150 minute meditation journal

:)

Congratulations on almost being a monk. Will you take on more duties at your sangha?

In theory no, there is nothing I will can do as a monk that I can't do now. There are more senior monks, assistant teachers and a full teacher so I won't need to be leading ceremonies, talks etc. In reality probably yes I think my role will probably evolve over time and I'll find out as I go along. It feels a bit like throwing myself into the dark not knowing what lies ahead. Only in a good way.

In some other respects things will stay the same.  I'll still be working full time, living in the same house in the same area, looking after my daughter, doing all the day-to-day life stuff. The only visible difference will be that I will be temporarily bald as my head gets shaven as part of the ceremony. I can grow it back afterwards.

Oh wow, very cool! Going into the unknown can be a good thing. Keeping your same life isn't a bad deal either lol. What do you do for a living if you don't mind me asking?

I manage a voluntary sector group being a voice for patients in health decisions. Sort of. That is the short version. Busy, lots of difficult situations, working on short term funding etc. But I love it. 

That sounds interesting. It's always a wonderful thing when you love your job! I just started a new job as a nurse practitioner at an elementary school and I really love it. I want to do a program to bring mindfulness into the school.

That would be great. I was a primary school teacher for a little while and for one term we had someone come in each week to teach them how to give each other head massages. It was lovely. One day in the playground I heard one boy (age 6) go up to a classmate and say "you look a bit sad and stressed, could I give you a massage?". 

Nice for children to learn to recognise and deal with tensions.

That’s really cool. Yes there are specific mindfulness programs for schools to implement. They’ve been very successful.