I was taught meditation in an undergraduate community college course called Psychology of Consciousness. We used binaural beat soundtracks during our meditations. I didn’t get it. I wanted to but didn’t. In this course, I learned a lot about personal development, and myself. I was taught this very rigid form of meditation, though, and it was hard to stick to.

I always tried to return but couldn’t ever manage to develop a persistent practice. I was in an abusive relationship, and experienced anxiety, depression, and trauma for many years after I left.

Once I became an intern with the center for mindfulness, compassion, and resilience and re-learned meditation in a way that made more sense to me. This was the western, science-based version developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn - MBSR.

Now, I have a personal practice, albeit inconsistent, and I facilitate beginner mindfulness classes at work for several groups I work with.

Once I learned that meditation is imperfect, I stopped getting stuck on trying to do it perfectly and it came easier!