Alan Heeks I’ve loved forests all my life, and have been in many fine ones on five continents. My vote for most magical is the forests of Bale Mountains National Park, in south-east Ethiopia. Why so special? Beautiful, vibrant, atmospheric, with life of all kinds, and very rare: many unique species, and there are few other habitats … Read more
You and your communities If you define community quite widely, you are probably part of several. This briefing can help you assess the groups you’re in, and how well they fit your needs. I’ve listed seven kinds of community: as you read this, review how many of these you’re involved in. In some cases, you … Read more
Probably all of us are facing a future with a lot more uncertainty, and a lot less control. So what can we learn from people who have been living positively in that condition for thousands of years? By definition, nomads represent an extreme example of this, having no ownership or control of land, very few … Read more
By Eva Selhub and Alan Logan This is an important and exciting book in my view, as it gives extensive research validation for the natural happiness approach, and the aims of Hazel Hill Wood as a natural learning centre. This will be a longer blog than most, because I’d like to highlight the main insights … Read more
Insights from a Woodland Resilience Immersion for GP’s This is embarrassing for me to admit as a resilience expert, but I have been struggling to sustain my own wellbeing and morale in recent months. The combination of huge, apparently insoluble problems on the climate change and political fronts has really ground me down. However, I came back … Read more
Of all the front-line services we depend on, hospitals are among the most crucial, and a large hospital will have several hundred junior doctors. These are young men and women, from mid-twenties into thirties. They start right out of university, and the first two years are the Foundation phase. An amazing 30% of junior doctors … Read more
All of us depend on front line services: they include health, local authorities, education, care, and a myriad of voluntary sector organisations such as charities, help networks, and community groups. They are a safety net, and as stresses grow for most people, we need the support of front line services more than ever. But most … Read more
Back in 1992 I met the first person I’d ever met who called themselves a Sufi: he was the Reverend Lesley Foot, an Anglican priest who explained he had his Bishop’s permission to be a Sufi too. This demolished most of my preconceptions about Sufis. A year later, at a Sufi workshop, someone asked the … Read more
How inspiration can help our daily life and work There have been some interesting features in the media about the ways social media is shaping our lives. Let’s face it, their basic aim is to make us spend more: so the effect of all our screen time is to make us more self-centred, more anxious, … Read more
The Seven Planks of Spiritual Practice. Having a spiritual practice may be helpful to us in many ways, but what does this actually mean, and how would we start? When I am asked about getting started, I suggest that people explore a couple of established, named spiritual paths which appeal to them: for example, Buddhism, Quakers or others. I also suggest that they try ‘nameless’ approaches, such as mindfulness, and meditating in nature. For a much fuller version of this advice, see chapter 8 of my book, Out of the Woods: A guide to life for men Jan 16 2beyond 50: this section is suitable for men and women of any age.
My own spiritual path has been evolving for 40 years, helped by involvement in several named spiritual paths, and a lot of more fluid personal exploration. These 7 planks are important parts of my current spiritual practice: