How meditation became part of my life
Before meditation became a practice, it was simply a word I had heard. In 2015, as I arrived in Southeast Asia and moved through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, my curiosity around yoga, meditation, and inner work began to grow quickly.My first real experience was a 10-day Vipassana course in Thailand. I had only just heard about silent meditation retreats, and not long after I ended up at a traditional course held in the jungle. I did not do much pre-research, and to be honest, I did not fully understand what meditation really was. I simply arrived.. and the course began.Ten days of silence, discipline, stillness, and observing everything that arises in the body and mind is not easy. It is physically demanding, mentally challenging, and deeply confronting. There is no distraction, no talking, no phone or books. The bed is hard, the food is simple, the mosquitos are biting and every discomfort in the body suddenly becomes impossible to ignore. Every pain, every restlessness, every craving becomes part of the practice.Very quickly, you begin to see how much of daily life is built around comfort, distraction, and constant stimulation. In that kind of simplicity, there is nowhere to hide. Everything is experienced in noble silence, sitting cross-legged for hours each day from the first morning until the very last.From that point on, meditation naturally started to be part of my life. I began to notice how breath, awareness, movement, and stillness could support each other in a very real way. For someone like me, with a naturally busy and quite hyperactive mind, meditation brought a completely different kind of balance. It did not suddenly make everything easy, but it helped me slow down, observe myself more clearly, and relate differently to my inner restlessness. Over time, this also began to shape the way I practise and the way I teach. I personally have to learn again and again that being presence is almost too simple, but yet it is not always easy. It takes practice, discipline, and a willingness to meet myself honestly again and again.That is why I have kept returning to Vipassana over the years. So far I have completed 10-day silent courses in Thailand (2015), Russia (2016), Sri Lanka (2018), and most recently in Latvia (2025). The practice remains challenging every time, but it keeps teaching me patience, discipline, and humility.
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What I personally value the most in meditation is its simplicity. No performance, no decoration, no need to become anything else. Just learning to be here, with what is real, and to observe life more clearly.There are many forms of meditation — some use visualisation, some repetition, some breath, some movement. The methods may differ, but the deeper intention is the same: to come back to the present moment, to loosen the grip of the past and the future, and to learn how to be with life as it is.Meditation may have roots in different cultures, philosophies, and spiritual traditions, but for me, the practice itself is not about religion or adopting an identity. At its core, it is something deeply human — learning to observe the present moment as it is, without constantly needing to change it, resist it, or escape it.If my approach resonates with you, you are welcome to join me for a class, private session or invite me to guide a session for your group. I offer yoga in a way that is attentive, practical, and adapted to the individual — whether you are looking for strength, softness, focus, or a deeper connection with yourself.
Me on the left, and Tulku Lobsang, Buddhist teacher and master, on the right
