A Research Paper By Andrea Lynett, Transformational Coach, CANADA
Expert Interview Erin Oke Executive Director of the Consciousness Explorers Club
Andrea Lynett:
So, what I’ll just have you do, I always do this at the beginning, if you can just Introduce yourself, and just maybe give us a little bit of professional background, cause I saw that you had a unique background. So, I’ll let you kind of give that introduction.
Erin Oke:
Yeah, so my name is Erin Oke. I’m the Executive Director of the Consciousness Explorers Club, which is a meditation group that was founded in Toronto, but um, especially since the pandemic has kind of gone global. Um, and yeah, I’m also like a private meditation teacher and mindfulness coach. I spent 15 years working with children and youth before this, I ran a youth center for a social service agency for a good decade and a bit, with free after-school programs and camp programs for low-income and at-risk kids and teenagers. And yeah, and then before that, I went to theater school, and I worked in theater for a while. So, it was yeah -there’s been, you know, a transition through all those, you know, and the through-line through all of those different kinds of parts of the world that I’ve embodied.
Andrea:
Yeah, it’s so exciting when you look back and then you can see all the connections and the layers at the time, you don’t necessarily always see how they connect.
Erin:
Yeah, I used to, especially when I worked with youth I was like, you know, people get so stressed about going to University, or College or whatever, that kind of post-High School, what am I going to do. And, you know, I remember that feeling of like, this is the rest of my life. And from the other side, it’s like, it’s not, and make the best decision, you can, you can change your mind, you will probably do five to 10 to 20 things in your life. And, and it’s okay, the decision you make when you’re 17, is not going to dictate the next 60 years of your life. But it feels like that at that age
The Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation
Andrea:
100%. I wish someone had told me that back then, too. I’ve changed a million times, as well. So what kind of brought you to the mindfulness and meditation space then?
Erin:(2:43)
Like many people, it was like a spectacular life crisis. For me, it was a breakup of like a 10-year relationship that wasn’t, you know, particularly healthy in the first place. And that kind of sent me to do counseling therapy for the first time in my life. And that therapist recommended meditation and mindfulness as coping tools. And I also, so I kind of started doing that on my own. But I’ve also known Jeff Warren, who founded the Consciousness Explorers Club since we were kids, I went to school from kindergarten with his sister. So, his sister was like, “Oh, you’re getting into meditation. My brother is doing his wacky meditation group.” And it was down the street from my house at the time, I live in Kensington Market in Toronto. And Jeff started the CBC out of his living room and Kensington Market.
So, I started to go to that. And that kind of made the mindfulness practice kind of come to life, cause suddenly there was a community and it was not this kind of precious thing. Like, I think if I had walked into a studio, and people would, were bowing to a guru and lighting things, or whatever, I would have been out the door. But um, Jeff’s approach and some of the other early teachers were very, you know, like, oh, we’re just kind of we’re exploring things. We’re seeing how it lands for us, there’s nothing that you have to believe in. And so I started to see in my life that the impact it was having.
And then having this kind of community and people that were kind of interested in this that once you know, it started as like a life raft for like, I’ll try anything, I just want to feel like that much a little bit better.
Andrea:
Yeah.
Erin:
And then as that sort of crisis kind of started to fade, I could see the benefits, and then I started to get sort of more interested in meditation like oh, okay, this is also kind of interesting and cool and, you know, does different things. So that was the beginning.
The Consciousness Explorers Club
Andrea:
That leads nicely, kinda into my next question, because for those listening or when they’re going to be reading this as well, what is exactly The Consciousness Explorers Club?
Erin:
Yeah. It’s a meditation group that approaches practice from a pluralistic lens. So, it’s not kind of in one school or dogma or tradition, but the idea is that we kind of explore different practices from different traditions. And once we makeup and it’s through the lens of sensory experience with the idea that, you know, there are commonalities in all the traditions of the world. And there are ways in which, you know, meditation all kind of points in the same direction. But there’s also this kind of rich diversity and practices that some, you know, may land differently for different people.
We’re all, we all have different nervous systems and, you know, tastes and needs. So it’s kind of a way to explore practice, cause it’s fun and interesting and cool and helpful. And the community is a big part of it. So um, we probably talk more than most meditation groups. So, you know, we’ve been doing weekly sits for– we just hit our 10th anniversary, and they started in Jeff’s living room and then moved to different yoga studios in Toronto. And since the pandemic, we’ve been on zoom. And so we’ve been, we have people from all over the world that tune in for these Monday night meditations, we have a different teacher, each time we’re exploring a different theme. And we do a 35 minute guided sit.
And then we have this opportunity to talk about, it to share what it was like, what you know, insights came through any questions. And then, we also, in the before times, through like meditation dance parties, where you’d start with you know, and we still incorporate that into our retreats, both online and in person. And we’ve done meditation flash mobs around the city, and there’s sort of a, we have the three pillars of the CCR meditate, which is kind of self explanatory-celebrate, which is kind of use this mindfulness to, you know, amp up the joy in your life, and then activate, which is the idea of sort of service and how, you know, meditation can help give back or give you the capacity to give back to the world and to notice, you know, the work that needs to be done. So, um that’s kind of, yeah, where we’re coming from.
Themes and Discussion on Mindfulness
Andrea:
It’s so cool, cause you already went there, but like the pluralistic pizza, and I was kind of looking into that. And in each section is something different. So how do you come up with themes and what you’re going to kind of talk about in these sits as well, because like you said, you know, part of it is a discussion, and part of it is the meditation, but it’s all kind of encompassing…
Erin:
Yeah, we have a teaching team that, you know, we’re growing it slowly, and we try and get people from, you know, a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives and interests. Um and you know, we meet every few months and kind of, to discuss things and to support each other as teachers. And so, the pluralistic pizza is this, like, that’s our yearly calendar. So each year, we come up with 12 different themes. So each month, we are doing a different theme. And each one is kind of a path in mindfulness. Um, some are more overt, like concentration or insight, surrender, or rest, and then some are ways that you can kind of apply mindfulness that may not be as immediately obvious, like creativity or the path of relationships or nature or love, but um, so we kind of look at the relationship between the theme and mindfulness, how mindfulness helps appreciate or strengthen that theme or idea in our lives and how that informs our mindfulness practice
Andrea:
It’s very interesting. And like, as an Executive Director, when I was reading this, it’s like this whole idea around accessibility for all. What does that look and mean to you, when you think about that?
Erin:
Part of is financial. So, we always try and make we have a kind of sliding scale or pay what you can options. The pandemic has made things in that regard, in a lot of regards a lot more accessible – because you can, you know, you need access to technology.
Andrea:
Right.
Erin:
But beyond that, you know, you can tune in from anywhere and you can, yeah,
Andrea:
Kind of pay what you can.
Erin:
It doesn’t. Yeah, exactly. It’s, you know, Zoom Room is a lot cheaper than renting a retreat center for a weekend or that kind of thing. So there’s that. Um, there’s physical accessibility. So we’ve tried to have our locations, and it’s difficult to find accessible yoga studios.
Andrea:
They’re always upstairs.
Erin:
Yeah, they’re always upstairs. And the kind of bias in that community is towards a certain kind of, like, able-bodied or, and I think our eyes have been open and one of our teachers uses a wheelchair, and he’s, he’s, uh, in his kind of non-meditation, teaching life as an advocate for people with disabilities. And that, you know, I think his involvement in our community has opened our eyes to that kind of accessibility. His name’s Luke Anderson, he founded the stopgap foundation.
Andrea:
Yeah, I know who he is.
Erin: (11:19)
Yeah, so he teaches with us, and he’s been a member of our community for quite some time. And, yeah, opened my eyes for sure. Like, we just happened to be when he started coming at a yoga studio that had ground floor access, and um, which is rare. But then when we moved, that was a priority for us to find a place. And then when we rent space, we try and make it physically accessible. And then there’s a trauma-sensitive lens that we try and incorporate in our teachings and a lot of permission to you know, this is, we’re not trying to make anyone believe anything, we’re, you know, looking at this, we honor the traditions that we’re exploring, but we also like you can kind of opt-in and out. And we try and kind of come with that, that lens and are trying to be open to feedback from our community and um, try and you know, have teachers and guest teachers that come from a variety of different backgrounds and experiences and perspectives.
Andrea:
Which is a great thing to have. And it welcomes a bigger and broader community, for sure.
Erin:
Yeah.
The Approach of Unified Mindfulness
Andrea:
And so I also read that you’ve personally studied as well as I believe, Jeff, with ShinzenYoung, who is an American mindfulness teacher known for the approach of unified mindfulness. What exactly is that for those who might not know, myself included?
Erin: (12:55)
Yeah, so Shinzen has been a particular influence on us in that pluralistic perspective that we were talking about. He is this sort of amazing Brainiac that speaks like, I don’t know how many languages living and dead, but a lot…and he’d be like oh, in Cantonese, it’s this. And in Hebrew, it’s this. And in Sanskrit, it’s this. So he, you know, he’s like, in his 70s. Now, he’s been, you know, practicing and teaching for 50 years, and is incredible about making the connections between all the different traditions of the world, um you know, historically and through religion and different cultures. And also is super interested in the scientific piece and the neuroscience piece. And it’s kind of umm, so I think his her his perspective, unified mindfulness is what he calls his kind of system, which tries to be a secular approach that kind of, references and honors many different traditions in the world the way we try and do.
He has a particular language that’s specific to him. He has this system of seeing, hearing, feel, which is a way to kind of process your sensory experience. And he has all kinds of – because he’s a math geek- all kinds of like charts and figures and facts. And he’s a great teacher, I would go on retreat with him a couple of times a year and this cc usually hosts him for a day-long retreat in the fall. Yeah, he’s been a great influence that way. But particularly on the pluralistic piece in the end that just a way of like look going like yeah, you know, when you see kind of, through the specific language of a lot of these traditions, ancient and modern and religious and secular, there are some commonalities. It’s kind of interesting to see these insights that were had by you know, Buddhists and whatever in the eighth century and Catholic priests in the Middle Ages and you know, Sufi poets and that I think helps this kind of global lens that we’re also trying to put on things.
Like this isn’t the property of one place in the world is one culture or you know, their rich traditions that we can point to and honor; but this is – these kinds of practices have been going on for millennia in much everywhere.
Working With Individuals and Teaching Them Mindfulness and Meditation
Andrea:
I think it’s so easy. It’s just like, you know, as religion is very much known for that, where it becomes very secular of like, Oh, well, I believe this, like, yours doesn’t exist or like whatnot. Whereas, even happens in the meditation world, right? That it’s all connected, like, they all have been around longer than any of us have even heard about them and like, it’s hard to find the texts and stuff. SoI appreciate that kind of outlook on it – so that it brings it all together, and you can see all the connections between it. So that’s cool.
How did you personally kind of start your practice by working with individuals and teaching them mindfulness and meditation? because I know there’s a lot of people out there that are like, oh, I’ve tried that? I can’t, I can’t, forget it. Yeah.
Erin: (16:36)
Um, so in connecting to CEC, it became a bigger and bigger part of my life. So I was doing this job. And I noticed that, that it was helping in the job working with youth. And just as I got more interested, I started going on retreats and stuff. And Jeff Warren said like, I think you’d make a good teacher. And I was like, I don’t think I’m ready to do that yet. But what would I need? Like that’s flattering and interesting, and what would I need to do that? And he was like, Oh, well, I think if you know, I did like a course with him. And of course, with James Muscala, who’s the co-founder of the CEC and went started going on retreats with Shinzen. And then I just started thinking in that in that way, and the CEC, a lot of the teachers have come through the community and you know, are – part of our approach is like, the teacher isn’t this venerated guru.
It’s like everyone is a teacher, Jeff teaches, like, workshops for everybody and retreats for everyone on how to teach meditation. We want to democratize and kind of demystify those skills. So, there are skills and you get better at it with time. And there’s, you know, valuable training out there. But um, so I started that way, I started guiding a little bit with the CEC as I was kind of volunteering with them and still in my full-time job. And then yeah, I got to a point where the CEC stuff was taking up more and more of my time and energy and interest. And I was kind of getting a little burnt out in the social service world and not that job for over a decade. And I went on a meditation retreat, a Silent Retreat with Shinzen. And partway through, I was like, Oh, I think I need to quit my job.
Andrea:
The enlightenment comes. (laughter)
Erin: (18:33)
And like, I sat with it all week, and I didn’t, you know, quit the next day or anything. I went back, you know, I talked to Jeff who was on that retreat. I was like, at the end when we broke the silence. I was like, so I think I need to quit my job and run CEC. And CEC had just become a nonprofit at that time. Like, I’m gonna think about it. But I came back and talked to people in the world. And it’s like, yeah, that’s what-so I did that. I left that job in 2018 and became the first ED of the Consciousness Explorers Club, which is, yeah, we had just become a nonprofit the year before, and we’re getting kind of more formal. I mean, we’re not that formal, but, you know, a little bit more structured. I’ve been kind of steering that ship. And then with that transition, also, opportunities started to come through more, for private teaching. So I do, I’ve done a bit of one on one work, but mostly what I do is companies, organizations are increasingly looking for mindfulness workshops. Um, you know, there’s been a lot of emphasis on that. And then particularly now during the pandemic- particularly that mental health support is something that companies are investing in.
So, I will, you know, sometimes it’s a one-off kind of intro to mindfulness, lunch and learns, or sometimes it’s a series of three or five, kind of weekly sessions to help people start a practice. But that’s a lot of the private teaching. I do is in that space.
Common Misconceptions to Mindfulness
Andrea:
What would you say to somebody who says that they’re like- oh, no, I can’t, I can’t meditate?
Erin:
There are some common misconceptions that I try and address in these kinds of beginner sessions. So if it’s a one on one conversation, I say, like, oh, why do you think that? But a lot of it is, there’s an idea that you sit down to meditate, and your mind goes blank, and you’re floating on a cloud, and people are like, no, I just my mind’s too busy. But like, yeah, that’s part of meditation is here. It’s not about clearing the mind. It’s about noticing.
So, I talk and this is another big influence of Shinzen. He, um, through this kind of looking at all the techniques in the world and history, sort of isolated a few skills that all these meditation techniques seem to cultivate. And so, I usually – especially if I’m in like a workplace, and especially if I’m in like a corporate workplace, I talk about that. This is a practice, it’s like going to the gym, it builds these skills, you’re not good at it at first, and you get better over time. And the skills are concentration and sensory clarity, and equanimity. And I go into a bit of description of each of those and why they’re important and how they help in work and life.
And, yeah, and then so I try and also, while I’m leading the meditation, I try to normalize like you may be distracted, you know, you’ll notice your mind wandering. Great, you’ve noticed that you’ve noticed the workings of your mind. Amazing. That’s not a failure, that’s a success. And then you choose to redirect your attention to your object of focus. That’s just that’s how those muscles are built. You notice you’ve wandered, you bring it back. And so usually that kind of approach, um, yeah, kind of opens the door to people that are maybe like, oh, I’m not good at it. Like, no one’s good at anything when they first start. And like, make it feel okay. Like, no, that’s it, that is the work, you’re distracted. That’s the work, you’re just, you’re doing that. And then usually also, try and do some- try and introduce early on practices that often have more of immediate benefit, like relaxation practices, that people might feel in five or 10 minutes, like, Oh, I do feel a little bit calmer.
And that is a is a way that, you know, helps people go like, Oh, yeah, I see the difference. I see the difference between, you know, the beginning of this Lunch and Learn and the end of this Lunch and Learn. And that kind of maybe gets people more interested or open to it.
Andrea:
Yeah, I just think of like, my whole family, I meditate. And I did a whole meditation teacher course. But it’s so interesting, I think of my family. And they’re just like so high strung and they’ve just got so many things going on. And I don’t think any of them besides like my mother has ever sat down to try and meditate. So, I’m sure that would be like the number one thing that comes up with like, no, no, I can’t meditate, like, how do you sit there and be quiet. In a world that is just so much on a hamster wheel, especially now we’re plugged in, we’re always online. It just creates this chaos for us. So, I’m just curious, you know, how do you bring people back to that, present-focused moment?
Erin:
Yeah.
Walking Meditations
Andrea:
Kind of wanted to talk a little bit about even, walking meditations? Is that something that you do at the CEC or like with your clients? Is that a good way to start?
Erin: (24:26)
Yeah, that’s away, in some ways, it’s harder in motion like that. So, it’s kind of next level. I think, yeah, a lot of people have the kind of more like, I don’t have time, I don’t have time to meditate. That’s a really common thing that you encounter. So, working with people to kind of figure out – Oh, what’s your day like? And, you know, you build in time for what’s important to you or what you find beneficial, you know? So, when it’s sort of established as like – Oh, actually, I feel better when I do this! That opens up more time because I’m not, you know, stressed and frantic and making mistakes or whatever.
But like, like with me, a lot of people come to this practice and commit to it when like, shit hits the fan, which is why a lot of people, sorry, I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that. Which is why a lot of people started during the pandemic, like, Oh, you know, all my coping skills have been taken away, I can’t go anywhere, I can’t go to a restaurant, I can’t go to a bar, I can’t go on a trip. I can’t see my friends, like all of these things. And meditation is something that helps you cope with that kind of thing and was, you know, people can do in their homes.
So that is why a lot of people came. But, when I go into just like a random corporate setting, yeah, some people are like, Oh, that’s interesting. You know, maybe I’ll do it. But I think planting the seed is important. And then yeah, often when things kind of go, go haywire, people are looking for coping skills. And this one is pretty available.
Andrea:
Helped me. And not that I started during the pandemic, but that’s when I did the training too. I was like, I need this.
Erin:
Yeah.
Creativity Aspect of the CEC & What’s Creativity When It Comes to Mindfulness and Meditation?
Andrea:
And I think that’s probably the case for many people. I wanted to kind of talk about the creativity aspect of the CEC and kind of how you bring that in, as somebody who has like a theatre background yourself. What does that look like? What’s creativity when it comes to mindfulness and meditation? Because I’m sure people are wondering how does that apply?
Erin: (26:51)
Yeah, I mean, guiding meditation itself, I find it very creative. That is kind of, you know, like, I’m writing a script. And then I’m improving also on the spot, like, I use that theater training in a very concrete way.
Andrea:
Yeah, that’s true.
Erin:
Yeah, you know, I jot down kind of ideas of what I want to guide. But I’m also meditating as I do it, as I guide, and kind of noticing what comes up for me and then articulating that. So yeah, I find just that a creative way. And I think, the CEC with this sort of more open approach and kind of going with themes, we have a lot of room for that kind of creativity, and some, you know, there’s only so many ways you can say follow your breath, or whatever.
But if you’re doing a guided visualization, that can be a very rich kind of creative thing that you’re painting. And some people’s styles is a bit more poetic and not, you know, there’s like, that Zen koan– that really kind of confusing poetry aspect to it. Like there’s a lot there.
And then the CEC also, it was – we did this more in person… it’s harder on Zoom, but we would do a – we would do the 35-minute meditation and share in the first half, and then we take a little break. And then we do a second practice that was like, the idea would be to look at the skills you cultivate on the cushion and try and kind of transition them into life or interaction. And some of those would be as straight-up art exercises, and you’d meditate and create a piece of art. Some would be dancing, as I said, we’ve done meditative dance parties and ecstatic dance journeys and things like that. Some in conversation or writing. So we’d kind of use mindfulness, to kind of open up this creative part of ourselves that everyone has. But again, like in school, you kind of learn like, I’m not, I’m not one of the kids, that’s good at art. So, I guess I just won’t do that for the rest of my life or whatever. And, and that’s where I think a lot of my work with youth kind of came into play in the CEC because I spent so much time encouraging, kids and youth to try it and find ways to express themselves, and then I noticed that like, all the adults are starved for this.
Like, at least the kids and the youth get it in school sometimes or whatever, but like, the grown-ups were like starved for that kind of permission to be silly or to express themselves. I just tried because we don’t get a lot of it in our life. You know, some people more than others depending on what you do, but that was a great part of the CEC as sort of like, a community, social gathering. One, you’d meet other people that were interested in meditation, and when you do these weirdo exercises, but it’s like, where do you meet people in the city? You know you join a sports team, you go to a bar, those are sort of very narrow ways. But we’ve found I think that’s what the CEC is been around for so long we’ve, you know, people kind of find it when they’re curious about this stuff, and then find other like-minded people are like, Oh, this is cool. I get to like, go and talk about consciousness for a day a week. After work, like, that’s nice.
Andrea:
Yeah, no, that’s cool. Even just thinking of, as from a coaching perspective, what’s been the most satisfying part of being a part of CEC and working with individuals who probably come in and are a little bit, you know, maybe lost, as you said, shit hit the fan, and you see the kind of transform and whatnot.
Erin:( 31:06)
Yeah. I mean, some of the most profound experiences that I have I do work with an organization called IB- me – inward bound mindfulness experience, which does meditation retreats for teenagers. So that combines my like, previous life and this one. The transformations to see a, you know, a bunch of like, 15-year-olds give up their cell phones for a week and come and meditate. Like, meditate. There’s also kind of like social. So watching that transformation is huge.
But yeah, just kind of being part of people’s – I mean, it sounds cheesy, but the journey in learning more about themselves and learning tools to cope. That’s why I like the sharing part of CEC, where we’re talking about it. You see how the insights are landing with people. And yeah, it’s really rewarding.
Andrea:
I’m sure. You just brought up something there, though. You’re talking about your background kind of is about emotional encouraging, like emotional self-regulation with individuals. So what does that look like with a client? Can you give an example of that, kind of bringing them to that awareness?
Erin:(32:40)
Yeah, it’s a lot of the clients that I’ve ended up working with have been in pretty serious, like emotional distress. I’ve gone into, like, hospitals when people have been hospitalized for mental health crises, maybe that’s just kind of what I’m drawn towards because I’m interested in that intersection. But I come from a very, like a trauma-sensitive lens. So part of it is cultivating practices that provide a sense of safety and grounding and, help the person feel more resourced, or have these tools that they can go to when they’re in crisis.
And then the insight piece of then, when you feel more stable, you can turn towards the challenges and sit with them. And the kind of trauma-sensitive approach as you go back and forth between cultivating a sense of safety and grounding and practice and then carefully looking at, you know, sometimes we can’t help it. Sometimes, it’s hard to even get away that whatever that’s troubling us is too huge. So, if someone’s in that, then you spend a lot of time going, like, okay, what’s just beyond that, or behind it? Or underneath? Or where’s a tiny bit of rest that you can get from that? But then when yeah, when people are feeling more resources to kind of look at the challenge, see how it lands in the body. Because we get so afraid of these things like I don’t want to look at I don’t want to look or I sometimes I say like this was an insight that I had that feels like this, you know, the challenge, whatever it is, is like knocking at the door to get in and you’re like, nope, nope, nope. But it’s actually in there already. And it’s not going to get out and if you kind of like, it’s just gonna get louder and louder until you kind of go, okay, yeah, I see you. I see that. And then that kind of gives them permission to move around and move through.
Andrea:
Right. So interesting.
Andrea: (35:00)
Are there…I just have a few more questions here. Are there a lot of specific issues that you’re seeing come up more often with clients in this day and age that, you know, you feel could easily be addressed with mindfulness or should be addressed with mindfulness and meditation?
Erin:(35:16)
I would not use the word easily (laughter)
Andrea:
Take that out. (laughter)
Meditation Has Transformed My Life
Erin:
I think, you know, meditation has transformed my life. And it’s not the only thing. So this is something that I think is important, especially when you’re talking about mental health challenges, which a lot of people are facing that meditation, mindfulness practice is a great tool to have, it may not be the only intervention that one needs. So just to be like, kind of clear on what it does and what it doesn’t do. Because sometimes it can be sold as like a cure-all kind of thing. And, I think it’s really important to go like, I mean, for me, meditation changed my life, but so is therapy. And like, at the beginning of the pandemic, I went through a massive depressive episode and started medication for the first time. And so I try and be like, open and honest about those things when I’m teaching and you know, when I’m writing for the CEC, just to de-stigmatize that a bit.
Andrea:
This is so important because there is that whole idea of like, if you’re a meditator, you’re like, in this Zen space all the time.
Erin: (36:41)
Yeah. And that’s not been my experience, for sure. It’s helped tremendously. And I can point to many ways that it’s been incredibly helpful. And it has probably saved my life. But it doesn’t make everything magically go away. It just helps me be able to live with it.
Andrea:
Right, which is so important, and like something definitely to keep in mind for those listening. And so what does the CEC have coming up in terms of events that people can find online? And where can they also find the CEC and yourself?
Erin:
Yeah, so I can be found through the CEC right now, I don’t have my website of incentives, so busy running that. And then yeah, people kind of find me that way. cecmeditate.com is our website and on there we have, we record our weekly sets and put them up for free on the websites. And there’s our events calendar. We also made what we call the community practice activation kit. For people, it’s a resource for people who maybe want to start their meditation groups, or who are leading meditations in their workplace or with their family or whatever, it has suggestions of practices, and just things that come up to the kind of empower people to take on that in their communities. So that’s CEC meditate, and then we’re on you know, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…
Andrea:
All the things.
Erin:
All the things and we got a Patreon account. So, you can find us that way. A lot of people find the CEC because the founder, Jeff Warren, is one of the main voices of the CALMAPP and the 10% happier APP, as well. So that’s how a lot of people around the world are kind of finding out about us. They kind of like him and his practices, and then look it up. And they’re like, oh, he started this group. And then they come and check us out.
Andrea:
Oh cool. I didn’t even know that- I listen to calm all the time. I had no idea.
Erin:
Yeah, he’s got a great beginner course on Calm like 30 days beginning meditation, and he’s doing these, like the daily calm now, which is like a very short practice. So a lot of people – that’s one of the most successful meditation apps. So, a lot of people are finding out about us that way.
Andrea:
Very cool. And is there anything that maybe we didn’t touch on that you’d like to kind of bring up? Maybe a little bit of wisdom or knowledge that you want to share?
Andrea:(39:18)
I just put you on the spot…
Erin:
Yeah. Do you have any wisdom for them? (laughter) Yeah, I mean, I think meditation is incredible support for mental health. And it has been, as I’ve said, for me, particularly in the sort of insight that nothing lasts forever. That’s been and you can say that and but I know since my dedicated meditation practice, I have this embodied sense of impermanence… that even when I’m at my worst, I know that this is a temporary state. Where I didn’t have that before – so that for me has been the most useful.