”Spotlight”

Whether you are a beginner at meditation or want to take your practice to a new level Stephanie Estice can support you on your meditation journey. Stephanie is a friend and colleague of mine and has helped me move my meditation practice to a whole new level.

Over the years I have tried meditation on my own, I have taken classes and I have read books about meditation and it was not until I worked with Stephanie that I really started to feel confident and comfortable with meditation. As with many things in life my meditation practice ebbs and flows.

I worked with Stephanie via Skype and was able to be in my own home and have a transformational experience. While Stephanie guided me, I was able to release issues that no longer served my highest good and come to a more peaceful and grounded place.

I have asked Stephanie to be my first “Your Zesty Life Spotlight” and share with you how she found meditation and a little more about what she does. You can work with Stephanie wherever you are via Skype and discover the transformation that meditation can have on you as well.

More Peace, Calm and Ease in Life Through Meditation by Stephanie Estice

More peace, calm and ease in life…this is what I have found through a meditation practice, but how did I find it? And, more importantly, how can you find it, too? My first experience of meditation was in my first yoga class, now 20 years ago. I remember lying on the floor in savasana. I had a glimpse of what it is like to have a quiet mind for just a moment – truly, a glimpse that lasted a mere second or so. I’m sure that is the reason I returned to yoga class. I certainly didn’t enjoy the stretches and interesting positions, at first. Like working out, it was the end result that enticed me to return. I knew if I could make it through class, I would get to what I considered the good part – the part where my mind would take a break, if even for the briefest of moments. I am a searcher by nature, so once I tried yoga and had that experience, I started trying every kind of yoga I could find (I lived in New York City at the time, so there were multiple styles to choose from). I wanted to see if there was one particular style that would give me more of that space – more of that timeless, spacious, thought-free space. With more practice, those brief moments in class would leave me smiling and blissfully walking home, leaving the stresses of city life behind. A few years later, it became clear to me, though I had grown to love yoga, and those asanas were now my friends, the thing that I was wanting more of was the meditative state that I was experiencing in savasana. When I stopped moving my body, and I closed my eyes, I simply experienced being.

And so in 1999 I began my meditation practice. Since that time, I have in my quest tried many styles of meditation, and I have had many experiences. I have noticed changes in my daily life – changes in stress levels, changes in anger, anxiety and depression. I have noticed that the focus that I bring to my practice has spilled out into my life as an ability to better cope with things that come my way. I have noticed, as some of my clients have described, a “buffer” when faced with stressful situations. The situations still present themselves, but I don’t respond in the same way. The response is toned down; I am able to be more mindful.

So now you may be wondering, as I posed at the beginning, how do you bring this to your life? There are many resources readily available to support your practice.

• There are books, CDs, and mp3s available online.
• There are often local meditation groups you can find by searching on MeetUp.com or through local Buddhist and other organizations, if you are drawn in that direction.
• There are trained facilitators like me.

I work one-on-one in facilitation sessions, in person or via the internet, that are an hour in length. About 20 minutes of that time is a personal, guided meditation that is emailed in mp3 format for my clients to practice in the week between our sessions. The meditations are not scripted, but instead they are tailored to each individual, based on simple concepts and what has come up in the discussion portion of our session. In as short as a couple of months, clients who are ready to bring a meditation practice into their lives have made beautiful shifts in the ease with which they approach their lives. Many notice changes in the beginning weeks. For those of you who have worked privately with a yoga instructor or other healer, you know there can be profound benefits from this type of one-on-one work.

Whether it is a meditation practice or something else that is calling you, keep looking with an open heart. All is well.

 

About Stephanie: Stephanie Estice is a facilitator/guided meditation coach and wellness coach. Her desire for understanding her personal health-related issues, and those of her family and friends around her, as well as a desire to simply understand why we are here, has driven her twenty-year plus quest for answers. She loves to research, explore and investigate, but ultimately has found that a daily meditation practice can bring the most insight. Learn more about Stephanie by visiting her website.