My first time sitting in stillness was in a monastery in Luang Prabang. I was doing a site visit to gather marketing information for the opening of a new hotel in Laos and a young monk took me on a tour of the town which included highlights of its myriad Buddhist temples. For centuries, Luang Prabang served as one of South East Asia’s spiritual and cultural center.

That first sit, in the penumbra of the temple with the soft chant of the monks in the background, brought an unexpected peace as my body settled into stillness. At the time, I was leading an adrenaline charged life as a global marketing executive, travelling every week, working 18 hour days with a team dispersed in multiple time zones. Jet lag became my constant companion and IV shots was my go-to wellness regimen.

THE QUIET I FOUND IN THAT MONASTERY GAVE ME PAUSE, THE PAUSE I NEEDED TO RE-EXAMINE MY LIFE.

When I returned to Hong Kong where I lived at the time, I began a journey of discovery, first reading about meditation and then experiencing it through personal practice which blossomed into a daily meditation and mindfulness practice and a teacher training pathway years later.

MY PRACTICE ALLOWED ME TO FACE CLEARLY WHAT I HAD NOT BEEN ABLE OR WILLING TO SEE.

Three years before that magical moment in the monastery, I had been diagnosed with acoustic neuroma, a benign brain tumor. It was big enough that if left untreated, it could press into my brain stem with fatal consequences. The gamma knife surgery I opted to undertake left me with tinnitus in my right ear. After the initial shock of the diagnosis and pain over the surgery, I had reverted to my “be in denial and carry on” self. In my mind, I was thinking about an upcoming trip and when I could fly after surgery.

It was not until I started deepening my meditation practice that I could see these habitual patterns of avoidance. Not only did it help me settle into the fullness of my own being feeling whole despite my tumor but also, to my great surprise, alleviated my tinnitus symptoms which some days felt like a fire engine blaring inside my head. 

Beyond my own self-healing, I found myself relating to the people around me with more equanimity, with a greater sense of ease and compassion as I accessed compassion within my own self. 

Mindfulness practice has had a profound impact on my life. The beauty of the practice is that it is accessible to everyone, one only needs to tap into one’s own inner resources. No need for fancy props, expensive equipment. Just the intention to discover with curiosity and kindness our own innate ability to become aware of the present moment and to choose our response to life’s circumstances with more resilience and equanimity. 

THIS IS WHY I TEACH.

I founded Mindful For All with the intention of creating greater access to mindfulness and meditation practices. I teach kids in underserved communities and also serve non-profit institutions.

I came to this country as a refugee, one of those kids living in a housing project, with a single mom holding down two jobs to make ends meet. Had I been given mindfulness tools as a young child, who knows how differently I might have responded to life’s challenges? 

MY TRAINING JOURNEY

I am a certified yoga and mindfulness teacher trained by East West Yoga and Little Flower Yoga and Mindfulness for Kids and registered with Yoga Alliance. I am also a qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher trained through the Brown University School of Public Health Center for Mindfulness.