Highlighting Our Students & Graduates – Paige Lyall

This month we want you to meet ACMM almost graduate Paige Lyall! Paige is a Disability Support Worker in Victoria who has her own Meditation and Personal Training business “Mind&BodyCo”! In this blog Paige shares her future plans and how meditation has supported her to decrease anxiety, be more present and be her own best friend.

Continue reading to find out how Paige plans to share meditation with her community.

 

Hi Paige! Tell us a little bit about yourself 

I’m 24, living in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne and have worked as a Disability Support Worker for the past 4 years (the best job!!) I have a crazy 2 year old golden retriever, a cat and 4 chickens. Currently, I’m studying my Cert IV in fitness, finishing off my last two electives in the Adv Cert in Guiding & Teaching Meditation & Mindfulness through ACMM, and am about to start my Bachelor of Occupational Therapy – having previously completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences & Cert III in Fitness. Lots of study but all worth it! Thats what coming out of high school not knowing what I want to do looks like!! All worth it though!

I would say one of my biggest passions is self development! I struggled with anxiety growing up and after seeking help and seeing improvements in myself, it sparked a large interest in looking after my mental health! Things like exercise, journaling, gratitude, self help books/podcasts, meditation and breath work are all things I thoroughly value and enjoy. Travel, community, health, family, meaningful work, growth, fun and connection are all things I value too.

What attracted you to become a meditation teacher and study with ACMM?

I was drawn to study with ACMM during one of the covid lockdowns. I previously had found that meditation helped me with my anxiety and felt called to learn more about it, which is why I signed up! Not necessarily to become a teacher, but to simply learn more tools to use for myself and share with my friends and family. Out of all the courses I researched, ACMM felt the most aligned with me! I loved the course outlines, the breadth of content, all of the electives, and instantly felt excited when reading through the website. After starting the course, and noticing the benefits meditation was having on my life, becoming a meditation teacher simply felt right.

How has meditation impacted you on a personal level – what are the benefits you have seen? 

After meditating consistently with the structure we’re taught at ACMM, I found massive improvements in myself. Three of my favourite benefits are:1. My decreased anxiety – I struggled with a few anxious tendencies growing up. However after a few months of consistent meditation practice (30 minutes each day), I found that a lot of the things that used to make me anxious weren’t making me feel that way anymore! I of course still do feel nervous at times, but the intensity and duration has decreased massively which has been huge for me. 2. My ability to be more present in my life – This has been such an important thing for me to learn. I used to spend a lot of my time worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. I have memories of being out with friends, on holidays, or at events and instead of enjoying myself, I would spend most of the time in my head, thinking or worrying about things that weren’t happening in the present. I now find it so much easier to be places and really take in the moment in front of me! It has been the most refreshing, satisfying and comforting feeling. 3. Meditation taught me to be my own best friend – One of the things I love most about meditation is that its a time to spend just with myself. It’s a time to strip away all of the layers I hold, all of the roles I play, and simply be present and accepting of myself. This has done wonders for my own self love and acceptance and has probably been a big contributor to my lessened anxiety too, knowing that I am enough and loved just as I am!

What does your personal meditation practice look like? What styles or types of meditation do you enjoy?

My meditation practice has been pretty consistent since studying with ACMM! On average I usually meditate for about 30 minutes a day, however when I’m on holidays I find I sometimes do miss a day or my sessions can become a bit shorter (10-20 minutes) as I find myself out of routine!

The styles I practice tend to change often, as I am enjoying really learning and understanding all of the different techniques! However, I have noticed that the main styles I tend to got to are gratitude based meditations, loving body awareness meditations, metta meditations and inquiry based meditations.

Do you have your own meditation/mindfulness/holistic business, plans to start one?

I have very recently started my own Meditation and Personal Training business “Mind&BodyCo”. I am still completing my Cert IV in fitness so I haven’t started using my Personal Training qualification yet, but at the moment I run weekly Tuesday night meditations on Zoom, and have created meditation and mindfulness workshops for coaches and their clients too! I also have my own affirmation cards and journals that I sell through my instagram and website. My aspirations for Mind&BodyCo are for it to be a place where people can learn and work on both their physical (through exercise) and mental health (through meditation and mindfulness) to create the best version of themselves. Both of these practices have helped my own mental health and overall quality of life enormously and I want to help other people experience these benefits too! With my disability support work background, I aim to make all of my services inclusive to all abilities too. I will also be completing my Bachelor of Occupational Therapy alongside running my business and look forward to merging all of these skills into my business once I have finished. I’m currently working on an online 8 week ‘beginners guide to meditation program’ for those who want to start meditating but don’t know how. This should be ready by April which I am very excited to launch! I also have my weekly meditations on zoom and workshops for coaches and their clients running at the moment, with a few more services to come out throughout the year too.

What would you say to someone thinking of becoming a meditation teacher?

Absolutely do it! Even if you don’t end up teaching to earn an income, you will learn so many valuable tools that you can take with you for the rest of your life, you really have nothing to lose.

What have you enjoyed about studying with ACMM?

Oooh so much! I loved connecting with my coach Jacqui. Since this is an online course, it was really nice to have that contact each session to debrief, chat, and get another perspective on the  course content with. I have loved going deeper into myself and my meditation practice. I also recently attended a retreat which I absolutely loved, it was so lovely to meet other ACMM students and graduates too!

You can find out more about Paige’s offerings at:

Name: Paige LyallCity: MelbourneBusiness name: Mind&BodyCoWebsite: www.mindandbodyco.com.auIG: @mindandbodyco_

We provide Teaching Certification right up to Diploma and Masters level training that includes supervision. A range of post graduate training options and support, are also available, including our Community Work Placement Program and Business Lounge Program which supports new meditation teachers to begin or expand their teaching practice. Download a prospectus for all the details.