hAPPy Birthday 🎉🎂🎁
On November 1st, our community celebrates its first birthday. It's almost surreal, but it's true.
Ah, where does the time go???
As many of you know, my journey with mindfulness began during my recovery from a life-altering accident. However, for the longest time, I kept it to myself, concerned about what others might think.
Yet, during the isolating and uncertain days of the pandemic, I felt an inner calling to share this practice with the world. It became a way to send out ripples of positivity when it felt like the world was unraveling.
So, I started leading mindfulness sessions on a new social platform called Clubhouse. Only three people showed up for the first practice, but slowly, more and more people joined in. In a matter of weeks, I held space four times a day - seven days a week with over a hundred participants in each practice.
As we flipped into 2022, more people shared that they wanted my meditations on demand, particularly during challenging times. Simultaneously, I felt that Clubhouse was no longer the safe and welcoming platform it had once been. So, while pedaling my bike across the country, we began the development of the Pause Breathe Reflect app.
I wanted something that was safe, calming (of course), inviting, and authentic to help us, much like the art of kintsugi, return to our wholeness.
On November 1st, we made it happen by introducing Pause Breathe Reflect to the world. Honestly, it wasn't fully ready; hey, we rarely are, but it was time. Today, I feel even more strongly that we live in a period that calls for mindfulness and reflection, and continue to imagine what could happen when 8 billion people take one minute to PBR daily.
As you know, together we go far.
I have immense appreciation for Josh Edinburg's creativity, thought partnership, and contributions to our community. Our DLP development team in Pakistan, our London-based Saw and Sine audio team, and the exceptional work of Oleg from Ukraine, who created our Breathe patterns, have been brilliant.
Our beta-testing group, bolstered by Connie Kennedy, played a pivotal role in fine-tuning our app, and so many people like you have shared our community with their friends.
And I can't leave out my wife and daughters, who are everything to me and make me a better human.
I can confidently say that we've created something truly unique. We stand proudly alongside other mindfulness apps, knowing how many lives we've touched and transformed. And we're just getting started.
But I must admit, last December, I came very close to walking away from it all. The strain of supporting my executive clients through the pandemic, hosting over twenty hours of meditation sessions weekly, and cycling across the country had taken a toll. I was exhausted and emotionally bruised, especially when moving from a backyard Clubhouse to our new spacious home brought fewer participants. I had convinced myself that my meditations and teachings were only valuable if they were free.
Moreover, we decided to welcome a new puppy into our lives. Hey, I'm human, and sometimes, I struggle to embody the lessons I share. It was a lot to handle.
However, after a much-needed disconnection break, I returned with renewed determination, holding on to the daily affirmation that keeps me going:
"We are creating a brave space of belonging and wholeness."
Just like many startups, our first year has been like loving red - filled with passion, frustration, excitement, humility, and a whole lot more (Hey, I had to get in a Swiftie reference). It's been perfect in its imperfection, just like life itself—full of highs, lows, and everything in between.
As we take our first step into our second year, guided by the spirit of mindfulness, we hold our aspirations loosely and plan to bring you...
- An updated experience to seamlessly integrate mindfulness into your daily life.
- Enhanced search features to easily find specific meditations.
- An expanded library offering over 1,000 meditations.
- The opportunity to participate in one-day silent retreats and explore Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
- Diverse meditations from other experienced teachers.
- The introduction of hands-on mindfulness training for corporations.
In the future, I hope to see 75 to 100 people joining our daily live meditations and transforming Pause Breathe Reflect into a B Corp that will spread even more love, kindness, compassion, and positivity into the world.
I'm deeply grateful you've been part of this incredible journey, a true Pause Breathe Reflect O.G. Your commitment to your practice and our mission means the world to me. That's why I continue to show up, creating a welcoming space for all of us, because every like-hearted human belongs here.
Thank you for being a part of this journey and sending ripples of positive change into the world. The world needs your energy, so keep rippling.