Clayton Micallef

Clayton has an Honour's Degree in Psychology and a Postgraduate Diploma Studies in Mindfulness. He is also an MBLC approved teacher, and currently, he is pursuing a research agenda in the practices of meditation and currently following a PhD with the University Of Aberdeen looking into the general effects of meditation and how these might influence wellbeing. He was introduced to meditation and the practices of mindfulness, compassion and insight at a very young age. Since then, he has been a long time practitioner. Personally, he comments that meditation has been one of the practices that was the cause of profound, insightful experience in his life.

How mindfulness Can Lead to an Embodied Wisdom

Can Mindfulness Lead to an Embodied Wisdom?

In answering the question if mindfulness practice can lead to an embodied wisdom, it is best to start with the foundation of why we practice meditation.  Primarily we meditate to cultivate mindfulness which is conducive to us being more aware of what we experience. 3 dimensions of mindfulness Purser and Milillo (2014) have put forth the argument that mindfulness […]

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Cultivating Mindfulness analogy

Cultivating Mindfulness: The Analogy of Two Farmers

The analogy of two farmers is a story explaining how cultivating mindfulness as an open quality of awareness in our everyday life can be of help.  This post is a revisiting of a previous post with the difference that it includes a video and a further reflection on the previous one.   Mindfulness technique and

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Universal use of mindfulness in schools not recommended

The Universal use of Mindfulness in Schools not Recommended, Study Finds

A large-scale study found that Universal School-based mindfulness training did not appear to improve students’ well-being or mental health (Kuyken et al., 2022).  Previously research had indicated that students and youth attending mindfulness in schools benefited to some degree from mindfulness practice (Carsely et al., 2018; Johnson et al., 2016; Kuyken, et al., 2013).  Although

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NYANAPONIKA THERA on The Four Sublime States

NYANAPONIKA THERA on The Four Sublime States

The basis of meditation practice is familiarising ourselves with the mind, how easy it is to get lost in compulsive thinking, noticing such and gently bringing the mind back to our present experience. This is said to cultivate mindfulness, but doing this mechanistically would reduce meditation to an attentional practice. The Buddhist monk NYANAPONIKA THERA

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Join Us For A live Guided Settling Grounding Resting Mindfulness Practice

Settling Grounding Resting – Live Guided Mindfulness Practice

In today’s busy world, there is an increasing desire to take time out, to find some stillness or what you could call mind space. The settling grounding resting mindfulness practice can help us in cultivating such mind space. Join us for a live guided sitting mindfulness practice this coming Sunday, 30th May at 18:30 CET

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Going Deep Into The Body – Live Guided BodyScan Practice

There are times when we might feel disconnected or dispersed from the body. In such instances, the bodyscan Practice can help in reconnecting and regrounding ourselves in the body. Join us for a live guided bodyscan practice this coming Friday 21st May at 18:10 CET on the Insight-Timer app. The event is free you can

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Meditation Conversations - Is meditation suitable for everyone

Meditation Conversations: Is Meditation Suitable for Everyone

Following is the podcast of the conversation between Spiritual Blogger and Author Vasundhra Gupta and Clayton Micallef discussing the questions; What is and is not meditation? Is meditation suitable for everyone, and if in certain situations or for certain people meditation might not work and practising it might result in adverse experiences? Is Meditation Suitable

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Anatta Understanding the Fluid Nature of Self - The self as anatta

Anatta Understanding the Fluid Nature of Self

Our sense of self refers to a set of characteristic and personal attributes that we feel define us.  It is made up of what we see as those set of characteristics that distinguishes us from others. Our personality traits, physical qualities and abilities, personal likes and dislikes (preferences), beliefs, and moral codes and motivations all

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Noticing the Pause Between In-breath and Out-breath Guided Meditation

Noticing the Pause Between In-breath and Out-breath Guided Meditation

We breathe in and breath out, but there lay a subtle pause between the in-breath and out-breath.  Our breath is made of three parts our in-breath, the pause between the in-breath and out-breath and the out-breath itself.  These together form the breath in a cyclical manner that is ever-changing as no in-breath and out-breath is

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Mindful Mornings guided meditation resting on our anchor

Mindful Mornings Guided Meditation: Resting On Our Anchor

In this sitting guided meditation practice, we go through the basic pedagogy for the cultivation of mindfulness. By first choosing a point of focus of our choosing as an anchor for our meditation practice. Then whenever we notice our mind wandering away losing focus of the anchor gently returning our attention to it no matter

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What is the difference between samatha and vipassana meditation

What Is The Difference Between Samatha And Vipassana Meditation

To fully understand what is the difference between Samatha and Vipassana meditation.  It is crucial to distinguish that meditation practices lay on a continuum. From those that use concentrating on a single object to steady the mind to reach a state of absorption called calm-abiding.  To those who employ concentration and calm-abiding to look into

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Memories Of Kindness Meditation Practice - Guided Meditation

Memories of Kindness Meditation Practice

When it comes to teaching mindfulness the memories of kindness meditation practice is one of the introductory techniques we use to explore and cultivate kindness in our lives.  This post will give a general overview of why we do the memories of kindness meditation, the stages we go through in the memories of kindness practice

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Does Meditation Change How We Perceive Pain - Can Meditation Help With Symptoms Of Pain

Does Meditation Change How We Perceive Pain

We can all agree that pain is an unpleasant feeling. Because of this, researchers are on a constant search for pharmaceuticals or psychological behavioural intervention to help with the symptoms of pain.  Meditation is one such psychological intervention, and meditation teachers have long time argued that meditation might help with the symptoms of pain by

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Can Mindfulness Help Increase Coping With Infertility Problems

Can Mindfulness Help Increase Coping With Infertility Problems

Mindfulness has been extensively used as a psychotherapeutic intervention for persons facing emotional distress because of a medical condition, and a recent literature review on mindfulness and infertility problems published in the journal of Human Reproductive Sciences by Patel et al. (2020) asked can mindfulness help increase coping with infertility problems. Coping with infertility problems

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Understanding gratitude as a virtue - is gratitude a virtue

Understanding Gratitude As A Virtue

The word gratitude comes from the Latin term “gratus”, which means “thankful, pleasing.” Therefore, in its simplest form, to be grateful is to have an appreciation and express thankfulness and moral philosophers have throughout the ages asked the question is gratitude a virtue?  However, when we approach gratitude as a virtue, there is more to gratitude

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Fight Climate Change Like Coronavirus

UN Urges Us To Fight Climate Change Like Coronavirus

The United Nation urges us that we need to – fight climate change like coronavirus – with the same resolve and determination we are showing in the fight against this imminent threat the new coronavirus.  Unfortunately, although both COVID-19 and climate change are an existential threat to humanity, it seems that we are reacting slowly

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The Golden Rule and the Coronavirus COVID-19 - Compassion is the Key (compassion and cooperation are key)

The Golden Rule and the Coronavirus COVID-19: Compassion is the Key

With the WHO finally calling the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 a global pandemic, we find ourselves in an unprecedented situation and tiring times.  As suddenly with such statement, the coronavirus COVID-19 became an issue affecting the whole world and every one of us as individuals in one way or another.  So what can we

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Ending The Cycle of Violence: Can Meditation Help World Peace (meditation world peace)

Ending The Cycle of Violence: Can Meditation Help World Peace?

While researching online, I came across research articles arguing how meditation can help in ending “the cycle of violence” and help achieve world peace through the cultivation of mindful awareness (Brantmeier, 2007; Tanabe, 2016).  Although going through some social media posts on meditation, you might also get the perception of meditation being like “some kind

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Being Non-Judgemental (Part 2): What Does It Mean To Be Non-Judgemental?

Non-Judgemental (Part 2): What Does It Mean To Be Non-Judgemental?

In our previous post on being “non-judgemental”, we looked at the workings of the “judging mind” and how an overtly judgemental mind can be very taxing and controlling and can leave you feeling stuck in life.  Meditation, through the cultivation of mindfulness, presents an alternative to such a mode of existence through the application of an

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Non-Judgemental (Part 1): Is Being judgemental our default setting? Non-judgemental awareness and the judging mind

Non-Judgemental (Part 1): Is Being judgemental our default setting?

Is this good bad or neutral? Most of the time, we go through our days judging our life experiences, the people we encounter, ourselves and our actions.  So I asked myself this question – “Am I judgemental?” – “Could it be that being judgemental is our default setting?” Personally, in today’s connected world many times

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Change and impermanence - The problem of impermanence is that change impermanence is characteristic of life (concept of impermanence)

Thanks to Impermanence, Everything is Possible

Impermanence is also known as the philosophical problem of constant change. Reflect nothing remains the same and everything is in continuous flux, even your breath from moment to moment is different so much so that your next breath can be your last. The paradox with impermanence is that although we know change happens, we still

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Climate Change News Wake Up It’s a Climate Crisis an Emergency Scientists Warn (climate crisis news, climate emergency)

Climate Change? Wake Up It’s a Climate Crisis an Emergency Scientists Warn

It’s not the first time that thousands of academics united to urge people to take action on climate change.  Personally, I agree with the scientists.  I don’t think that at present we are talking about climate change but about a climate crisis an emergency that is endangering every one of us — even you who

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What does mindfulness and being mindful mean - stop Mindfulness exercise it just takes a moment to be mindful

STOP – What does mindfulness and being mindful mean?

Image credit to BD Hypno Plus Mindfulness is the first step the vehicle through which we become mindful.  Mindfulness is like a light that shines out in the dark, allowing us to become mindfully aware of our thoughts and feelings. How these affect our behaviour towards ourselves, other people and our surroundings. Mindfulness and being

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The Wandering Mind and Finding a Suitable Anchor of Attention in Meditation

Finding a Suitable Anchor of Attention in Meditation

“A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind” (Killingworth & Gilbert, 2010, p. 932). This was the concluding statement of a study on mind wondering which found that we spend as much as 50% of our lives lost in thinking.  This can have negative effects on our mental,

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Forgiveness making our own peace in life

Forgiveness: Making Our Own Peace in Life

When someone does you wrong in life, do you keep holding onto it or try to forgive.  But what is forgiveness?  Is forgiveness an exercise which benefits are for the other person or yourself?  Let’s reflect on these. Forgiveness, in reality, isn’t “really” about someone else’s harmful behaviour but how you keep relating to it. It’s a reflection

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