When you enrol at ACMM you get your very on Meditation and Mindfulness Coach to support and mentor you along your journey. So we thought it would be great to share with you a little about them, their love for meditation and how they use meditation and mindfulness in their own life and business. This month we want to introduce you to ACMM Coach Jen Hill! Jen is a winemaker turned meditation teacher who, in addition to working as coach for ACMM, also runs her own business Right Brain Liaisons in Adelaide.
Hi Jen! Tell us a little bit about yourself
Who am I? Great question (wink)! … I grew up in Canberra, lived in Sydney, and moved to Adelaide 23 years ago to join the wine industry as a winemaker. While I left that industry many years ago, I love Kaurna land and the Adelaide lifestyle, and have made a wonderful home here, with my partner Gary, living and working in the city.
I’ve had a few different jobs since winemaking, none of which I loved entirely until completing the Adv Cert and Grad Dip with ACMM. I then began teaching and guiding meditation. I now have a business doing just that here in Adelaide. A new addition to my business is working as an ACMM coach. All of which I totally love and am so very grateful for.
I love empowering myself and others to live and work with ease and joy, to find and ‘follow your bliss’. Fun for me is also social time and connection, dancing, cooking and walking. I also love time in nature, playing chess, sport, being creative, meditating (of course!). More loves are travel, music, seeing live shows and art, reading. All the things that make your human heart sing. I love to contemplate the nature of life and self, philosophy, and all things metaphysical/spiritual.
When did you start meditating and why?
I started meditating about 15 years ago on a quest for happiness and peace of mind.
What does your current meditation practice look like
Formally, up to an hour in the morning and 30 mins in the arvo/eve, and informally, throughout the day. I intend to stay present and mindful in everything I do.
I enjoy a mindful walk in nature most days, attend regular meditation retreats (especially now so many are run online), love to read, listen and learn to deepen and broaden my practice, and relish regular meditation practise with others through my work.
What have been some of the benefits you have experienced from meditation?
Happiness and peace of mind!
More specifically, as a direct consequence of meditation I experience healing, greater self-awareness and sense of agency, better relationships, more ease, acceptance and appreciation of life, a sense of fulfillment in work and service, greater life balance, and more presence, love, and energy in my day.
What was the biggest challenge you have faced when meditating and what did you do to overcome it or manage it?
The mind! For me, this is a continuous work in progress to realise that I am not my mind (thoughts, memories, imaginations, emotions etc) or my body, I am that which is aware of my mind, my body, my whole objective experience. The possibility is to let go of the sense of separation, the ego self (who I think I am) and all the fear and anxiety that comes with that, showing up as resistance, doubt, judgement, worry, overthinking, regret, anger, over personalising things etc … essentially buying into a mental story about myself.
The best way I’ve found to manage this ‘conditioned’ mind is through self-inquiry and the direct path (i.e., through a ‘non-dual’ approach), enabling me to disidentify from the mental story and the judging, conditioned mind and return again and again to rest in my centre, my true self, that is aware presence. This allows me to observe my mind more easily without identifying with it, and to rest back in the heart and source of myself.
Can you tell us who your favourite meditation teachers or mentors are?
There are many. To name a few contemporary teachers with free teachings online, I learn so much from Catarina Maggi, Amoda Maa, Rupert Spira and Eckhart Tollé.
How have you used meditation and mindfulness in your own business?
It is such a blessing to be able to use meditation weekly in my teaching and coach work with individuals, groups and in workplaces here in Adelaide.
What do you love most about being a coach at ACMM?
The opportunity to learn, grow, share, and empower. It’s so rewarding to witness and support students through their ACMM journey. It’s a treat to be part of the ACMM community, and I’m so grateful that I continue to learn so much from students, ACMM coaches, and graduates.
What is the best piece of advice you would give a new meditation teacher?
Meditation is what we are, not what we do. Practice, be and teach presence and things have a way of unfolding so beautifully.
Where do we go if we want to attend one of your classes?
For information about my meditation coach work in Adelaide, visit my website. https://rightbrainliaisons.com/rbl-story.
At ACMM, we offer Certificate, Advanced Certificate, and Diploma Training Options, with optional Business Development Support alongside and after your training.
Find out if our courses are the right fit for you. Book a Zoom Discovery Call with us today!