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Mind Games.


Today’s been an exceptionally lazy day, mostly spent watching The Simpsons and Columbo on TV; in fact, I’ve barely moved more than my cat. 

One thing I did do was post this cartoon on Twitter that I’d spotted in Private Eye recently and thought my friend Sarah would enjoy:

It’s the look in their eyes that makes it for me. I love how distant and distracted they both are, seemingly caught up in the act of practising Mindfulness; something that amuses me while tipping a nod to a meditation technique I use daily at the moment to help keep my brain in check.

When I first had mindfulness recommended to me, I was quite sniffy about it, believing it was little more than an act of middle-class ponciness; I’m now happy to admit I was wrong. I find myself in the strange position of being a cynic who also finds a lot of stock in things some people might take to be New Age in outlook. Applying that thought to mindfulness, however, would be to disregard a lot of scientific evidence, not to mention the plain fact that it really does work, when it comes to calming the mind; something I can vouch for first-hand.

But I’m not here today to lecture. I’m hear to share something that made me laugh. So that’s it. Tune in another time for my thoughts on meditation and the like; I'm Hitchin's Maharishi. 

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