My Story
My Why
Introduction
Hi my name is Laura Speiran and I am the founder of the Connecting Minds Project.
I started my wellness journey in 2016 when living in London and studying a Bachelor's Degree in Mental Health & Social Sciences in London.​​
My Why
As a first year distance learning student, my studies and work load overwhelmed me and I began to feel fearful for my wellbeing. One of my 12 housemates suggested I try Yoga and I decided to give it go. It was hot Yoga, and by god was it hot. I must have walked out three or four times before the teacher asked me to stop or …..leave. I still remember the sensations vividly….. breathlessness….. fatigue .....followed by waves of ecstasy.
As I left the 30 degree Yoga class dragging myself across Clapham Common to return to my 3,000 word Ethics essay, thoughts of curiosity about the class flooded my mind. The loudest thought being WHAT ON EARTH JUST HAPPENED.
I did not return to ‘The Ethics of Health and Social Services’ that day. Instead I slept. What I needed in that moment was sleep. That's the beauty of Yoga, it illuminates what your body and mind needs.
One year on and many hot Yoga sessions later, I found myself sitting on a plane travelling to Dharamshala to complete my Yoga Teacher Training in the Himalayan mountains of India. This training was the foundation of my journey, I can not describe the level of awakening I experienced over that four-week period. Finally, I became to feel whole again.
My How
I started my wellness journey in 2016 when living in London and studying a Bachelor's Degree in Mental Health & Social Sciences in London.​​
When I returned to Ireland to set up my first business, I was so driven and passionate about the physical practice of Yoga. I felt lean, fit and confident. We studied the practice of Ashtanga. The name given to the system of yoga taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. This style of Yoga is physically demanding as it involves synchronizing breathing with progressive and continuous series of postures, a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs.
I also mastered the teachings of Hatha Yoga, the foundation of all Yoga styles. It incorporates Asanas (postures), Pranayama (regulated breathing), meditation (Dharana & Dhyana) and Kundalini (Laya Yoga) into a complete system that can be used to achieve self-realization.
​The combination of the two, ashtanga and hatha yoga sparked my interest in Mindfulness. I came to realize through the global pandemic that I was carrying a heavy weight of past life experiences and needed to find my way back to a state of equilibrium fast. Although the physical practice of Yoga did realize this weight, it was only a short term fix.
That said…..The teacher and researcher in me wanted to understand the emotions and ruminating thoughts that my body & mind had created about my past and my future. So I made a conscious decision to reduce my teaching hours and instead study the human body and mind.
I started by researching Mindfulness for adults. I began studying the work of Mark Williams, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, who co-developed the Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). I continued my studies with the work of Dr Stephen Porges, author of the Polyvagal Theory, university scientist at the Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, and professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina. Every month, I studied a new theory of mindfulness and neuroscience (Jon Kabat-Zinn's, Patricia Jennings,Katherine Weare and Thich Nhat Hanhbooks, Andrew Huberman,) to name a few.
As I studied and practiced these theories, day by day, page by page, exercise by exercise my mental lens began to shift and twelve weeks later, I felt a shift in my mental, emotional and physical being.
I had more clarity, more focus, more passion....
As I studied and practiced these theories, day by day, page by page, exercise by exercise my mental lens began to shift and twelve weeks later, I felt a shift in my mental, emotional and physical being.
I had more clarity, more focus, more passion....
I could finally begin to see the negative patterns of behavior in my life and most importantly the positive ones. This created space for me to break habits and form new ones.
​
Each day then and every day now I watch and I learn through mindfulness, both formal and informal practices. Some days I am teaching at 05.30am to children in America or Japan, other days I am not teaching at all. On the days I am teaching super early, I use informal meditation, such as, focused attention on how I feel as I teacher my teens about emotional regulation or how my breath is when I guide my senior citizens through a chair yoga meditation. This is still the practice of mindfulness.
Once you drop the expectations of a formal practice everyday twice a day and show yourself self compassion for being human and having human responsibilities, it is then when the real magic begins. Where resistance becomes acceptance. Where suffering becomes self compassion. Where judgement becomes Empathy and Where loneliness becomes solitude.
I had to share this amazing combination of Mindfulness techniques with the world, I wanted to shout it from the roof tops. So I did.
Now
Now, we at the Connecting Minds Project support all vulnerable community groups in Northern Ireland. Each year we assess the communities needs across Northern Ireland and Mindfully find solutions that will help develop our committees and educate the people living in Northern with the skills to live a happy and fulfilling life.
It was a pleasure revisiting my journey with you.
Thank you for listening!