Billy Rosenbeck describes how a Headspace habit became a vocational pivot: a silent retreat in Nepal, teacher training, bringing meditation into a boarding school after student losses, and unconventional teaching work that included prisons, package stores, and filmmaking.
A short, daily Headspace practice helped Rosenbeck manage new anxiety and led him to pursue formal retreats and teacher training.
A school crisis—multiple student suicides—prompted Rosenbeck to introduce meditation broadly at Wilbraham & Monson Academy at the head of school’s request.
Rosenbeck’s teaching path became varied and pragmatic: residential school programs, prison classes, working in package stores, and producing a film are all part of his story.
Having arrived in Nepal three days earlier, I was getting familiar with monsoon season's weather pattern: each oppressively humid day gave way to a fleeting but intense afternoon shower, so timing-wise, this storm was typical. I was on the last bus to Dhamma Shringa, a Vipassana Meditation Center on the northern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, where I'd soon be participating in a silent, ten-day meditation course. No one I knew meditated, I didn't grow up around yogis, and if my grandfather was aware of the amount of time I've spent barefoot in public, he'd probably want to die all over again.
On the afternoon of Day 5, however, his meditation cushion—three back to the left of my own—was removed by the volunteers and placed back in storage. By the second week, the practice was no longer an obligation. Growing up, I never saw my grandfather in a pair of shorts: he exclusively wore sweaters, button-ups, and pressed slacks, only ever compromising with a golf shirt at my sister's August birthday parties.
Someone smarter than me might have taken this as a sign. To this day, there is no evidence that he actually had knees. Three or four days into this new morning routine, I was on the phone with my dad and told him, "I'm going to try this meditation thing, but I don't want it to change who I am." Two years later, he was driving me to JFK for a flight to Nepal, so I could take part in a silent meditation retreat.
<img data-stretch="false" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58d013bbe58c6272b30dad0b/91b4f816-3ec1-4e08-8948-c7e59b81aca0/Buddha+Silhouette+%28KUSZ%29.png" data-image-dimensions="1280x720" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="" data-load="false" elementtiming="system-image-block" data-sqsp-imag
Religion Unplugged What emerges from these collections is the certainty that Buddhism had never understood meditation to be without its dangers. However, the sources also contain potentially...
Shamash Alidina guides a walking meditation to cultivate "beginner's mind" and experience even familiar routes with new curiosity and wonder. The post Shamash Alidina: “Beginner’s Mind” Walking Meditation appeared first on Mindful .
Follow Jean as she reflects on how a viral quote about destiny and connection unexpectedly intertwined with a moment from her own past. What began as a simple search for proper attribution — the kind of rabbit hole she falls into with Olympic‑level skill — turned into a walk that reminded her how the roads we choose, a
Whether you’re letting go of the old, embracing the new, or both, this meditation is perfect for meeting transition with curiosity and care. The post Janice Martellucci: Meditation for Transitions appeared first on Mindful .
Why practice mindfulness if it isn’t going to guarantee sleep, remove anxiety, and be a fast track to weight loss? Teacher Elaine Smookler explores the disappointment we face when we look to a mindfulness practice to help us escape the human experience, rather than building the capacity to welcome whatever comes and go
Loading more related stories...
Open the app view to save this story, compare related coverage, and continue from the same source.
