Melissa Mukaiwa on the need for a meditation movement 

“It’s important to understand that every issue in our lives – on the individual, national and even global scale – first originates in our hearts and minds. That’s why I’m of the opinion that people should be much more aware of what’s actually going on up there, in our hearts and minds,” shares Melissa Mukaiwa, a meditation teacher and international speaker.

“I found meditation in much the same way that most people do – out of frustration and desperation and the quiet determination that comes once you decide that actually, I deserve more. It was a textbook case of betrayal. Someone who I cared about and felt completely safe with hurt me in a way that few people can and, in spite of how much I tried, I just couldn’t stop myself from reliving the trauma.

“More than a year after the fact, I was still suffering and I could see how my inability to let go was impacting every aspect of my life – my work, my health and most importantly my relationships. Honestly, I was sick of it, so I googled, ‘How to forgive someone’.”

Many of these articles that Melissa read mentioned meditation. For months she tried meditating on her own, but it took moving to Thailand to achieve the breakthrough she’d been searching for. 

“I moved to a monastery, learnt with one of the most revered monks in Thailand, and within three days, I suddenly understood what the hype was about.”

Melissa believes that everyone can define meditation in a way that is both useful and empowering. Her aim is to make meditation simple, pragmatic, accessible, and safe and comfortable for people from all walks of life, or as she describes it, ‘meditation for the masses’.

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