July newsletter - One Mindful Breath
Photo by Alexis Antoine on Unsplash
Kia ora koutou,
Welcome to the July 2025 edition of the One Mindful Breath newsletter 👋
We had a pause on our newsletter last month as I (George) was away – I’ve come back to a chilly, wet Wellington but also one that is gradually, each day, getting lighter and lighter as we tilt towards spring. Still, we are definitely in winter at the moment and while it can sometimes be tough with the short, chilly days, there have also been opportunities to step out for a crisp, sunny walk and feel the joy of warmth on your face. ☀️ If we can step into the invitations of the season, we might find permission to slow down, beautiful winter flowers, rainy days for reading or knitting, doing puzzles – or meditating!
What’s coming up
16th July: Our regular Open House where everyone is welcome to bring along things they’ve been learning or exploring in their practice.💡
18th July (in the wider Secular Buddhist community): The Secular Buddhist Network are holding a Zoom discussion on the topic ‘What does it mean to you to be a secular Buddhist, or to have an interest in a secular approach to the dharma?’. Find out more by downloading the invite below!
23rd July: Lucky dip! We are yet to finalise our topic for 23rd. Find out more when the event is posted on our Meetup page or Facebook page.
30 July: The Sound of Silence: Relishing the beauty and power of silence in meditation – Join us for this discussion around the invitations and opportunities that silence brings to us in this frenetic world. 🧘🏽♀️
What we were learning about last month
Amongst our usual Open House discussions and Beginner’s Mind sessions, we also chatted about:
☸️ Basics of Buddhism: Alex did an excellent job of summarising Buddhism at a very high level, introducing some of the key aspects such as how humans naturally grasp pleasure and avoid pain. He mentioned some of the many Buddhist ‘lists’, such as the Four Tasks and the Eightfold Path. Keep an eye on our events as we are going to be running sessions deep-diving into some of these topics!
📖 Book Club! We held our first (in recent years) book club session where we discussed The Awakened Brain by Lisa Miller, a book about the psychology of spirituality. We were inspired to do more sessions based on articles or books or podcasts, so let us know if there is something you’d love to discuss with the group!