I offer guidance on mindfulness & meditation. Founder of Mindfulness Works. Over 40,000 people have completed my Introduction to Mindfulness & Meditation course.
βοΈβπ₯ Your in-built capacity for depth, freedom and presence
π The Present Perspective NewsletterβοΈβπ₯ Your in-built capacity for depth, freedom and presenceThrough mindfulness practice we discover a quality of presence that holds, transforms, and frees.What in your life is calling you,when all the noise is silenced,the meetings adjourned,the lists laid aside,and the wild iris blooms by itselfin the dark forest,what still pulls on your soul?~ Rumiβ We all know as mindfulness practitioners, that we are wired to be on the lookout for danger β anything that is a threat to our survival. Itβs been that way for thousands of years. But just as we have inbuilt mechanisms as part of being human to feel concern, worry, fear and a sense of threat, the same sensitivity allows us to feel a deep reverence, gratitude, love and sense of connection and contentment that transcends our identity as a separate ego-personality. Archaeology and anthropology show that humans have recognised and expressed the deeper, spiritual, and symbolic aspects of life for tens of thousands of years. The famous Venus figurines of the Paleolithic era (dating back over 25,000 years) suggest an early reverence for fertility, the earth, and the cycles of life. In caves such as Lascaux in France and Chauvet-Pont-dβArc, prehistoric peoples painted not only animals but also abstract symbols and mysterious figures. From Neolithic burial mounds with grave goods to the Indus Valley civilisationβs seated figures in meditative postures, these discoveries point to a long-standing human engagement with the sacred, the symbolic, and the unseen dimensions of existence. As mindfulness practitioners we get to experience these aspects of our human existence. Not through a belief system, dogma, philosophy or in any academic or theoretical way, but through a direct encounter with our own life. Instead of being bound up in doing, in planning, controlling, worrying, sorting out, fixing and getting somewhere, we let go, let be and experience ourselves and our life β just as it is. We move from the horizontal axis of existence, to the vertical. We stop doing and start being. When this happens, we notice profound shifts in our state of consciousness, including:
Whether we call these experiences religious, spiritual, or simply the byproducts of nervous-system regulation, they open the door to a life that feels more real, stable, and deeply fulfilling. Because this state is so attractive, contentment, devotion, and joy often arise. We feel drawn to group practice, retreats, or sharing the practice with others. We can say at this point, we have fallen in love with the practice - in love with life. We have been reoriented so that what matters most is at the heart of our life, and becomes an expression of that life. It is this reorientation β available to us all β which allows the other aspects of our humanity β the worries, the fears, the threats, the challenges, the division, the anxiety to exist without creating a war within ourselves, and most importantly be projected out to create a war with our life, or with other people. So relax. Pause, breathe deeply and love the precious, sensitive human form we both are, and are more than. All is well. ββ Transform Your Thoughts β Mindfulness Plus WorkshopβWhen your mind is caught in a cycle of overthinking, it can feel like you're lost in a maze with no way out. Stress, anxiety, and self-doubt may cloud your path, but your mind is not your enemyβit is adaptable and capable of transformation. With the right tools, you can gently shift these thought patterns and guide your brain toward clarity, calm and a renewed sense of control. Nat knows this firsthand, when she was bedridden with intense chronic nerve pain and a burning rash, her mind became its own battleground, filled with fear, frustration and exhaustion, wondering if she would ever be well again. Determined to regain a sense of calm and clarity, Nat developed this neuroscience-based technique to transform her thoughts. In this workshop you'll:
Date: Wednesday, 15 October 2025
π§ββοΈ Mini Mindfulness Exercise: The Echo in Stillness
Why it helps: This exercise helps you see vividly that thoughts, feelings, and inner dynamics are not the ultimate. You are the space in which they arise. By attending to the echo and then witnessing its fading, you deepen contact with that deeper, stable presence. π« Intro to Mindfulness Courses and WorkshopsβReduce anxiety, improve sleep and increase self-acceptance with mindfulness. QueenslandβBuderim β 11 Novemberβ Online and LiveβOnline and live - Monday, 3 Novemberβ π‘ Coming Home to Yourself β 7-Day Silent Meditation Retreat, Healesville, VIC: 11 β 17 Feb, 2026βStep 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. βBook your place now now with a $500 deposit.β Teachers: Karl Baker and Stephen Archer
π *NEW* Awakening to Self-Love β 6-Day Silent Meditation Retreat, Bowral, NSW: 7 - 12 March, 2026βThe 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. The Essence of Self-Love, Silent Meditation Retreat provides that environment. Teachers: Karl Baker and Stephen Archer
π’ Workplace Mindfulness TrainingNationwide in-person or online mindfulness training for workplaces. βGet a customised program and free quote.
π€ Mindful Check-In. When do you catch yourself in survival mode?
Noticing when we slip into βsurvival modeβ is powerful. These small moments β replaying an old argument, stressing over emails, or racing ahead in our minds β are the very places where we can pause, breathe, and reconnect with what is real right now. π Mindful Meme of The Weekπ© Ideas? Comments? Complaints? |
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.
π The Present Perspective Newsletter π« The Return of Spontaneity, Play and Creativity Somewhere along the way, many of us forget how alive we felt when we played, explored and created without hesitation. Yet that quiet spark never disappears. It waits patiently for the moment we are willing to feel it again. βThe creative adult is the child who has survived.ββ Ursula K. Le Guin Dear Reader One of the joys of being human is our capacity both to be creative and to enjoy the creativity of...
π The Present Perspective Newsletter π« What is the most important relationship in your life? Every moment of our life is shaped by relationship, especially the one we have with ourselves. "You will never be able to experience everything. So, please, do poetical justice to your soul and simply experience yourself." β Albert Camus Dear Reader We are constantly in relationship. Weβre in relationship with our past, our future, the present moment, ourselves, our family and friends, our hopes and...
π The Present Perspective Newsletter π« Learning to go from overwhelm to OK When we return to ourselves through mindfulness and meditation, we rediscover a quiet OKness that was there all along. From this place, life feels less like something to fix and more like something we can meet with steadiness, clarity and ease. βThe curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.β β Carl Rogers Dear Reader By far the most common human experience today is some variation of...