From Richard Stokes, host of The Mojo Podcast:

My guest this week is Vedic Mediation teacher – Jillian Lavender. Here she is in her words…

“When I learned to meditate back in 1995 I had no idea that I would end up being a full-time meditation teacher. At the time I was walking right up to the line of a major burnout. Living in Sydney, setting up a publishing company, spending my life on a plane. I felt tired and stressed.

On the recommendation of a friend I took the course and from that point things changed for me in a big way. My life was still full-on but I could handle it. I wasn’t exhausted. I felt the anxiety melt away. I was better at my job and I was nicer to be around. And I knew it was meditation that was making the difference.

Fast-forward five years and (after a stint in Paris) I was living in London and looking for a change. I quit the big CEO job and travelled for a year. Then I took up the invitation of my teacher, Thom Knoles, to train with him one-on-one in the U.S. and India. In 2003 I graduated and came back to London to start teaching.

In 2005 Michael and I met in India on a retreat and after some long-distance back and forth he moved from LA to London. We live together, teach together and have a daughter so we are partners in every sense.

India is special for us and we’re there at least once a year to teach and study. I feel grateful to be able to teach Vedic Meditation. Helping people be their best has always been the thing that motivates me. In my experience meditation is the tool that has the power to transform. I love seeing that process play out with our students.”