Why mindfulness? Why meditation?

I thought you might want to know a little more about who I am and why I teach.

The Short Version

I'm a mindfulness meditation teacher. I teach classes and workshops, work with individuals, and offer guided meditations on apps like Insight Timer. I've been practicing for over 25 years and started training to teach in 2016.

But that's not all of the story.

The Long(ish) Version

I started practicing meditation at the turn of the century.

I was taking yoga classes to stay in shape and help with everyday stress. My teacher always included guided meditations at the end of his classes. It was a great way to relax and cool down after a challenging class.

Then things went a little sideways.

I was a few decades into a technology career and owned a neighborhood yoga studio in Massachusetts. But the biggest shift happened when I became a father and found out that my father had cancer.

The truth is that I didn't have a close relationship with my father, but in the months leading up to his death, I realized he was just a man with his own stuff going on. For whatever reason, he wasn't open to getting help, and that had ripple effects on everyone around him.

My father had four siblings, Only one of them showed up for his funeral. There was, and still is, a pattern in my family where people just dropped out of each other's lives.

As a new dad, I feared that if I wasn't careful, I would repeat this pattern with my new son. I didn't want to have the same relationship with my son that I had with my father or that he had with his father.

I started exploring the personal development space and went in deep.

I've done everything from cold showers to walking on fire and broken glass. I've been to all of the retreats. I've taken all the classes. I've sat in countless groups.

I did it all, And it didn't help.

In fact, I felt more confused, sad, and generally worse after a few years of "inner work".

So, I stopped 🛑

Instead, I started a daily mindfulness meditation practice.

Almost all of the programs I went through suggested starting a meditation practice, but I thought I knew what that was all about because I'd been "doing meditations" for 20 years.

Boy, was I wrong.

I read a bit and learned the basics of the practice, and a month later, I noticed these subtle shifts in how I was feeling.

I was practicing in a new way—it wasn't about relaxing after a difficult yoga class. Instead, I focused on the present moment, deepening my connection to my body and intuition, being kind to myself, and being curious about what I was observing without judgment.

Within a month, I noticed,

🔥 I was more present with my kids and others,
🔥 I had more patience,
🔥 The stories I was telling myself,
🔥 Some of the patterns I was stuck in,
🔥 And, I started sleeping better and am more focused.

It was amazing.

The short daily practices I did in my car while waiting to pick up my kids from preschool gave me what I was missing in all those other programs.

I wanted to go deeper, so I trained to teach at:

• Brown University - I trained to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at the Mindfulness Center, which is widely regarded as the deepest, most rigorous, mindfulness teacher training program in the country.

• The Oxford Mindfulness Foundation

• The Mindfulness & Health Institute

• Tibet House US - The Western Seat of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

• The Path

• Banyan - I trained with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield to become a certified Mindfulness Mentor for small groups and individuals.

• In addition, I’m a Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher and YACEP (continuing education provider).

I also completed a coach training program with the Co-Active Training Institute because I knew I wanted to work 1-to-1 with people who wanted to cultivate their mindfulness practice.

And now, I practice and teach. It's awesome.

Sending good vibes,

Stephen

Why subscribe?

Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.

Stay up-to-date

Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.