Frost Magazine was thrilled when Thirsk u3a contacted the team, wanting to tell them  about a speaker who had zoomed into their sitting rooms.

‘Hilarious, interesting.’

‘I reckon we have a few eccentrics here,’ said one. ‘But not me, I hasten to add.’

So Margaret hauled in Paul Robbins for a virtual chat. It seems Paul is a man on a mission. By his own admission, he is an obsessive when it comes to his determination to share the rich and varied history of our wonderful country with a new generation of listeners – from the ages of nine through to ninety.

Paul told me that having retired early from a career as a senior manager with one of the world’s largest IT company’s, he developed a series of talks about Britain’s past in a unique series called “Step back in Time” These online talks have won him many fans all over the country, and they are indeed innovative and enjoyable, as the reaction of Thirsk’s u3a proved.

Paul explained “ I want others to appreciate how diverse, unique and fascinating our history really is”. He added. “ It is a history that has shaped us all. We should own, know, and cherish it.’

It’s clear that the highlight of Paul series of talks is his hugely popular “Great British Eccentrics’ presentation which features some of the oddest people that have graced the pages of our history and who  just happened to have been British. After all,  Paul explains “If there was a World cup for eccentrics then Britain would win every time, other countries wouldn’t even bother to turn up.”

‘But how do you choose who to include when we seem to have so many?’ I asked. Indeed, that has been the challenge for Paul – who to leave out of this classic exposé of Britain’s oddest people. But apparently he has narrowed it to a pool of around 50, so each talk is varied in terms of who is featured.

Paul does, however, have what he describes as his crème de la crème of eccentrics whose stories defy belief including a UFO obsessed peer of the realm, a habitual drunken Lord as well as a resident of an old people’s home who, let’s just say, became a real life femme fatale. When he told me more about this particular femme fatale, I was on the floor, laughing. We hadn’t even got to the Grim Reaper appearance either.  

Despite this wealth of eccentrics, Paul is always on the look out for other Britons who can join this peculiarly unique band.

So, come on, Paul, what makes a good Eccentric? Paul believes it’s someone who truly believes their own strange ideas are perfectly normal and who think the rest of us are the odd ones. Heavens, this could describe your Frost Magazine editor.

One thing Paul is sure about is that eccentrics add much to our society and culture and Britain would be a poorer place without them. Sometimes, though, the audiences offer up their own Eccentrics. Paul recently overheard a lady member of his audience say to her husband of many years “You know your Father always struck me as being a bit odd, an eccentric”.

My own favourite is Sir George Sitwell who, so Paul said, put a sign on his gate which read: I must ask anyone entering the house never to contradict me in any way, as it interferes with the functioning of the gastric juices and prevents me sleeping at night: I put it on my gatepost, but as him indoors, was inside at the time he clearly hadn’t read it.

You can find out more about Paul’s great talks, by visiting his website.  

https://www.stepbackintime.org/

To find out about the u3a, or one near you, and hear about their monthly meetings, and interest groups, go to: https://www.u3a.org.uk/   To find out about Thirsk u3a click: here. 

Please email me with Frost ocean meditation in the title to secure your copy: alex@myananda.co.uk

Week 1: Mindfulness is quite the modern day buzz word but what exactly is mindfulness?

Well, mindfulness is the moment to moment awareness & acceptance of our thoughts, feelings, emotions & behaviours. It is an ability to be present, experiencing life as it happens in the here & now, the only moment that really matters. After all it’s only in the present moment that we can learn, grow, create & take action.

It’s about recognising that we are entrenched in worrying about the past or thoughts of the future – did you know we spend an estimated 50% of our time ruminating about the past, which has gone, or fretting about the future, which generally never quite pans out as we expected. That’s quite a lot of wasted time when we could be actively engaged in the present moment instead! Which brings to mind that old expression: the past is history, the future a mystery, the present is a gift which is why it’s called the present.

Mindfulness is also about acknowledging when we are distracted by thoughts & being able to see them as just thoughts, not necessarily fact. Being able to step back, taking on the perspective of an observer to our thoughts rather than getting swept away & down the rabbit hole with the storyline of them. This viewpoint can be extremely liberating. If you like you can try to imagine thoughts are clouds in a summer’s sky & you are just watching them float by.

Jon Kabbat Zinn, who introduced mindfulness to the West in the ‘80’s & is widely regarded as the father of mindfulness, defines it as: paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment & non-judgmentally. Not judging whatever we discover when we come to the present moment, accepting, being kind to ourselves, curious, playful even, these are all attitudes which accompany mindfulness & I will be exploring these next time. In essence mindfulness is quite simple but it’s not very easy to do. If it was we’d all be doing it instead of wasting so much time brooding on the past & future, caught up in our thoughts, instead of actively engaged in the present.

So how can we practice mindfulness? Well, meditation is one way in which we can be more mindful but it is not essentially mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the art of being engaged in the present moment without judgment & criticism. Mindfulness is an awareness of thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviours, an awareness of ‘something’ & can be practiced anywhere.

Whilst meditation is a way to practice mindfulness, it is the formal practice of mindfulness. It supports & enriches mindfulness just as being mindful in your meditation practice supports your meditation, they are interlinked & support one another but are subtly different.

Meditation is sometimes referred to as an awareness of nothing – although this simplifies meditation because often in meditation, particularly when we are new to the practice we use our breath or our body to anchor us in the moment & thus we are aware of these anchors. But essentially, when your practice deepens you get a sense of just being, with no distractions in your meditation space. Although of course as soon as you notice this, you are distracted & boom, the ‘nothing’ has evaporated!

Can you see how it’s not quite a simple as it first appears?

Meditation is not about controlling our thoughts we can’t stop our mind from doing what it does: thinking thoughts. But we can stop our thoughts from controlling us. This subtle distinction enables us to avoid the frustration of the noisy & busy mind we notice when we settle down to meditate. You’re not doing anything wrong. When we get still & silent, we notice how busy & noisy our mind is, what many refer to as the monkey mind. Mindfulness is simply noticing this & guiding your attention gently back to your anchor. Every time you get distracted, is another moment of mindfulness, indeed if you can bring some gratitude to that momentary reminder this can also help.

So mindfulness is about noticing our mind has wandered (again & again & often again again!). And choosing instead of getting swept away with whatever it is we are thinking about, to acknowledge & observe that train of thought, that feeling, emotion or behaviour & gently anchoring ourselves back in the present moment using our breath or body, without judging what ever distracted us in the first place. Just accepting it. Sometimes being curious. It’s a little like guiding a puppy that has strayed from the path gently back onto it.

And meditation is one way to practice mindfulness. But we can also practice mindfulness by trying informal practices. Bringing mindfulness into our everyday & I will also be exploring these practices later in this series.So the differentiation between mindfulness & meditation is subtle. As is the impact of these practices – there are no monumental lightening bolts from the heavens but they bring about profound shifts. Establishing a mindfulness or meditation practice isn’t easy, it is after all why they are called practices, they take practice, but it is definitely worthwhile. These practices have changed my life which is why I am so passionate about sharing about them & trained to teach mindfulness.

With every episode in this mindfulness series I will be offering a different meditation free to every Frost reader. This week it’s the Ocean Meditation, which is an introductory meditation I often share with my clients when they embark on their mindfulness & meditation journey as it helps them to discover their intentions behind their practice. Please email me with Frost ocean meditation in the title to secure your copy: alex@myananda.co.uk

Lily’s Kitchen, the award-winning creator of proper food for pets, was founded in London in 2009, by Henrietta Morrison who set out to feed her beloved dog, Lily, food she could trust. That’s fascinating  enough, but Lilys Kitchen has just announced the launch of the limited-edition ‘Be My Valentine’ tray for dogs, so that pet parents and pups can have a romantic meal for two this Valentine’s Day.

To help share the love this Valentine’s day, Lily’s will be donating the full sales price of the trays sold on their website to Dogs Trust, so that every pup feels the love.

Available through February, this limited-edition recipe is the ultimate surf and turf meal for our besties.  Made with fresh ingredients, pups can expect to tuck into  chunks of freshly prepared beef and  salmon with prawns – responsibly sourced which is wonderful. The Valentine’s dish is also packed with nourishing greens to give your dog a healthy boost, with asparagus and peas stirred throughout. As always with Lily’s Kitchen recipes, Be My Valentine is nutritionally complete, containing a blend of natural botanicals and herbs – giving dogs all the energy they need for hugs and kisses this Valentine’s Day.

Lily’s Kitchen were awarded a Royal Warrant by HRH The Prince of Wales. They’ve also won many other awards for their food, innovation and brilliant customer service    The brand became part of Nestlé Purina PetCare in April 2020, after having grossed over £85m in retail sales. With the belief that pets are family, Lily’s Kitchen operates as a standalone business and is still driven by its purpose of making cats’ and dogs’ lives better, by helping pet parents feed their pets properly whilst being kind to the planet. A bit of fun along the way, they say,  doesn’t hurt either.

The donation to Dogs Trust will support the charity’s ‘Change the Tale’ campaign, an initiative to support dogs, their families and pet parents who have been impacted by the pandemic.

The charity believes more people might have to make the heart-breaking decision to give up their beloved dogs if they struggle to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus crisis or life changes for them in a way they couldn’t have foreseen. Understanding the emotional heartbreak that comes with giving up a dog, especially when circumstances change unexpectedly, the charity’s dedicated team of experts help and advise wherever possible. Dogs Trust urges people to get in touch with them and they will do everything they can to help.

Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity and normally cares for around 14,000 dogs across its network of 20 rehoming centres in the UK and one in Dublin. Dogs Trust has a non-destruction policy and will never put a healthy dog to sleep. The charity also focuses its efforts on understanding dogs and sharing that knowledge with the wider public to prevent problem behaviours that can result in relinquishment or abandonment. They say, ‘We are working towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.’

‘Be My Valentine’ is available now direct from lilyskitchen with an RRP of £1.15 per tray.

Annie Clarke is the author of the Home Front series. The latest of which is Christmas on the Home Front