feel the fear and do it anyway

A classic. My mum gave this to me when I was 20. I was struggling with depression and couldn’t see a way out. Reading this book helped me to take responsibility for my life. To not see myself as a victim. And as I started to make small changes - doing the odd pencil sketch, going for a run - I started to feel momentum build in my life that carried me out of the darkness. So much wisdom in the title of the book alone.

Embodied awareness - body scan to connect with your feelings

The desire to change yourself is an act of self-aggression

How to do cannabis therapy

Psychedelics can do wonders for breaking old patterns of the mind. I’ve found that cannabis alone can have a profound impact. I created this guide based on a YouTube video I watched a few years ago. It’s a helpful framework to make cannabis something sacred. Rather than just a tool to make cartoons and junk food more fun (not that that’s not worth enjoying too 🤪) 1. Set an intention 1. Your role is to give the experience a direction so that the feminine energy of the plant medicine can be expressed 2. Realise it is a mirror 1. If the experience does not meet your intention, it's because it is showing you the obstacles 3. Treat it with reverence 1. You do not use it, you conn

How to run a brainstorm

Who doesn’t love a brainstorm? Put your hand down, Kenny. We all love brainstorms. But how do we make them effective? Here’s some notes I compiled (god knows where the sources were) Enjoy! Preparation Attendees

Fear to empowerment - release the shame holding you back from your dreams

How to spot a cult

I went to an interesting workshop by Anke Richter, a cult researcher, and thought I’d share some learnings. I was curious because I’ve seen some dubious ethics as I’ve explored spirituality / personal development through workshops, communities etc. But cultish qualities can appear anywhere, even workplaces. Cults develop over time and don’t necessarily look sinister. The world seems to be quite susceptible to them with online echo chambers (e.g. Q Anon) and a thirst for community and meaning.

How to stop caring what people think

I’ve been running a workshop as per the title. There’s a lot of content to share around it, but here are the key takeaways: 🧠 1. Undo your conditioning Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if you want to let go of the fear of being judged, you need to stop judging others. It sounds counter-intuitive but think about it. How many times have you silently criticised someone for speaking up, being the centre of attention, taking up space, or getting on stage?

How to understand addiction

Based on a Gestalt Therapy workshop I took part in this workshop to help me better understand the behaviours of smokers, to support the stop-smoking program I was building with Mindset Health. What I learnt is that addiction is everywhere. It’s any behaviour we repeat despite adverse consequences. Hello social media, overworking, procrastinating… That’s why understanding the process behind addiction is so important.

How to write narrative non-fiction

Narrative non-fiction (NNF) is what I do a lot of. Essentially, it’s creating a story out of non-fiction. How do you keep the reader engaged? I strongly believe that stories are fundamental to our humanness. It’s how we learn. What we emote to. What we share. Learning how to tell stories is an important skill. Workshop notes Here’s some of the things I learnt from a workshop in Melbourne:

How to write stand-up comedy

In 2024 I decided I would try my hand at a comedy routine. No joke. Well, a few. Did they go down well? Probably about as well as this introduction. But I loved the process and did some research on writing good comedy. As a starting point I really recommend this article which beautifully explains how important it is to create a sense of safety in the audience. Before you then violate that safety 😉

Future vision - connect with your inner knowing about the life you want to create

Guided practice - belly breathing

Ignite your passion

A free 90-minute workshop to reveal the blueprint for creating a life where you wake up feeling energised and full of purpose. Walk away with clarity on what life you want to build and practical steps to get started: - Create a crystal clear vision: follow a guided meditation and visualisation to unlock your deepest desires - Dare to dream big: rewire your mindset, overcome your fear of failure and smash through limiting beliefs about what’s possible for you - Supercharge your motivation: feel inspired and get the ball rolling with practical next steps

Ignite your passion - guide

Everyone deserves to wake up feeling energised, knowing that the day ahead is something to look forward to. You (yep, you!) are capable of doing so much, of having a positive impact on the world, of feeling self-assured and excited. Perhaps you have big dreams. Or perhaps you’re unsure of what direction to take. Regardless, it’s not about just finding a job that fuels you instead of drains you. It’s about igniting your passion and creating a life that fires you up every single day.

Guided practice - follow the flow of breath

London

A friend of mine went to London with his girlfriend. I’m pretty sure he was looking to impress her, so I wrote up a little blue planet guide for him. Here it is 🙌 Looking for culture? In my opinion, you can't go wrong with the Tate Modern. It's a big tourist hotspot obviously but it's such a great venue and it's lovely to explore the southbank around it. If you walk from St Paul's Cathedral straight over the millenium bridge you'll have a great entrance and the café in the gallery has a beautiful view over the Thames.

Guided practice - heart awareness

You’ll never accept yourself by changing your thoughts, change your feeling instead

Melbourne

This was a comprehensive guide I made for a cute boy in my life. Enjoy! Alrighty mister I’ve put down a bunch of my favourite spots (that I can remember, eeep). It’s ordered by location and coded by activity to help you browse through. I’ve put a particular focus on clothes shops cause I know you’re in the market 🫶 Fitzroy - 🍕Afghan gallery restaurant - such tasty food and great vibes. Highly recommend. - 🍕Sonido - I liked this little spot for cheap Colombian food for lunch and then you can walk down Gertrude Street to the cute shops - ☕️ Lune - touristy but cool, cafe selling croissants around a big cube kitchen you can see into while they make them. Go off peak cause there will be a

Nepal

You’ve landed! The beginning of an incredible journey. I really wish I had taken better notes of my travels in Nepal (hint hint). I didn’t record any of the restaurants or hostels I stayed at… But! I was shown a few great places in Kathmandu by locals and thought I’d detail them here. Hope they inspire you and give you some places to check out in you first few days ☺️ Pimbahal Pokhari

New Earth

Now, I actually believe this book is better than the Power of Now. It seemed to click more into place for me. Regardless, Eckhart Tolle has a way with words and he’s done a great deal for helping to reshape ideas about ourselves. Here are my notes: The unconscious compulsion to enhance ones identity through association with an object is built into the structure of the egoic mind. Identification is to make something the same as you, part of your identity. As a child, it could be a toy. Later on it becomes clothes, a house etc. we try to find ourselves in things but never quite make it and end up losing ourselves in them. That is the fate of ehe ego.

new zealand

Right, so this is just a sweeping summary of the places I’ve been that I’d recommend. You’re going to have a great time. The thing to know is that the two islands are pretty different. The North Island is where most of the people are, more towns, and it gets way more tropical the further north you go, hotter, beautiful beaches. The South Island is the one for nature. Honestly, the North Island isn’t the best island in terms of nature. The most beautiful stuff is further down south. I’d weight your time accordingly.

Guided practice - rythmn of breath

Pathways to Presence

Go from fighting your mind to being ever more present with this 5-day meditation course blending science and spirituality Every day for the next 5 days you’ll receive a reading, tool, journal prompts and guided meditation. No kidding, this stuff has changed my life. I went from being someone incredibly self-conscious, disconnected from feeling, and lost in life to being ever more at peace with myself.

Replace beliefs - let go of old patterns and create new ones

Resistance - no longer avoiding difficult feelings

The Untethered Soul

Oooo I love Michael Singer. This book gave me a new framework for how to live. I felt like I was writing down a passage from every single page, it really hit me hard. Here are my notes: Consciousness takes on the disguise of forms until they reach such complexity that it completely loses itself in them. However, the suffering that arises from this apparent distinction forces consciousness to dis identify from form and awakens it from its deep self. It regains self consciousness but at a far deeper level than when it lost it.

The War of Art

Ever wanted to start a creative project but felt blocked? Yeah, you me and 8 billion other people. Steven Pressfield writes about this problem so elegantly in his book, explaining the resistance we meet and how to overcome it. Genius. The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we feel pursuing it Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator of what we must do

Self-acceptance - welcome all thoughts and feelings

Tool 1: How to regulate yourself

Day 1: Nervous system regulation 📚 Reading Today we are going to learn how your thoughts are governed by your nervous system (not your mind!). This means you can change your thoughts by changing the state of your nervous system. Before we start transforming our lives, we need to learn how to regulate ourselves. Otherwise, we’ll be making decisions for the wrong reasons. Regulate the nervous system

Tool 2: How to rewire your mind

Dopamine 📚 Reading Cravings are a normal part of being human. They are intense and persistent desires for something, and they are both fleeting and compelling. What’s interesting is that they can be entirely unconscious and yet control our behaviour. After I left London for Melbourne in 2021, I joined a mental health start-up where I was asked to design an app to help people quit smoking.

Tool 3: Your secret sixth sense

We’ve learned that we have unconscious patterns of behaviour driven by dopamine. And that our nervous system dictates the thoughts we are having. Today we are going to explore our hidden ‘sixth sense’, interoceptive awareness. This is the key to building a strong relationship with our intuition and to start making decisions that are aligned with our truest self. Day 3: Interoceptive awareness

Tool 4: Break free from your fears

Over the last few days we’ve learnt how to relax our nervous system, rewire our dopamine cycle, and become more in tune with our feelings. Next, we need to work on our beliefs. These are the invisible thoughts that determine what we believe ourselves capable of achieving. If we do not change our beliefs, we will not be able to transform our lives. Day 4: Limiting beliefs 📚 Reading

Tool 5: Silence the inner critic

We’ve spent the last few days exploring ourselves in a deeper way, from our nervous system to habits to beliefs. But there’s something quite toxic about the self-help industry… The suggestion is that there is something to improve. That you must change yourself in order to find happiness. But the reverse is true. As Carl Rogers said, “The paradox is that when I accept myself, then I can change.”

Self-love - noticing sensations and accepting what you find

Your inaction is not your fault, it’s a fear of the unknown

Universal Christ

This book blew my mind when I read it in 2020. I never considered myself a Christian. To be honest, I thought the ideas were archaic. This book presented a radical revision of Christianity, presenting Christ as a universal energy (’consciousness’) that aligns more with modern views on spirituality. My Christian friend gave this to me and I’m forever thankful. It allowed me to revisit my relationship with the word ‘God’, letting go of the false beliefs I’d had around it, and accept it into my own lexicon.

Velvet Rage

This book helped me to understand that my journey as a gay man was so similar to others. That we fall into a cycle of shame that leads to self-destructive patterns. Understanding that my life was part of a patterns helped me so much to begin breaking it. Here are my notes: Most gay people say they don’t feel shame. But most also struggle with the private belief that "if you really knew the whole, unvarnished truth about me, you would know that I'm unlovable". So we set about on the business of 'earning' love and escaping the pain of believing we are lovable. This is the creator of the fabulous gay man and his destroyer.

Wellington

Here’s a very brief guide I shared for a friend recently. One day I’ll update this with a proper walkthrough of everything this wonderful city has to offer. Walk down Cuba St (lots of cute little shops and quirky people 🤪) Coffee at Raglan Roast (Abel Smith St) - big open space with comfy chairs, my favourite cafe Walk along the waterfront down to Ortiental Bay. I often run along there all the way around the coast, it’s so beautiful

Sleep - relax the mind and body and drift off to sleep

Somatic inquiry - connect with your felt sense and intuition