Art of Mindfulness

Short Biography

I began practicing meditation from various traditions in the late 1970's. After I studied for my first Degree at London University, I lived and worked in a number of Buddhist communities and not-for-profit companies. During those early years, I was closely involved with the London Buddhist centre.

In the mid 1980's I was ordained as a fully commited Buddhist into the Western Buddhist Order, (now known as Triratna Buddhist community)

After Ordination I joined Vajraloka Meditation centre in North Wales to become its administrator but before too long I was drawn to teaching meditation and the pioneering spirit took hold of me. Along with a Buddhist friend of mine, we set up the Kathmandu Western Buddhist centre in Nepal, which I was involved in for number of years, running meditation courses, mainly for westerners. At that time  I was also active with running events for Nepalese Buddhist groups around the Kathmandu valley. In addition, I spent a number of years in India working with the low-caste Buddhists, again leading meditation retreats and courses mainly in Maharastra.

After my time in India and Nepal, I spent a number of years in Japan, principally working as an English language teacher, which helped fund my work in Nepal and India. While in Japan, I set up a small centre in Kawasaki, running introductory courses in meditation and Buddhism.

 

Later in life, I wanted to combine my interest and love of science with the caring professions, and entered into training in the NHS as a Nuclear Medicine Technician. After a number of years of hard work and study, I graduated in Nuclear Medicine with a 1st Class Honours degree.

At 57 years of age this was no easy feat! I continued to work in the NHS at a number of large teaching hospitals for about 7 years. However, my keen interest in meditation and running retreats resurfaced and I again joined the Vajrloka Meditation centre, in North Wales around 2011.

Over the years, I have led many meditation retreats or courses, in Japan, India, Nepal, Spain and here in the UK.

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Present

Having experienced the postive benefits of meditation practice over the years, I was not suprised to see in recent years that Mindfulness meditation is begining to be used in the health care professions to benefit people suffering with a wide range of physical, mental and emotional problems. As a result of seeing this growing positive trend, I decided to embark on the rigorous training that Bangor Univerisity offers in its Mindfulness Based Approaches (MBA) Masters program.

I now live close to the Vajraloka Meditation centre, where I'm still involved in supporting meditation retreats each year. At the same time, I'm involved in running Mindfulness courses throughout North Wales and the North West of England.

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