Reflections of a meditation teacher
Meditation is a beautiful gift, each and every one of us has inside, waiting to be discovered and nurtured.
It is an incredible blessing to find my calling in life as a meditation teacher. Holding space for people to meditate. To guide and coach them on their journeys.
My wish and hope for our beautiful world, is for everyone to meditate. I believe meditation is the answer to our suffering, however big or small it may be. Meditation is the path to both individual and collective peace.
Because what is above is below. And what is below is above. Like a beautiful reflection resting on a still body of water.
It is an honour to teach online meditation classes each week with a beautiful and engaged growing community. I am grateful for the opportunity to share the collective wisdom of my teachers, Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Susan Piver, Sharon Salzberg, Tara Brach, Reginald Ray, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the sages and Elders from times long past, among many others. Sharing this wisdom in immersive sessions and community circles. It is a joy to connect with people as they connect to the earth, their bodies, inner peace and each other.
The kindness I show people is theirs to pass on to others. So are my life-changing discoveries. I cannot ignore the deep and powerful feeling of meditation. When I formally meditated for the first time as a young teenager, introduced by my school drama teacher, and then later in yoga classes, it felt so good, every time, in my body, in my entire being. I felt whole. There was respite from the overwhelm of whatever was going on in my life at that time. Without doubt I knew if it felt like this to me, it could feel this way for others. I didn't realise at the time, but this realisation was the seed of my calling, to become a meditation teacher.
My regular daily personal meditation practice watered that seed. Meditation has gifted me a richness in my relationships. With myself. My family. Friends. Strangers and situations. There is less turmoil inside and around me. I tend to reflect more often than react. I see everything and everyone with more compassionate eyes. My heart is opening further with each and every practice. These changes are reinforced every time I teach and hold space for others to meditate. Through their reflections and our conversations of our meditation experience.
Meditation has also helped me overcome. It has helped me manage anxiety of everyday living. Meditation has been the only thing to reduce the depression I experience during the colder months as someone who is impacted by the light and seasonal affective disorder. It has been the catalyst to face past trauma and heal. But most importantly to me, it has helped me overcome an addiction. And in doing so, I am not only here, alive and well, but I am present for my children, for me, my loving husband, family and friends, and everyone I am destined to meet.
And when things within or around me become unsettled, meditation is there for me. To bring me back to the wisdom of my body. To my true nature. Or to simply provide some space.
Becoming a meditation teacher has given a place and purpose to both my suffering and my joy. We cannot teach what we have not lived. Our wisdom is through our experience. For that, I am eternally grateful.