"Letter of Learning"
from Mary F. in Colorado

Where to begin?

Before I started this class, I was full of fear, anxiety, bouts of depression, moodiness, anger, and sadness. My stress level was about a 9, completely self-induced and not caused by any one person or situation.

I remember sitting down the first couple weeks, even maybe the third week to do the meditation or yoga and not able to calm my thoughts down enough to get through it without being annoyed or pressured to get through it. It was more work than pleasure. I’ve done meditation before and know the benefits but I was so “off” that I was frustrated and angry with myself for being so unbalanced in my life.

I was living in fear instead of acceptance and openness. I was allowing all outside circumstance and my monkey mind to make me feel crazy and out of control. With the continual reading and varied practices, I was able to begin to let go of the fear, the anxiety, and the stress to allow faith and trust to lead the way. I found that I was being more patient with myself and others. I was breathing through moments instead of reacting in the moment. The more I caught myself in the moment, the more I was able to shift the emotion.

I learned to slow down and enjoy my walks outside rather than speed walk through it, not noticing one thing but the busyness of my mind and the endless to-do list. Now, even if I’m walking and talking with a friend, I’m more present and listening rather than waiting for my turn to talk. I find myself in a place of less judgement and more acceptance of myself and of others, especially toward people that I have not gotten along with in the past.

I’ve learned to speak more kindly to myself and to others, which is such a gift. Although I know all of this, I wasn’t practicing a lot of it. Thank you very much for offering this free course. My life is completely different now, eight weeks later. The stress level that I started with has decreased to a 3. I’m grateful for this training.

- Mary F.