Specifically, this is about the journey from being in electronics engineering for 37 years (the last seventeen of which were as an integrated circuit design engineer) at a pay that was almost throughout that period over six figures, to deciding to teach meditation. For those who have been in the hustle and bustle of the corporate world, and especially those in the I.C. design world, you understand the extreme stress of that environment and I’m sure anyone could appreciate the shift in mindset that we’re talking about here. Talk about life-changing! And there’s where the challenge lay – how to navigate that kind of change in thinking and perceiving the world around me.
I left the corporate world with a pretty good case of burnout. Luckily, I had socked away enough money that I had time to consider my options on what to do next that was fulfilling and served my personality and my life-goals. I certainly had other ideas, and other opportunities presented themselves and fell through, but my love of meditation stayed a constant nag at the back of my mind. But to teach meditation, even as much as I love both meditation and teaching, was such a major change from the type of daily grind and mindset necessary in the electronics engineering discipline, that this transition seemed an impossible task! So, in a roundabout way, I ended up with a career transition coach, Pam Heward. I think that this meeting was about as fortuitous as it gets considering the challenge at hand as she really knows her business! And here is where I’ll plug her business since I could not have accomplished this without her knowledge, sensitivity, and flexibility. Her business is called Box Free Minds (www.boxfreeminds.com).
The process was slow at first, and due to unforeseen circumstances, I was distracted for a while, but this website and the studio where I teach is the end result and it was worth it.
For one, you always learn by teaching.
That’s a lesson I learned a long time ago but the concept was driven home again going through this process. Not only did I learn different perspectives from my students, and I’m still learning, but the process of putting together classes and thinking about, and practicing meditation forms that I have thought about for years, really brought the practice back to me and motivated me to view the process as probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.
But getting back to “The Challenge”, changing from the way I had to think to be successful in electronics design to how I have to think to really impart a useful life skill to my students was like trying to throw a rock at the moon. But I got there, thanks to Pam, and to … well … meditation! Meditating about who I am and what my life goals are really helped me to make an amazing transition. The skills obtained through repetitive meditation practice can do wonders.
I really do hope that my students, those of you reading this, get the same benefits and more from what I can teach you!