As all good things happen, I stumbled upon meditation practice by chance, but right away it felt like coming back home. It felt like something I already knew from inside, and it just took someone to remind me.

This is how I see the practice: as a reminder for something that is already in us. It took me a little longer to realize that one could practice in a living community, and to find that community in Plum Village. In this particular way of life, I found that there was space for expression of certain aspects of life and of me, that were harder to express elsewhere, in a different setting. It had a lot to do with priorities and with feeling at ease.

Although life in a monastery may sound like a calm and remote kind of life, we were actually quite busy. A lot of people came to Plum Village for retreats, and I also got to travel to many places in the world on Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching tours. I saw that the practice can be helpful anywhere, with the right adjustments. I also learned a lot from different cultures and ways of life.

My story with IFS is similar. I came across it by chance, and felt that it was a very natural and effective expression of the element of meditation we call "looking deeply". It also has the beautiful quality of just being with. In both traditions there is a deep transformation through insight, compassion and connection.