When I started coaching students, my intention was not to focus mainly on teaching Mindfulness. But it quickly became evident that this is the part that matters the most.

My first student was a fragile 17 year old girl. She was unable to attend highschool due to continuous social anxiety. Can you imagine the stress for the parents of such a teenager? Being a parent can be a rollercoaster of a ride, especially when your child has extreme emotional difficulties. As parents, we want the best for our children but we can not help them with everything. Our relationship is a special one and we must accept that we can’t do or know everything. It’s important to know when to ask for help.

So I became her only teacher while she homeschooled herself through the final year of highschool. The Swiss school system is an academically demanding one. The highschool program she was in meant she had to pass 10 subjects plus do a final project. She had no teachers. Who would even attempt this on their own? 

You have to be driven, ambitious and very well organized. That she is. She is very intelligent and hard working. But she felt like she needed a teacher who could support her with the English lessons, as her schooling is all in French and her parents can not help her with English.

Since I knew her mom from having taught English to both her daughters when they were in Primary school, she reached out to me. Without hesitation, I accepted. 

I felt it straight away. This student needed more than just lessons in English grammar. I proposed that we do some Mindfulness meditation together. In English, of course. It quickly became obvious that this calmed her and made her feel more at ease with herself. We saw each other on the computer screen once a week. 

In the beginning, she canceled some lessons at the last minute because she felt unwell, overwhelmed by all the work and stressed out by the doubts and stories she was creating in her own mind. But after a while, she noticed how the Mindfulness sessions helped her cope. And she asked for extra sessions.

After she passed her highschool exam, I went to see her at their home to congratulate her. Her mom told me, with moist eyes and a huge smile, that even her husband was now convinced of the benefits of Mindfulness on their oldest daughter. Even he, who did not understand it at first, was heard telling his stressed out daughter to “go do that Mindfulness thing you do with Annika, so that you feel better.” 

This student was now feeling a lot more confident and so sure of herself that she was heading to university to study medicine! I was in awe. Such amazing progress in self development. 

She was able to go to a public university and sit amongst other students in huge auditoriums as well as speak in front of professors who would be judging her knowledge in the sciences. Just the thought of those challenges will scare most people out of going for it, don’t you agree?

Once at university, she occasionally reached out to me to ask to meditate together, because she felt the benefits of that support during stressful times. Her anxiety was still present; she knew that it would stay with her, but she now understood how she could cope.

In the meantime, by trying out different exercises and using different mindfulness tools, she has discovered which ones work best for her. These tools have become part of her repertoire that she can reach for whenever she needs that extra support. Mindfulness is a part of her now. She has gained more confidence and a whole lot of resilience.

You can imagine that this student and her mother are the ones who have introduced me to other students who are now also learning the benefits of Mindfulness. I am so grateful for being able to share this with these students.

If you know anyone who might benefit from learning Mindfulness skills that can be used for finding more calm, focus and confidence, please don’t hesitate to give them my details. 

Go with ease.