SWITCH-OFF
BLUE-SKY
THINKING
Try Thubten’s quick meditation
technique, which you can do from
your sunlounger: ‘Look up at the
sky. Think, your mind is like the
sky: limitless. Feel as if your mind
is slowly mixing with the sky. Keep
looking. When you feel distracted,
remember thoughts are like clouds
and the sky is behind them. Your
mind is bigger than your thoughts.
Imagine you’re looking beyond the
clouds. At the end, focus on your
body for a few moments.’1
CREATE SOCIAL
MEDIA MEALTIMES
When it comes to social media,
there’s a reason it’s called ‘a feed’. ‘We
don’t eat all day, we do it in a balanced
way and allow ourselves to digest
the food, so we should do the same
with media platforms,’ says Thubten.
Instead of flicking through your phone
constantly when you’re poolside,
schedule in an hour (or less) each day
you’re on holiday for a ‘social media
blitz’. Allow your mind time to digest
what it’s seen before the next meal,
so you don’t feel overwhelmed.2
TURN OFF
NOTIFICATIONS^
Switching off your phone
altogether could make you feel
anxious. Instead, remove
notifications so you can connecton your own terms. ‘It’s good to
stay in the loop with current affairs,
but news alerts can make you feel
unnecessarily negative,’ says
Thubten. ‘We think we need to
know everything immediately,
but the world won’t stop if we miss
something for a couple of hours.
We can afford to take time out.’THE GREAT
SUMMER
Body on the beach but head
still in the office? Who better to
teach us how to relax our minds
than a 21st-century monk?T
aking a holiday to slow
down doesn’t always work
now our pace of life is so
fast. Thankfully, Buddhist
monk and acclaimed
meditation teacher Gelong
Thubten, author of A Monk’s Guide To
Happiness, says we can train the mind
to be present, rather than thousands of
miles away. Thubten became a monk
after an excessive lifestyle led to
severe burnout. His 25 years of
training included intense isolated
meditation retreats, so he’s an expert
in switching off. ‘It’s important to
drip-feed mindful moments into your
life before you go away, because if
you can’t relax the mind, relaxing
the body is not enough,’ says Thubten.
So, try this when you’re away...
3FEEL YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
Become more present by
focusing on what you can touch.
‘If you’re in a car, that might be the
feeling of the car seat underneath
you,’ says Thubten. In a stressful
situation, this will help ground you;
in a positive situation, it allows
you to appreciate the here and now.4
SAVE YOUR PICTURES
‘We seek validation through
“likes”,’ says Thubten.
‘It’s almost as though we’re losing
the ability to know what we like
ourselves, as we post things to see
if others like them.’ When posting,
think about what you’re seeking.
‘Do you want to spread joy or are
you needing approval? Become
aware of the underlying motivation,’
says Thubten. Save photos for when
you’re home. This allows you to enjoy
experiences as they happen.A M o n k’s G u i d e T o H a p p i n e s s : Me d i t a t i o n I n T h e 21s t C e n t u r y ( Ye l l o w K i t e) b y G e l o n g T h u b t e n i s o u t n o wWORDS:^ ARIELLETCHI
PRO
UT.^ P
HO
TOG
RAPHY:^DAVIDBURT
O
N/TR
UNK^ ARCHI
VE