My Story

I was sitting in a meditation hall on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. Outside, kangaroos lolloped lazily in the winter sun. 

It was the ninth day of a silent meditation retreat, and if I’m honest, I felt like I was getting nowhere. My mind was stuck in a loop of negative thoughts, and my favorite pastime—comparing myself to others—was in full swing. I kept obsessing about how much better the other 60 meditators must be doing. The irony, of course, was that I couldn’t know a thing about them. It was a silent retreat, after all.

Comparing myself to others has always been my “go-to” habit.

Years earlier, this need to live up to expectations had led me to join the British Army. It seemed like the logical step, given my family’s history of service, but deep down, I was trying to prove I belonged. Unsurprisingly then, I felt like an imposter. I put on a face that I knew what I was doing, but underneath I was often shaky. 

When I left the Army, I swapped one set of expectations for another: the “safe” career, the desk job, the clear path forward. But ignoring what I truly wanted only led to more anxiety, confusion, and resentment.

A turning point came while walking the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. For the first time, I felt space to breathe and to simply be. Along the way, a fellow pilgrim told me, with a twinkle in their eye, about a silent meditation retreat they’d attended. Something inside me lit up—I knew I had to try it. 

Two years later, there I was, on the Sunshine Coast, grappling with big questions after being made redundant from a job in Singapore. I was seeking clarity, direction, maybe even a sense of purpose.

By day nine of sitting still and looking inward, my patience was wearing wafer thin and my sense of inadequacy was rising to fever pitch. Then, in the middle of all my frustration, the teacher said something that stopped me in my tracks.

‘Wherever you are is exactly where you need to be.’ 

As soon as I began the next meditation, those words sank in, and something remarkable happened. A surge of energy swept through my body, and I felt a visceral, undeniable connection to everything around me. For hours, I was flooded with awe, joy, and a sense of unity that defies words.

That experience changed everything. I began to see, in the months and years that followed, that resisting my reality—whether it was fear, doubt, or feeling “not enough”—was what held me back and that the more I surrender, the more I rise.

This is what I love to guide others toward today. Through my work, I help people meet themselves fully, just as they are, and embrace the present moment with honesty and compassion—even when resistance shows up. Because when we stop fighting where we are, we unlock an innate trust in our next step, grow in ways we couldn’t imagine, and feel deeply supported along the way.

Are you ready to step into your true nature? Let’s begin the journey.