“ It might be well for all of us to remember that, while differing widely in the various little bits we know, in our infinite ignorance we are all equal. ” - Karl Popper

“ Any unexplained phenomenon passes through three stages before the reality of it is accepted. During the first stage it is considered laughable. During the second stage, it is adamantly opposed. Finally, during the third stage, it is accepted as self-evident. ” - Arthur Schopenhauer

“ Greatness is achieved through the discipline of attending to detail. ” - Twickenham Fitness Room Poster

“

The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.

” - Anonymous

“

Do you want to hear my favourite procrastination joke?  I'll tell you later.

” - Piers Steel

“ No man was ever wise by chance. ” - Lucius Seneca

“ Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you. ” - Jackson Brown

So it was the second session of the group yesterday.  I blogged about the first session last week.  Sadly a couple of people couldn't get to this second meeting - due to a pre-planned holiday and to an unexpected crisis.  It's quite common for participants to miss one or two evenings across a twelve session course like this, but I want to be careful when people miss such an early meeting.  It's important that they don't lose their way and get left behind.  They will get copies of the handouts and the Autogenic CD, but I also make a note to contact them myself.   

“

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.

” - Elbert Hubbard

Yesterday we had the first evening of the Life Skills group.  I've written in the past about the background planning behind this group.  How did this first meeting go?  Well there were nine of us - eight participants and myself.  Rather demandingly I'm both running a new course and trying to get used to new technology at the same time.  For years, when running small group trainings here at our house, I've used an overhead projector to shine transparencies up onto the wall.  For a while I've wanted to upgrade to a laptop and data projector, and this evening I went ahead to put this into practice.

“ There is nothing so practical as a good theory. ” - Kurt Lewin

In the 1970's I taught yoga and several different types of meditation.  In the 1980's I began teaching courses in Autogenic Training, a form of deep relaxation/meditation.  I continued running Autogenic classes for about 25 years.  In addition to the relaxation/meditation exercises, the teaching also covered several other life skill/stress management techniques.  For a much fuller description of these eight session courses, visit the Autogenic Training section of this website.