Looking Inwards Meditation in Croydon, Victoria, Australia | Tutor/teacher

Looking Inwards Meditation

Locality: Croydon, Victoria, Australia

Address: The Innate Connection, 72 Maroondah Hwy 3136 Croydon, VIC, Australia

Website: http://lookinginwards.org

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25.01.2022 Slow. Slow. Slow. I LOVE making time to slow down, turn off the lights, and cocoon, it's a super way to be mindful and bring much needed balance into your way of being. Allocating this space is as simple as checking in with your energy, your mental state and a quick "don't bother me" to your household. Asking - DO I NEED SOME SPACE RIGHT NOW? Yes, it may not be dead silent, or undisturbed, but it's the distance we need from the chaos to become still. The best part is, it's so... easy to sink into stillness once your conditions are set up. You'll need: secluded space (even a corner of a room) communicate you're having some peace & quiet to house grab anything that would make you comfy, blanket, pillow, headphones shut the curtains / turn the lights off to rest your senses close your eyes, be still for a minimum 15 minutes Let still awareness hold you, and enjoy.

25.01.2022 Anger is the unspoken emotion in our daily life, often times. So in last week's online meditation classes we had A C C E P T A N C E as our theme. Relieving the perceived pressure of this often taboo subject is really heartwarming. We learn it's normal and human to feel annoyed, even rejected when our friend's phone dies mid conversation, or irritated when our housemate doesn't clean the frypan properly. Acceptance is a great thing to explore to make yourself a generally mor...e chill human being! And become aware of: - what really bugs you, - how often it bugs you, and - why it bugs you. With meditation, we can shift into acceptance like this: 1. Validating the problem "it's okay I feel angry about this, I don't have to accept it right away or even ever". 2. Highlighting the boundary or belief that is being crossed. 3. Being honest about blame of self or others. 4. Gentle, non judgemental inward attribution. "How am I contributing to my resistance, resentment, etc?" 5. Meditate with how acceptance and anger feel! Does one inform the other? What do each mean to you? Photo by Annie Spratt

24.01.2022 Be still and know that you are love. - Mare Cromwell Today, I'm just sitting in the peace and quiet, where our true human nature of love can shine. If love is our true state I really feel that then we must try to come back to it and ask ourselves what takes us OUT of love, and what keeps us IN the state of love Meditation keeps me in love, does it do that for you too?

24.01.2022 The senses declare an outrageous world - Sounds ands scents, ravishing colours and shapes, Ever-changing skies, iridescent reflections - All these beautiful surfaces Decorating vibrant emptiness.... The god of love is courting you, Light as a feather... excerpt from Yukti Verse 9, The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche. See more

23.01.2022 PLUG IN Imagine yourself lying in lush nature The vines and roots of from the earth like electric cables, full of wisdom. Reaching towards you, plugging into your heart and the core of your body... Healing the human soul. See more

23.01.2022 My favourite place, walking through here is pure meditation. The birds play and sing and swoop across the canopies every time I visit the forests. And all their songs sound very unique. It gives me some joy to hear them, then I usually feel like calling back. And my own voice sounds more beautiful too, in this appreciative awareness. Realigning with natures playfulness, observing her rhythms, it allows me to be healed by it! What does nature give you?

23.01.2022 WHY I MEDITATE Part 2 I think I started meditation an intrinsically cynical teenager and have been surprised by the comfort I habitually found in cynicism. And the work it took to practice optimism and openness; a soft heart versus a hardened one. This is literally changing the brain pathways. Tenfold I've seen how much more effective kindness and trust are in life and relationships. Not for some goal, like being a good person, or to acquire someone's approval or ev...en god's approval. But because it's the true nature of all things; to be loving. Meditation for me is a reminder of that effortless state of love. It takes so much more of a toll to be fighting, stressed, resistant to the world. That was the way I was internally, though, before meditating. Sitting with the breath, noticing my body, observing thoughts, it fosters awareness and tolerance which I feel is the definition of love. And thats why I meditate! Do you meditate? What does it bring you in your daily life? See more

23.01.2022 Floating surely but gently Into a bed of seasoned sinkers I rest down now Maybe when I get to my destination Ill be greeted by friends... Isnt it quiet? And dreamy? The ripples above dissipate slowly The watery ceiling safely seals itself again And me Within its depths. The Pebble, 20/8/2020 written by yours truly. Read my full poem The Pebble here : http://www.lookinginwards.org/blog/ Photo by @heftiba.co.uk See more

22.01.2022 Meditation in a pandemic... it takes a minute to find your footing when things change. The usual daily routine might seem out of place, and not really hit the spot like it used to. My students this online term have spoken about the variety required to meet their personal needs being at home, day in, day out. Including variety in meditating! I love this, and I agree. So when you're in need (and you need variety) WHERE within you does this dynamic healing presence come? It can't be from the same place that is troubled, the ego. I think it comes from beyond thoughts, from pure consciousness. What do you think? Photo by @anniespratt

21.01.2022 "The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive." A very beautiful quote about living in the heart, living in awareness instead of the never ending (although enjoyable sometimes) chitter-chatter of the mind. It's from one of my favourite excerpts from I AM THAT - dialogues from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj: "To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not.... Discover all that you are not -- body, feelings thoughts, time, space, this or that -- nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The clearer you understand on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker will you come to the end of your search and realize that you are the limitless being." Photo by Jim Abbring

20.01.2022 Term 4 meditation is just under 2 weeks away! I'm so excited to be providing another 9 weeks of fresh online classes, exploring new themes each week. My restorative, traditional, and mindfulness classes will all be truly warm, inviting learning spaces. I've had such positive experiences from the shared online calls each week, meditation provides unique connection and clarity to us as a group always. Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, Melbourne time. Book via my (new & updated) website! www.lookinginwards.org

20.01.2022 I give up: - wanting, it leaves me feeling empty when what I have is enough - trying, because just arriving as I am takes me where I need to go - wishing, it distracts me from the truth that everything is okay - predicting, its easier to live in the moment because the present moment (not past or future) is the only one where I can choose to let go... Its nice to give up once in a while, and give into peace within. Just surrendering in small things in the day to day where we can give up tension and instead release into our peaceful nature again. Sending love to you wherever you are.

19.01.2022 When do you feel most CONTENT? For me its silence, solitude. Nothing better than that! But thats not constant, and Ive learned not to expect it. Over time, seeing my resentment of loudness and crowds. Learning to take moments of quiet in train stations, parties, restaurants instead of becoming overwhelmed. If we can stop expecting permanent pleasure, permanent thrills, constant joy, contentment in everyday things comes. For me I have to find the permanent silence within. Thats a beautiful way to use meditative states each day. And to start living more restfully and living contentedly.

19.01.2022 This weeks Online Meditation classes were themed around emotions. Energy in motion is a definition of emotion that I love, from Karla McLaren. Perfect for following on from our previous theme of energy last week. We explored: how + where do you identify your emotions? is it physiology, thoughts or behaviour that signifies emotion to you? ... To finish, we did a beautiful sensory awareness through the front body to retune and reconnect our emotion perceptiveness. Arriving in acceptance of our inner state in a deep, easy meditation.

18.01.2022 Our last class of Term 3 2020 shined a light on our b l o s s o m i n g. Through meditation, students shared how they've learned to be non-judgemental, cultivate mental clarity, and overcome personal circumstances with grace. I'm so moved to be selected to support my meditators along their life's path, hear of their applications of mindfulness and awareness in sometimes difficult situations (especially now during the pandemic). Celebrating our growth, feeling dignity or pride in what we've accomplished in self-work is really important. And I was really touched by the feedback that my online meditation classes have assisted students to personal triumph in their wellness. Which realisation or growth of yours are you most proud of this year? Photo by Hans Vivek

18.01.2022 Celebrate a tree today! Its NATIONAL TREE DAY 2020 in Oz. Heres my favourite tree related quote, from the magnificent Ram Dass... When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didnt get enough light, an...d so it turned that way. And you dont get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying You are too this, or Im too this. That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are. Ram Dass

17.01.2022 Discover peaceful, safe spaces for meditation practice in the coming months with me. Bookings are filling up for my New Years Eve Meditation Circle and Term 1 2021 classes, if you would love to join me in Melbourne this summer please do reach out - and book at: www.lookinginwards.org

16.01.2022 Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding... more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale. - Clarissa Pinkola Estes This week's class poem. Gosh I love Clarissa's poetic voice. Photo by @pat.whelen See more

16.01.2022 A jam full of love, this is meditation in music "Cause I love you, and what love is; never selfish and of service." Enjoy https://youtu.be/Zw_y3Kj_Sa8

15.01.2022 True, isn't it? Focus on the everyday and your heart will stay full

15.01.2022 Isnt it fascinating how our daily practice of meditation, mindfulness or yoga EVOLVES? My meditations have changed lately with the company of our new puppy. Yipping, whining, and and unexpected finger chew have all become regular features... which ranges from funny to thoroughly unenjoyable. It makes me think of the question Is it selfish to want our lives to be quiet, and undisturbed? Realising that when we meditate its to reconnect with the inner nature of peacefulnes...s. Whats outside doesnt have to be peaceful to feel this. (But that doesnt stop me grumbling about disturbances sometimes!) The awareness to distinguish between a selfish thought and a reasonable one is something learned over time, I think. How has YOUR practice changed since you started?

14.01.2022 Thank you so much Cathy for the support <3

14.01.2022 Because once you are Real you cant be ugly, except to people who dont understand.

13.01.2022 Self-care and self-compassion have many interpretations, and sadly they've become increasingly blurred by branding and commercialisation; so we can forget that these practices' real origins are with the humble health practitioner. The roots of both movements are in advocacy for individual autonomy in human health, specifically with managing illnesses (mental, physical, other). Meditation practitioners like me, definitely don't see self-care or self-compass...ion as indulgent or optional! But as powerful, evidence based methods that address our deep biological needs for survival. So... here is a wonderful TOOL I love for building COMPASSION. It's called the Self-Compassion Test (link below), which evaluates how openly and lovingly you respond in moments of pain, failure, or inadequacy. It offers solutions like mindfulness practice, which substantially shift us to feeling happier and deeply connected to the world. (P.S. I was gonna share my score, but I realised comparison and competition is obviously not the point of self-compassion... oops. Gotta laugh. On my learning path too, folks!) https://self-compassion.org/test-how-self-compass/ Photo by @kadh.photography See more

12.01.2022 HEAT-FOCUSED MEDITATION A warming, calming meditation to reignite the senses and cultivate heat in your body. Great resource for being out in the cold, the practice of cold exposure in meditation dates back 1000's of years. This is a great practice in winter months! 1. Find a warm, comfy spot indoors to sit upright. I suggest in front of a fireplace or heater, or the use of a hot water bottle or heat pack over the belly.... 2. Close your eyes, hone in on the warmest spot in your body. Sometimes there are many. Place where the body meets the ground are often warm, as is the belly. 3. Sit for some time, allowing the body to heat up fully. Signs of warmth include relaxation, sleepiness, heaviness. discover plenty more meditations like this one in my Seasonal Newsletters, you can sign up on my website!

12.01.2022 For close-knit, contemplative, small group meditation and mindfulness classes this Spring you can join me online in just THREE WEEKS for Term 4 Meditation. I'm really looking forward to offering these 9 weeks of practice, having had such amazing feedback about our Term 3! Wednesday evenings, Saturday mornings Melbourne time. Photo by Monica Valls

12.01.2022 Meditate in Restorative, Traditional, or Mindfulness Meditation classes online this October! Facilitated by Senior Meditation Teacher Tracy Hambly. Book online now at: www.lookinginwards.org/bookings/

11.01.2022 Saturday night surprise! NEW guided meditation 'Grounding The Body' to assist your journey into a slow, heavy, embodied experience. 30 minutes of peace. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/Q_vpCNa-OBM

11.01.2022 I had excellent feedback for our m i n d f u l n e s s theme last week in Online Meditation. Students loved discussing: what theyve learned from meditating how they integrate this wisdom into daily life what challenges mindfulness brings... This is the crux of being mindful - realising personal wisdoms (not generalised ones) and applying them to ordinary moments every day. Photo by @jaccobm See more

11.01.2022 Join me for Meditation and Mindfulness classes this October! I'll be facilitating these online on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, Melbourne time. I've got just 4 spots available per class, with 3 unique class styles to choose from. Please see the class details and bookings at: https://www.facebook.com/events/648304696100018

11.01.2022 May the times of connection fill you up enough for times of loneliness. May the times of busyness fill you up enough to feel the purpose in times of aimlessness. May the richness of nature fill you up enough to last times of void. Balance during this end of year period; I'm lucky that that's what my students are showing me through their diverse paths! So here's wishing all my students and followers that your life is pleasing to you as it is! And that you may dig deep to fin...d pleasure in the moments that aren't. Photo by Annie Spratt

10.01.2022 A few simple things to live for push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hi...ll with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise. push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable. lie in your garden, feel the sunshine on your skin. get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else. stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything. buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice. buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small. strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. wash, then hang them in the sunshine with care. make your bed in full. dig your fingers into the earth, plant a seed. see your success as it grows everyday. organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you dont want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle. breathe. practice your deep breathing. ground yourself. have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck. push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dogs behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog. message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you dont follow through. push yourself to follow through. think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything. become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. help an animal. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends. lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasnt a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you... ~Emma Elsworthy Lauren Squires

10.01.2022 3 weeks until my fresh round of online meditation begins - check them out here!

09.01.2022 Our weekly meditation practice continues online for Looking Inwards! Im here to provide inner calm and communion, in my intimate group classes of 4 students this Term 3. Whats on at Looking Inwards? - 2 class offerings, held weekly on Wednesday nights Melbourne time. Restorative Meditation and Traditional Meditation, live group video sessions via Skype with special instructions on tailored for each class and practice prior to!... - Each class is unique. These next 9 weeks at Looking Inwards will be overflowing with thoughtfully supportive meditative and mindfulness practices. Book at: www.lookinginwards.org/bookings See more

08.01.2022 Looking Inwards Meditation is having its first annual New Years Eve Meditation Circle, on the night of Thursday 31st of December! Exciting! This is a unique offering straight from my heart, having never truly resonated with the big, loud, raucous parties that mark the end of year - I want to invite you into a space that treasures sanctuary and peace on this momentous night. Read on for the event details: Celebrate yourself and each other, share group reflection, guided medita...tion, sound healing and a communal supper with me, Senior Meditation Teacher Tracy Hambly, in my Croydon bamboo studio. - Small group circle with limited spots - Held in person at The Innate Connection, Croydon - Thursday 31st December, 7:30pm - Midnight Cost $120 Visit my website www.lookinginwards.org/events/ to join the special evening.

08.01.2022 We all have sensory addiction, and we all need to be spending time doing l e s s, even doing n o t h i n g. Our senses are over-stimulated in modern life. And in the words of Ecopsychologist Theresa Sweeney you have 54 natural human senses, not just 6 as Aristotle once wrote. This is why we can get so burnt out: we are incredibly, deeply SENSITIVE. A unique way to rest just one of your important fifty four human senses: turn off your phone, WIFI, internet, lights, all ele...ctricity, then meditate in the silence . (Resting your sense for radiation and electromagnetic activity.) Photo by Kira Auf der Heide

08.01.2022 I've got new meditation resources on my website! Guided meditations, a new poem by yours truly...with many more blog posts and videos to come. These are all created with the individual pathway in mind, to assist you in a meditative way however your journey looks. I wanted to provide a bigger lens into stillness meditation, my work, as well as a loving, sometimes critical-thinking, open-minded approach to our practice in present day context. Meditation has a global purpose, not just to soothe us and make us feel better, but also to liberate and change our lives in the long term. Hope you check it out www.lookinginwards.org/ (menu > RESOURCES) Photo by William Gurzoni.

08.01.2022 Inspiring words! Having the confidence to take opinions and criticism is definitely important. Do you feel the right to insult/offend is a good idea? Can society be too sensitive?

07.01.2022 Our recent class theme of Unknowing and Mystery tickled everyones interest in Online Meditation. Unknowing is being okay in mystery, being relaxed in the unfolding of inner life - yours and mine. Isnt that preferable to grasping to cerebral understanding of things, trying so hard to use thoughts and intellect to figure out the answers? Students shared that the area of biggest confusion and mystery for them was RELATIONSHIPS. When were confused by oth...ers behaviour, how can we move into trusting them? Not assuming to know? And trusting that the world wants to be generous and kind to us? Allowing inner life to be REVEALED and others inner motives to be revealed (or not) in their own time. Practice noticing + relaxing when mystery presents itself. This is one powerful meditative way to embrace unknowing, and embrace yourself. See more

06.01.2022 Come dip your toe into my free offerings of engaging meditation & mindfulness practices by subscribing to my YouTube channel: Tracy at Looking Inwards! Intentionally crafted audio meditation, (and the occasional video) with sound meditation coming soon... all designed with a range of styles and lengths! If you want to meditate with me, like... my posts, or work and want to experience more Looking Inwards then check out my link below https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCTafqhiBgSOXYLjB06RLoUQ See more

05.01.2022 Sound healing with my Organelle. Laying the beginning foundations for calming tunes in my new Looking Inwards sound meditations! Its really rewarding to fuse my love of music, and a lifetime of piano and guitar playing with my own meditative work and teaching. Hope to share these with my students and followers soon, accessing some hidden beauty with our ears and hearts.

03.01.2022 Recording some guided meditations to share with you on my website soon! To follow my first guided video from April Cultivating Internal Space this next one is titled: GROUNDING THE BODY Ill be pottering away doing little touches to it including some of my own music from an Organelle (mini piano synth). Its going to be beautiful... soothing and artistic. Im so excited for you to hear it!

03.01.2022 No matter what your outer circumstances might be, there is always, deep within you, a potential for flourishing. This is a potential for loving-kindness, compassion, and inner peace. Try to get in touch with and experience the potential that is always present, like a nugget of gold, in you heart and mind. -Matthieu Ricard, 'How to begin to meditate' from 'Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill' This was my first meditation book 7 years ago, it ...changed my life in a beautiful way. I picked it, probably, because of a calling to deeper happiness. Plus it has a very pretty cover! Photo by Priscilla du Preez

03.01.2022 In the short term we often come to meditate to assist alleviating our present difficulties or issues. But in the long term, meditating reveals a deep mysterious inner life, unique and diverse to all of us, worth protecting and caring for. A big focus of my offerings is being open to shelved formative memories/identities that when revealed - in their own time - tell a story of what is deeply important to us. For me, a formative childhood memory is reading colourful storybooks ...with my father. I find an indescribable feeling of joy and play when looking at children's books. I collect them now in adulthood, I like to gaze at the pictures, allow myself to be quiet for a moment in the wonder and pleasure of my own imagination. It feels safe, and I feel so held whenever I do this. How has your "inner child" revealed itself to you?

02.01.2022 Our sleep focus in Online Meditation this week was l o v e d by my students! This first week of Term 3 was supportive guidance through the yoga nidra concept of wakeful rest. Lying down, while creating opportunities for stillness in the mind as the big theme in finding deep sleep, as well as a light focus on heaviest felt areas in the body. We can stop inner chaos by being physically still. Not instantly, but through the shock and contrast of it our nervous system relaxes.... We slow down, we discover what wakeful resting means. Discover term 3 online offerings on my website in my pages about/bio section, there are some gorgeous classes to assist your journey of inner calm right now

01.01.2022 I remember making a little print-out with tulips in the background and this mantra written on it a few years ago. It felt silly, but I stuck it above the shower and looked at it every shower I took. It's quite sweet, and summed up exactly how soothing it can be. The solitude, the fresh running water. I would breath in and out with each line. Do you have a daily ritual that centres you?

01.01.2022 STILLNESS NATURE What is your true nature? In my still-mind meditation lineage, stillness is the true nature of all beings. Meaning: While they imbue meaning and are deeply personal: you are NOT your thoughts, feelings, your ambitions, even your relationships... etc. Your true nature is stillness/peace/nothingness. In that space everything blossoms, without connection to your true nature we become unwell, disconnected.... Stillness Nature is the first chapter of my 8 week Beginners Meditation Course, to be held online. More details coming soon!