#166 All Rivers Lead to the Ocean: But You Need to Choose One River To Find Your Way to the Sea
Weaving Patanjali’s Philosophy into a Modern Practice of Witness Awareness
I’m so excited to be offering two new online meditation cohorts starting next week!
One will run at 12pm Bali time on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday (8am Dubai), and the other at 8pm Bali time (8am EST) on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
I hadn’t planned to lead this training again so soon - but after so many requests, I’ve decided to dive in and do it.
Over the last year, I’ve become deeply passionate about specifically teaching meditation because I truly believe everyone needs to be meditating. Meditation is over half of the eight limbs of yoga (pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi - limbs 4 - 8) - and yet people don’t realize it’s actually part of yoga and consider it a separate practice! It is so wild to me.
In the yoga world, for years I dabbled in meditations - trying a bit of this and a bit of that - but it wasn’t until 2024, when I completed my first mantra meditation training, that everything shifted.
What I’ve learned is that all rivers lead to the ocean - but you need to choose one river and stay with it long enough to find your way to the sea. And that’s why you need a consistent, daily practice.
You just can’t be doing different meditations every day and hoping one will stick. Choose one meditation technique and go deep.
I am close to 300 days of this practice for forty minutes consecutively (I would be at a full year had I not taken a week off at Christmas! I did this on purpose just to experience how chaotic life was without meditating over a holiday, lol)
Through this practice, I’ve been cultivating witness awareness - learning to enter a state of being rather than doing.
I often describe it like this: I used to meet chaos by getting in the rollercoaster and riding with it. Now, I simply watch the ride.
How Meditation Has Changed My Life
Over the past year, I’ve become more patient, self-aware, confident, and capable. I’ve moved through some of the most difficult and traumatic experiences of my life with a surprising calm. Meditation has helped me detach from the outcomes of actions and rest in the present moment. It’s helped me start to believe in God.
I’ve realized that I can’t leave the present without forming a “self” - a character built around stories, likes, and dislikes. My daily practice helps me become aware of those stories, dissolve those stories and return to presence again and again.
When I began meditation teacher training, I noticed that while the course was incredible, it was created for everyday people learning to meditate - not necessarily for yoga practitioners who had a philosophical foundation already. My mind immediately started lighting up with connections between what I was learning and Patanjali’s Yoga Philosophy, which I’ve been studying and teaching for years.
That’s what inspired me to develop my own “How to Meditate” Course, weaving together ancient yogic philosophy and modern meditation practice.
Upcoming Offerings
Cohort 3:
October 27, 29 & 30 — 12pm Bali AWST (8am Dubai GST / 3pm Sydney / 9pm previous day California)Cohort 4:
October 29, 31 & November 1 — 8pm Bali AWST (8am EST / 1pm BST London / 4pm GST Dubai)Next Offering:
Cohort 5: January 2–4, 2026 (7am Bali / 8pm EST on January 1–3)
After completing the course, you’ll receive one month free in our Online Membership, where you can continue to receive support, guidance, live Zoom meditations, and community connection.
I hope you’ll join us for one of these transformative experiences.
You can sign up for the meditation training here.