Hi there, I’m currently on a hiatus of indeterminate length. Thanks for your patience; feel free to register your interest in coaching sessions here.
What I do
I offer coaching for people practicing meditation in the style of The Mind Illuminated.
The Mind Illuminated system is clear, precise, and with well-defined goals, which makes it ideal for effective coaching sessions. It allows you to quickly gain skill in steadying the mind, which – aside from being extremely beneficial itself – will make progress in any other contemplative practice you’re interested in faster, easier, and more fun.
I also draw on a number of other practices in my teaching – metta practice, daily mindfulness, jhana, insight, etc.
Register your interest in booking a session here
Benefits of mentoring:
- Motivation/accountability for your practice
- A space to talk through, set, and monitor clear practice goals over time
- Learn how to overcome plateaus and develop meditative skills more quickly
- Get clarity and overcome obstacles, limiting habits and beliefs
- Try alternative practices to find what works best for you
Options
- One hour intro session – phone or video
A way for us to see whether we’re a good fit for longer-term mentoring, or if you just have one specific issue in your practice that you’d like to discuss. Gives you an opportunity to see what practice mentoring looks like and if it’s useful. Usually the best place to start. - Longer-term mentoring
This usually takes place for one hour once every 1-4 weeks – this gives you enough time to try out suggestions and new practices before the next session. - Email mentoring
There are a number of potential advantages to coaching over email – it gives you more time to think, try stuff out, and reply, and gives me more time to reflect as well. It’s also a good option if you’re anxious about speaking via video chat or just want an easily revisited record of what we’ve covered. Email me at dharmarational@gmail.com - Other
Feel free to contact me about anything else too!
Register your interest in booking a session here
Or contact me directly at dharmarational@gmail.com
What previous students have said
“We did a self-organised meditation retreat with 3 people, with the aim to make progress in our Samatha meditation practice. The daily calls with Ollie were a highlight of the retreat; we all felt that we learned much more and made much faster progress due to his guidance. I can highly recommend Ollie as a meditation coach and retreat facilitator. He is highly knowledgeable, explains well, and is incredibly friendly.”
– Jan
“Via Ollie’s expertise and remarkably detailed questions my practice and motivation around meditation and secular spirituality accelerated. Diligent and deliberate practice + Ollie’s tutoring will lead to significant progress in the tradition of The Mind Illuminated! I experienced an effect after session 1.”
– Sebastian
“Ollie is a very resourceful and kind teacher – for any question or story, he usually has a solid technique or two to suggest, and/or a bunch of insightful questions to ask back, all with genuine warmth.”
– Friederike
“Ollie was amazingly insightful, and answered every question anyone had with real in-depth understanding. His pacing was great and his manner was humorous and open. He was tactful and gently guided understanding when people got the wrong end of the stick or needed to clarify and his warm, gentle presence is a real testament to the values and methods he teaches. Anyone would be lucky to have him as their teacher.”
“Ollie was a phenomenal teacher with a beautiful manner – he radiated enthusiasm, kindness and patience! I especially felt that the way he responded to questions or difficulties was hugely helpful and filled with compassion! He explained things in a way that was simple yet engaging.”
“A lovely gentle, kind manner. His enthusiasm and expertise really brought the material to life – using concrete examples to help explain quite difficult theory made it all crystal clear. Accepting and encouraging responses without judgement.”
“Ollie was such a kind, compassionate, witty and clever teacher. Even difficult topics he managed to convey with pictures, talks, discussions, or anecdotes. I have done a lot of guided meditations and visualisations, but Ollie is honestly the best one I have found.”
About Ollie
I have a decade and a half of meditation experience and have logged over 10 months of retreat time in the UK and Asia. I was lucky enough to discover meditation when I was 14 years old, and I quickly fell in love with it, in particular when I was 17 and had my mind blown on my first retreat.
I have been certified to teach The Mind Illuminated style Samatha-Vipassana by Culadasa (John Yates Ph.D), with whom I trained from January 2018 to just before his death in September 2021. The book The Mind Illuminated precipitated an immediate and profound effect on my own meditation practice, and the clarity and precision of the approach make it the most powerful tool I know of for deepening one’s practice.
I completed the Zenways Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher Training Course with Barbara Jikai Gabrys Rōshi in 2015.
I am an accredited Mindfulness-Based Pain Management Teacher – training with Breathworks, one of the founding members of BAMBA (The British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches), and I follow the BAMBA good practice guidelines for mindfulness teachers.
Fees
I teach on a donation basis. Suggested donation rates are below, but if you are able to donate only a very small amount (or nothing at all) that’s no problem.
Supporter’s rate: £50/hour ($55/hour)
Standard rate: £40/hour ($45/hour)
Concession rate: £30/hour ($35/hour)
10% of all donations go to Givewell.