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Emily and Christian performed to a packed crowd at The Slaughtered Lamb in London on Saturday for the last night of her 2018 UK tour.  You can see photos of the gig on Emily’s Facebook page.

Emily is doing a special one-off gig on Saturday 27 October at Gaunts House in Wimborne before starting her book tour in November.  Dates and ticket links for all these gigs can be found here.

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I am delighted to announce the publication of my third book ‘Meditation Mind’, a book of poetry inspired by my Buddhist practice.

‘Meditation Mind’ is a collection of short, stream-of-consciousness poems all written in 2015 while I was unable to play my musical instruments due to chronic tennis elbow. Struggling with depression, I was desperate to do something creative to distract my mind and so I started writing a poem each morning after meditating.

I’ve practised Tibetan Buddhism since 1999 and my morning practice is Sarasvati (who features on the cover of the book). I would finish my meditation, make a coffee and sit down to write a poem. All the poems in the book took less than a minute to write. They are unedited, exactly as they fell out of my head onto the page of my journal.  I have no memory of writing any of them.

To celebrate the launch of ‘Meditation Mind’, I am doing a series of very intimate gigs in bookshops and Buddhist centres across the country. These events will be a mix of poetry readings from the book and acoustic songs with me on guitar and my husband Christian Dunham on double-bass. It would be lovely to see you if you can make any of the dates.

Thur 8 Nov    Taunton – Brendon Books  book tickets
Sat 10 Nov     Oxford – Restore charity  book tickets
Mon 12 Nov   Bridport – The Book Shop  book tickets
Fri 16 Nov      Cardiff – Octavo’s Book Cafe & Wine Bar  book tickets
Sat 17 Nov     Manchester – Chapter One Books  register
Thur 22 Nov  Surrey – The Haslemere Bookshop  book tickets
Sat 24 Nov     Coventry – The Big Comfy Bookshop  book tickets
Thur 29 Nov  Frome – Hunting Raven Books  book tickets
Fri 30 Nov      Bath – St James Wine Vaults  book tickets
Thur 6 Dec     London – Sakya Buddhist Centre  book tickets
Sat 8 Dec        Bristol – Sakya Buddhist Centre  book tickets

‘Meditation Mind’ is available to order in all good bookshops, from Amazon and through my website.

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Dates for Emily’s UK tour to promote her new poetry book ‘Meditation Mind’ have been announced today.  These very intimate gigs in bookshops and Buddhist centres across the country will be a mix of poetry readings and songs by Emily on acoustic guitar accompanied by her husband Christian Dunham on double-bass.  There will be a short Q&A at the end.  Info and ticket links can be found here.  Please book early as places are limited.

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Emily’s third book ‘Meditation Mind’ has just been published, a collection of poems inspired by her Buddhist meditation practice.  Written at a time when she was unable to play her instruments due to chronic tennis elbow, poetry was Emily’s creative outlet while she struggled with a deep, bipolar depression.  Desperate to do something creative while she couldn’t write or play songs, every morning after meditating she would write a poem in her journal.  These short, stream-of-consciousness poems form the basis of this collection.

The poems in ‘Meditation Mind’ are about life, the dharma (Buddha’s teachings) and our search for happiness.  Emily has practised Tibetan Buddhism for many years under the guidance of her teacher, the internationally renowned Buddhist scholar Lama Jampa Thaye.

‘Meditation Mind’ is available to order from all good bookshops, from Amazon or through her website.  To celebrate its publication, Emily is doing a book tour in the UK later this year.  Dates and details will be announced soon.

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It’s been such a glorious summer and I’ve absolutely loved singing my songs up and down the country on my UK tour. Thanks to all of you who came to support us.

Final dates left are Royston Folk Club on Friday 31 August and my London gig at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell on Saturday 15 September supported by the brilliant acoustic guitarist Ben Walker. Ticket links and info are here.

On Saturday 27 October I’m doing a very special concert in the ballroom at Gaunts House, a wonderful country mansion in Dorset which is now used as a spiritual retreat. Tickets are on sale now – please book early if you would like to come.

My new book of poetry ‘Meditation Mind’ has just gone to print and to celebrate its publication we’re going to be doing an acoustic tour of bookshops and Buddhist centres later this year. This will be a very intimate mix of poetry readings and songs with me on acoustic guitar and Christian on double-bass. Dates and details will be announced soon.

Next month we’re in Germany performing at a conference in Hamburg for the German Bipolar Society (DGBS) and then in Holland in December for the Dutch Bipolar Society.

I hope all’s well in your world and hope to see you at a gig someday soon.

xx

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Emily’s visit to perform at Callington Road mental health hospital in Bristol on 5 July provoked a wonderful response from staff and patients:

“Many thanks for coming to Callington Road, Emily and performing for pretty much the entire duration of the tea party. You truly went above and beyond – especially in the ridiculous heat. I would like to thank you particularly for going on to the female PICU ward. For half an hour you completely changed the atmosphere in a truly bleak place. Your music and interaction with the patients inspired some incredibly traumatised and unwell women to step back into the present and remember that there is still hope. It was very appreciated by the staff and patients alike. You left a warm glow on that ward. Any chance you could make time to do a weekly acoustic set and song writing workshop there?! Only joking, many, many thanks.”  Alex Hiding (OT department) and all the staff on ECH and at Callington Road.

Read Emily’s blog about her visit to Callington Road and find out more about her work promoting music for mental health.