🔭 The Present Perspective Newsletter

🫂 What happens when we stop leaving ourselves behind?

There is a part of each of us that longs to be met, seen and held. Not by someone extraordinary, but by ourselves. Mindfulness is an invitation to remember how to do this.

“When we turn toward our experience with curiosity and kindness, we begin to discover the vastness of our own heart.”
— A H Almaass

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Dear Reader

We arrive in this world entirely dependent on those around us; most often our biological family. Without the basic necessities of life being provided to us in our earliest days and years, we simply would not survive.
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We also know from decades of research that we require love and connection from our primary caregivers. Human beings need physical care, and we also need emotional warmth, responsiveness and attunement.

As we grow into adulthood, we learn to take responsibility for our physical needs. We learn how to feed, clothe and care for our bodies. Yet if we are to truly thrive rather than simply get by, we must also learn how to care for our emotional and psychological needs.
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We need to feel connected, seen, valued and loved. Friends, family or intimate partners can support us here, but no one can do this for us all the time. Other people have their own challenges and limitations, and it is unrealistic to expect anyone to meet all of our emotional needs.
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Just as we do not expect another person to look after our physical needs once we are adults, it is equally unrealistic to rely entirely on others for our ongoing emotional nourishment.

If we do not learn to offer care to ourselves, we may find we project this unmet need onto others. It can show up as neediness or pressure. It can also keep us tethered to relationships that are unhealthy or even harmful, simply because they offer glimpses of the connection we long for.

The good news is that we are completely capable of offering ourselves the intimacy, care and love we seek.
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Practices such as mindfulness and Internal Family Systems (IFS) can greatly support this. Both approaches recognise our inherent “already OK” nature. From this foundation, we can gently build relationships with the parts of ourselves that feel wounded, frightened or unworthy.
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Rather than trying to fix, suppress or get rid of these parts, we learn to meet them with curiosity, warmth and presence. Just as we long for unconditional love, so too do the parts of us that have felt unseen or pushed away.

Over time, with patience and practice, we learn to encounter these parts with tenderness. We come to know and care for ourselves in a much deeper way. This creates a profound sense of intimacy with our own life and experience. We begin to nourish ourselves with the same care and love that all humans require which is just as essential as food and shelter.

This inner offering of care does not replace our relationships with others. In fact, it deepens them. When we tend to our own emotional life with kindness, we no longer seek connection from a place of lack or fear. We are able to meet others with more openness and less demand, to receive love when it is offered and to offer love more freely in return.

As human beings, we are wired for relationship. We are made to feel, to care and to connect. When we learn to include ourselves in the circle of our care, life becomes more spacious and less frightening. We discover a sense of intimacy with our own experience, and we begin to feel at home within ourselves.

Mindfulness and compassionate inner awareness help us rediscover this capacity. They invite us back into relationship with our own heart.
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And from this place, our connection with others also becomes more real, more easeful and more deeply satisfying. In tending to ourselves, we make space for the love that has always been here.

➕ Calming The Storm: Your Cortisel Reset — Mindfulness Plus Workshop

Explore the deep connection between prolonged stress, elevated cortisol and how that affects everything from your mood and memory to your digestion, sleep and immune health. You’ll learn how the body’s built-in alarm system, designed for short-term survival, can become a long-term saboteur if left unchecked.

Through the lens of mindfulness, we’ll uncover how to soothe the nervous system and gently bring it back into balance. You’ll be introduced to simple, effective practices that can lower cortisol naturally—not just in theory, but in the real-life moments that matter most.

We’ll also explore everyday lifestyle choices that can make a difference: How the timing of your meals, the quality of your rest and the rhythm of your day all contribute to restoring calm and clarity.

Date: Wednesday, 5 November 2025
​Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm AEDT
​Price: $20 standard ticket. $35 VIP ticket (includes recording)
​Facilitator: Nat Mallia
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⚔️From Worrier to Warrior — 7-Week Course. Starts 6 November

Join certified mindfulness teacher, Nat Mallia and take the journey from worrier to warrior.

What you get with this course:

☑️ Transform your life and cultivate inner strength.

☑️ Enjoy Nat’s East meets West approach with a blend of Buddhist philosophy and Neuroscience.

☑️ Strategies for identifying and resolving negative thought patterns that can contribute to anxiety and stress.

☑️ Warrior Mindset Strategies to develop a mindset that empowers you to face life's challenges with confidence and courage.

☑️ Your very own Warrior Mindset Action Plan.

☑️ Designed for both beginners and those looking to refine their meditation skills.

☑️ Plus many bonuses to support your journey!

BONUS – Save 10%​
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Enter the promo-code: WARRIORMF at checkout to get 10% off this course.
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🧘‍♀️ Mini Mindfulness Exercise: Staying Close to Yourself

Duration: 10 – 15 minutes

1. Sit however your body is comfortable with. No special posture needed. Let your weight settle downward. Let the chair or floor hold you.
2. Notice how your body is right now. Not how it should be. Just how it actually is. Warmth, tightness, restlessness, flatness, numbness, calm—anything.
3. See if you can be with your experience the way you might sit beside someone you care about who doesn’t need advice or solutions; just company.
4. When the mind moves to “I should be feeling something different,” notice that. You don’t have to push it away or indulge it. Just: "Oh, thinking."
5. If a feeling, memory or sensation comes forward, allow it to be there without needing to fix or interpret it. There is nowhere else to be right now.
6. If it helps, you can quietly acknowledge what’s here in simple language: “This is what it feels like to be me right now.”
7. If discomfort arises—emotional or physical—see if you can stay with it for one or two breaths longer than you normally would: Not forcing. Just not leaving.
8. When you’re ready to end, notice how it feels to have stayed. Not what you felt—but the fact that you stayed.

Why this helps:
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Many of us habitually turn away from our own feelings when they become uncomfortable.
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Over time, this can create a quiet sense of being alone within ourselves. By gently staying with our experience, even for a few breaths, we show our system that we are someone we can rely on.
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The practice doesn’t try to change what we feel—it simply teaches us that we don’t have to leave ourselves when things are tender or difficult. This is how a sense of inner safety begins to grow.

🏫 Intro to Mindfulness Courses and Workshops

Reduce anxiety, improve sleep and increase self-acceptance with mindfulness.
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These Intro to Mindfulness and Meditation courses and workshops are designed for absolute beginners and are offered by certified Mindfulness Works mindfulness teachers.

Online and Live

Online and live – Monday, 3 November​
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🏡 Coming Home to Yourself — 7-Day Silent Meditation Retreat, Healesville, VIC:
11 – 17 Feb, 2026

Step into a world of calm, depth and self-love. Experience an environment of safety, silence, beauty and natural ease.

Now is the time to truly come home to yourself.
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​“A fantastic retreat to reconnect with self led by two very skilled facilitators.” — Lisa Shortridge​
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Experience a precious and profound opportunity to embrace yourself fully and unconditionally.
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Located in the serene setting of Maitripa Retreat Centre, Healesville, this retreat provides an exceptional chance for self-love, self-forgiveness and self-acceptance.

Book your place now with a $500 deposit.​
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Teachers: Karl Baker and Stephen Archer
​Location: Maitripa Retreat Centre, Healesville, Vic
​Dates: Wednesday, 11 Feb – Tuesday, 17 Feb, 2026.
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💗 Awakening to Self-Love — 6-Day Silent Meditation Retreat, Bowral, NSW:
7 – 12 March, 2026

The essence of your self-love is woven into the fabric of the universe.

It is integral to you. It just requires the right environment to emerge.
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​“It was like a balm for the soul.” — Carmel Brock

The Essence of Self-Love, Silent Meditation Retreat provides that environment.
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​Book your place now with a $500 deposit.​
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Teachers: Karl Baker and Stephen Archer
​Location: Hartzer Park Retreat Centre, Bowral, NSW
​Dates: Saturday, 7 Mar – Thursday, 12 Mar 2026
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🏢 Workplace Mindfulness Training

Nationwide in-person or online mindfulness training for workplaces.
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– Build team mental and emotional resilience.
– Improve mental fitness.
– Practical strategies for reducing burnout.
– Enhance team communication and connection.

Get a customised program and free quote.
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🤔 Mindful Check-In. If your feelings were a friend...

This question helps us see whether we move toward ourselves or away when things feel tender or difficult. Simply noticing our pattern is the first step in learning to stay.

📝 Mindful Meme of The Week

📩 Ideas? Comments? Complaints?

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