Late posting this week! Louise is on a work retreat at Broadhembury, with no phone signal or internet, and I have just returned from the depths of Wales (Aberystwyth to be precise) where I had no phone charger and no internet. Thus, Tuesday’s post was missed, and today’s post will be short but sweet.

I don’t know about any of you but I am an unashamed internet addict and I end up reading a lot of random websites, I thought I’d share a few that are of a more Buddhist nature. If anyone else has any gems they would like to spread the word about, send them to blog@buddhafield.com please, and this could become a bit more regular!

Be thankful for something, everyday! This website consists of notes of thanks to things in the author’s life, from irreverent notes to the plastic bag on the pavement to notes about facing the realities of life. I laugh out loud most times I read this!

Be mindful every second of every day. This website contains prompts on specific things to try to be mindful of each day, some are fairly obvious, but other tips have really made me think, such as ‘What would a day without competition be like for you? Spend a day with no competing with yourself or others.’. At school I was fairly competetive in sports, and I’ve never thought about it since leaving 6 years ago but reading that tip made me really understand that all the time, inside, I’m competing with an ideal of a perfect Ruth, and my self doubt and dislike come, partly at least, from that competativeness inside me. Something to work on I think!

It’s nice when science backs up what we know already! Scientists have carried out tests and now have evidence that meditating makes you happier, I could have told them that!

Finally, I’d like to share a picture I found which I really love. For me it really illustrates the idea of the many faces and aspects of the Buddha, and how though we are all different, we are also very much the same :-).

Hope you enjoyed this post, I’ll be posting again soon with a review of my retreat at Taraloka!