Hello,
It’s me, Jac!
Around a year ago I shared a little seed idea with Arran and Emily. We all got excited, squealed and jumped about. Joking, as if Arran would do such a thing. He responded in a low, even tone, ‘I like it, it could be improved upon, ’ while Em and I wrung our hands in excitement then Emily and I calmed down and looked at the reality of this idea. We rethought, reworked and designed, wrote, proofed and programmed, and designed some more, and recorded, and shot and edited and spent a loooooot of time in the backend of our website coding and loading. Emily and Arran calmly and patiently worked through the enormous workload. I cussed, cried a couple of times and nearly threw in the towel.
Because really, it had seemed like SUCH a simple idea at first. It was well intentioned and sweet and I was proud of it. We wanted to GIVE to our students and GIVE to those in need.
WHY?
In a nutshell, these are all the things we desired so our students could access ongoing, progressive and lasting change…
– What if ALL students could fly the way that some did, when they meditated AND also engaged with, and worked with knowledge and inspiration daily. Imagine if every student could layer 15 minutes of this into their day, at anytime. All we wanted really, was to take the decades of our combined meditation experience, our personal study, all the best bits of our various courses and workshops and retreats, the creamiest of tools and techniques from our Mentoring sessions and the feedback from thousands of students and package it into a comprehensive and impressive education program and daily inspiration, to sit alongside our meditation course. For students to have at their finger tips ancient knowledge for modern living, available anywhere at any time, after they had learnt Vedic meditation with us.
– We wanted for our students to be creatively inspired and experience The Broad Place community wherever they were in the world.
– We wanted to give to those in need and consciously contribute. We have been so in love with the beautiful quote by French artist Paul Gaugin “I shut my eyes in order to see”, which for us was the essence of meditation. We decided that for every single student that learnt how to close their eyes in order to ‘see’ themselves clearly, The Broad Place would donate and restore the eyesight in a person in our indigenous communities in Australia (thanks to the talents and determination of the Fred Hollows Foundation). You shut your eyes, in order for someone else to see.
– We wanted for every student of ours to learn the art of Rounding, which is a profound sequence to unlock deep stress, tension and fatigue from the body through a gentle yoga asana sequence, breath work, meditation and rest. To not just transcend in meditation but also come back deeper into their bodies.
THEN!
We also needed a new name for all of this. Because what we were creating was so much more than the Vedic meditation course. It is the in person meditation course PLUS online enhanced education modules, and recorded lectures, and recipes, and a book club, and weekly online meditation meetings, and Rounding video tuition and seriously interesting once a month Gatherings with an interview series and socialising and an online forum for support.
All of which would need a heck of a lot of design and branding, soooo, why not also completely rebrand our entire business and relaunch the whole of The Broad Place, with fully upgraded website, design and branding!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYYY squealed Arran again!!!!
I thought it would take a few months to pull it all together.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Twelve months or so later though, today is the day we proudly introduce you to INTEGRATED MEDITATION by The Broad Place.
WHAT IT IS
Integrated Meditation is about investing 4% of your day to enhance the other 96%; be happier, more resilient, more creative, compassion and expanded. If you meditate 20 minutes twice a day (your IaM Sessions), and integrate 15 minutes of knowledge and inspiration a day, it’s just 4% of your day. This is what we teach and provide through Integrated Meditation. It’s made up of…
– The Vedic meditation course which is taught in person, as always, 4x 90 minute sessions. It’s exactly as we have always taught it, a mantra based meditation designed for independent practice.
– 12 Education Modules accessible through our IaM Vault with audio, written articles and worksheets on topics including:
– the mind body connection and the neuroscience of stress
– creating your daily rituals and routines
– increasing joy and happiness
– tools to thrive in stressful situations
– our no B.S guide to gratitude
– understanding creative thinking and how to adopt it daily
– meditation motivation and productivity
– A video tuition on how to do Rounding so you can learn and practice anywhere
– The Broad Place lectures, talks and interviews
– Access to our Weekly Recharge Sessions; our new online meditation meeting format with new topics each week to refine your practice, troubleshoot and reboot.
– Access to attend in person a years worth of our monthly SundayGatherings; group meditations, knowledge and interviews as well as socialising, each one in a new location and with special guests
– The Broad Place Book Club
There’s still more to come, please note the Rounding tuition I am still editing, and the Book Club goes live in a week. Over time we will be adding more and more to the Integrated Meditation Program, to keep it fresh and exciting and on track with what we are learning and sharing.
As part of our ongoing commitment to give to those committed to their growth and development, we are making all of this extra material A GIFT TO OUR STUDENTS. That means aside from the meditation course, it’s all bonus material that you receive from us, for free. Simply because we know you need it, we have the capacity to offer it, and more conscious people elevating themselves makes the world a better place to be in for everyone.
WHAT NEXT!!!
You’re Already Our Student
– If you have already learnt meditation with us, you will have your IaM Vault password and username and can start to have a play around with all this goodness. If you have lost these details email Shearry info@thebroadplace.com.au as she’s our tech wizard and she will create a new one for you! If you’re a student of ours yet for whatever reason don’t have these details, easily sorted, just email Shearry.
You Want To Be Part Of The Broad Place
– If you’re excited by this click here to enrol, watch our animation and read all the information and FAQ’s and listen to an audio Introductory Talk. Also you can email Shearry info@thebroadplace.com.au and she will send you all that you need.
– If you have already learnt this meditation technique with another teacher and wish to resit the course and access all we offer, we have Bridging Courses available, email again, Shearry info@thebroadplace.com.au for details.
We are also now offering for new students for Integrated Meditation a monthly payment plans over 12 months to make this more accessible to everyone, and if you’re a full time single parent (from personal experience, this is one hell of a challenge) we are offering a 40% discount to you.
WITH GRATITUDE
And whilst we are in the thick of the worlds longest letter, I really wanted to do some thank you’s for those of you still hanging in there with me. I might be the one putting pen to paper here, but this is a team effort ALL the way.
Thank you to my insanely talented creative director, who is also my business partner, and my husband, and co-parent to our two legged and four legged children, Arran Russell, who is the glue that holds my life together. Who constantly and deeply encourages me to push boundaries, ignore my inner shame spirals and the naysayers and who only accepts the best on every level in our lives and inspires me daily. Thank you to Emily whose patience and grace in times of pressure and whose dedication to upgrading the lives of all our students puts me in awe. She has worked relentlessly on this project. As has Shearry, who never drops the ball, always and patiently answers every request, question and is always thinking up new ways to make everything we do easier for our students to interact with. Thank you to Marley who has been involved in so many parts, who funnily enough age 11 has enough design savvy and sway to change my opinion on things and tells me things such as to please not wear my Apple Watch to class as it’s counter intuitive to ancient knowledge and doesn’t ‘really send the right message’. To Kam our programmer, to Jamie-Lee our animator, to James who helped with copywriting. To Wade our sound technician, to Morgan Printing our guiding hand in all things print. To Sarah who helped me edit this ridiculously long letter. And to all my confidantes who have listened to this idea come into fruition and have backed me every step of the way, knowing when to push, when to tell me to pull my head in and when to just chill the hell out.
Most of all thank you to all our students who continue to learn with us, we are not a school without you, and you are our reason for being.
Looking forward to receiving your valued feedback, and experiencing Integrated Meditation with you all.
Sent with love,
Jac x