Blackthorn has a dark name and vioent associations, but is the first and whitest of the blossoms in my garden. FInd out more of its other side, it witchy protective nature as we sit in ceremony tonight.

Parenting cracks you open - your heart now lives outside yourself. I cringe at parenting courses, but here are my ABCs, 3 letters to describe a lesson lived and learned:

ASD, DLA, JKR, XXL, XOX

A love letter to the parents (and special shout out to the solo parents!) who see the magic in their kids and delight in it. A wave of support to parents of ‘rainbow’ children with letters and neurodivergence…..

I sat my Sanskrit* GCSE last week.

It had been decades since I last sat in a school hall, but the hushed tones, pacing invigilators and gentle scratch of pens was exactly as I remember.

*Sanskrit is the ancient language of India, kept alive in the Vedic scriptures and chants.

Shiva on the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. Remembering the importance of removing irrelevance in life. To mark MahaShivaratri the nights of Shiva

Do you dread Christmas? Part of me used to. Here are the 5 reasons why - and some tried and tested truths that I use to help me.

My garden thrives through my mistakes and my (benign) neglect. The front porch, past which I walk EVERY day, has plenty of pots on it, that I forget to water.

I no longer berate myself for these apparent failures.

Wonderful things happen, even when it can seem disastrous.

A storm can feel violent and disruptive, but sometimes we all need a good shake, and a down pour, in order to stop, listen and be ready for the next season and stage.

Exploding 3 common myths about meditation. Camilla uses her training and expertise to explain why: you DON’T have to focus, its NOT hard to meditate, and that mindfulness IS NOT the only meditation, or the same thing.

The simple act of taking my son to church prompts not so simple answers. How does it fit in with meditation? Do I really believe what we announce as Christians? Does it matter - or am I am actually hypocrite?

To make a stick useful, we bend it to be a bow. We can polish the stick, oil it, decorate it - but it can never be a bow until we put it into action. We meditate to make our skills more available to the world - we do not meditate just to purify and refine our own physiology.

I used to dread the end of summer. These days, although I can’t change September arriving or a new school year beginning, the sinking feeling has gone. Meditation has helped make me more available to support my son with any anxiety he has with the routine change.

I take time to stop and look at the changing colours, pick the blackberries, enjoy pulling on my favourite sweater again. Meditation has given me a model of how to live life naturally, simply and tuned into bliss.