To mark World Mental Health Day, Emily has just posted a video talking about her experience of the benefits of music for mental health.  You can watch it here.  You can find out more about Emily’s work in mental health here.

We’ve just posted some videos of Emily reading poems from her new book ‘Meditation Mind’.  Emily will be touring the UK in November and December playing very intimate gigs in bookshops and Buddhist centres, reading poems and singing acoustic songs with a short Q&A at the end.  Dates and details of these gigs are here.  Places are limited so please book early and please spread the word if you have friends or family in any of these places you think might like to come.  More videos will be posted on Emily’s social media over the coming weeks – you can follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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.

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.

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.

On Saturday 27 October Emily will be performing with Christian in the ballroom at Gaunts House, a country mansion in Wimborne, Dorset, now used as a spiritual retreat.  Book early for this very special venue.

Emily is performing at a conference in Hamburg of the Bipolar Society of Germany (DGBS) in September and in Amersfoort in December for the Bipolar Society of Holland.

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.

Emily’s gig at the Biddulph Arms on 18 July has been moved to the Town Hall.  Details and the booking link here.

Emily performed at the annual Co-Production Festival in London, part of Co-Production Week organised by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).  She sang her songs about surviving mental illness and was applauded by the audience for her speech about the benefits of music for mental health.

“Listening to @emilymaguirehq was a real treat.  Completely emotive music from this wonderful mental health advocate.” [Care Quality Commission).

To find out more about Emily’s work in mental health, including her hospital gigs, click here.