I offer guidance on mindfulness & meditation. Founder of Mindfulness Works. Over 40,000 people have completed my Introduction to Mindfulness & Meditation course.
🕊️ Finding peace in the pause, not the plan
🕊️ Finding Peace in The Pause, Not The PlanWhen thinking fails to bring peace, something deeper calls. This is the turning point.“I think and think and think, I've thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.”— Jonathan Safran FoerDear Reader There is a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), that “your best thinking got you here”. It means that despite your efforts with thinking and intellect, ultimately none of it has worked and so you find yourself in an AA meeting. This is in no way a bad thing; quite the reverse—it is a moment of awakening and insight facilitating genuine transformation and healing. This acknowledgement will have saved and repaired millions of lives. It’s a humbling insight. But it also carries wisdom—and not just for addiction recovery, but also for all of our lives as a whole. As human beings with a highly developed frontal cortex, we are expert thinkers. As a race, we have made astonishing advancements in healthcare, education, technology and science. Our minds have been extraordinary tools in getting us here. There are downsides to our capacity for abstract thinking though. We can over-rely on the thinking mind to try and provide us with contentment and ease, when it was not designed for that purpose. The mind that builds rocket ships isn’t the mind that brings inner-peace. In fact, when it comes to emotional and psychological contentment, our mind can feel more like a saboteur than an ally. How often have you been wide awake at 3am, mentally planning your life for the next 20 years—or replaying conversations and regrets from the last 20? It can be torture, and no amount of thinking helps—in fact, it makes the situation worse, moving into what we can call “over-thinking”. There’s also the hours, months, years we spend trying to think our way out of pain. Reading all the books, doing the workshops, watching the videos. Trying to fix what hurts. Trying to outsmart the ache of being human. Sometimes it helps a little. But more often, it feels like we’ve ended up back where we started—just more tired, more confused, more disheartened. Hopefully—if we are lucky—at this time, we give up thinking that thinking will ‘solve’ these problems. Our best thinking has brought us to this point… This is often when people come to mindfulness and meditation—and it’s a beautiful point in the journey. As you know, once we start to actually meditate—our relationship to ourselves, our life, our problems and the world profoundly shifts. What was perceived to be a problem, is far less so—perhaps even not feeling like a problem at all now. Not because we’ve figured something out, but because we realise we don’t need to figure it all out. It is an entirely natural outcome or response from the meditative process. We start to enjoy a more regulated nervous system, heightened self-awareness and a far greater capacity to be with the various parts of our psyche. We begin to feel the wisdom of the body—the reassuring beat of the heart, the rhythm of breath, the subtle music of everyday sounds, the play of light around us. These things are joyful. And we come home to what is real and true: this moment. Not the past. Not the fear of the future. Just this. From this presence, we start to relate to life differently. We stop trying to think our way out of it, and instead we meet life, as it is. And in that meeting, something shifts. The constant thinking. The messiness. The pain. The uncertainty. We stop seeing them as problems to be solved. Instead, they become part of the fabric of being human. That doesn’t mean we stop changing things. It means we change with more grace, less force. From a place of inner safety, rather than panic. We begin to draw on all the parts of ourselves—not just the thinking mind. We feel into how a situation lands in the body. We listen to our emotional intelligence. We notice fear patterns rooted in old trauma and gently choose a different response. We access a quieter, warmer, more loving state of being. The invitation of mindfulness meditation is to give up trying to think your way out of prison and to simply open the door to the cell, walk out into the sunshine and enjoy every moment of your life. 🧘♂️“The Pause That Frees” – A 3-Minute Mindfulness PracticePurpose: To interrupt the cycle of overthinking and reconnect with a deeper sense of presence. Step 1: Notice the Loop (30 seconds)Sit comfortably or stand still. Step 2: Drop into the Body (60 seconds)Shift your attention from your thoughts to your body. Step 3: Let It Be (90 seconds)With each breath, allow whatever is happening in your mind or body to simply be. Upcoming Mindfulness Plus Online and Live WorkshopFrom Worrier to Warrior: Reclaiming Your Strength by Harnessing Fear – Wednesday 7 May 6.30pm AESTWhen fear and anxiety take over, it's easy to shrink, doubt and spiral into worry. But deep within, you have a warrior—resilient, clear and calm—ready to rise. Facilitator: Nat Mallia Click "BOOK NOW" to see all details and book any workshop.
In-Person Intro to Mindfulness Courses and WorkshopsReduce anxiety, improve sleep and increase self-acceptance with mindfulness. QueenslandVictoriaAwakening to Self-Love — 6-Day Silent Meditation Retreat, Healesville: Fri 3 Oct – Wed 8 Oct 2025This silent meditation retreat, led by two of Australasia’s leading meditation and mindfulness teachers, focuses on our inherent ability to experience self-love and inner healing. Allow the beautiful and serene natural retreat environment and meditation sessions to support your wellbeing as you are invited into a simple schedule that includes regular guided sitting and walking mindfulness meditations, instruction periods and check-ins with the teachers. Price: $1,899 (all inclusive)
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Karl Baker - Mindfulness Works
I offer guidance on mindfulness & meditation. Founder of Mindfulness Works. Over 40,000 people have completed my Introduction to Mindfulness & Meditation course.
Mindful Healing Through Internal Family Systems (IFS) How IFS deepens self-awareness, softens inner conflict, and brings compassion to every part of you. “There are no bad parts, only parts needing healing.” — Richard C. Schwartz, No Bad Parts Dear Reader If you’ve ever sat down to meditate and found yourself hijacked by a cascade of self-criticism, restlessness, or unexpected emotion—congratulations. You’ve met your internal system. Internal Family Systems (IFS), developed by Dr. Richard...
Feeling Safe Enough to Awaken "When we experience stress, the nervous system tries to control things. Part of waking up is discovering what we are beyond that controlling organism." — Tara Brach Dear Reader The Power of a Regulated Nervous System I am convinced that those times in our life where we feel open-hearted, spacious, grounded and have a sense of presence are simply the result of a regulated nervous system. What may mysteriously be described as "enlightenment" or in modern...
5 Practical Ways to Stop Judging Yourself and Others "Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in." — Isaac Asimov Dear Reader A common definition of mindfulness is "being present on a moment-to-moment basis, without judgment." But what does non-judgment truly mean? How do we practise it and what are its benefits? What Is Non-Judgment? Non-judgment is an attitude of openness, acceptance and compassion. As human beings, we...