In October, we celebrate our amazing register member Ciara McGinley from Finding Quiet.
Ciara is a wellbeing journalist, meditation teacher and founder of mindfulness platform Finding Quiet where she helps busy people learn to meditate and live a little more mindfully.
We asked Ciara to share some information about her business, her teachings and her own meditation experience, so that you can get to know her better.
Here is what Ciara told us about her own meditation experience…
“I began meditating at university as a way to support anxiety and exam stress, and I started with traditional visualisation practices. It wasn’t until many years later that I realised how much my practice had impacted my life.
I went from feeling highly strung to being a much calmer and more relaxed person - but even more than that, I was much more resilient and able to handle any challenges that came by way. Meditation has broadened my perspective and made me much more aware of my internal world. It’s helped me to balance my nervous system, so that I can act rather than react to stressful situations - I felt like it helped to create that little bit of space for me, the space between an event and a reaction. It helped me find that little bit of quiet - which is where the name for my business came from. It’s also helped me be more compassionate towards myself and towards others.
I now practise a mix of breathwork and mindfulness meditation techniques - my favourites are body scan meditations and visualisations (I’m a big fan of the mountain meditation). I love simple breathwork techniques because I can do them any time anywhere. I am a big believer in finding a way to bring meditation and mindfulness techniques into your life in a way that feels realistic and sustainable for you. When I was working full-time in the corporate world, I didn’t always have time to do a proper meditation practice before work so, instead, I’d turn to breathwork exercises on my commute and save my body scan or visualisations meditations for bedtime”
Ciara trained with BSoM to become an externally accredited meditation teacher because…
“Meditation and mindfulness techniques had become such an important part of my life and I saw first-hand how they transformed my wellbeing. I could also see how stressed and overwhelmed everyone around me was. I used to be just like that, struggling to get through the day with stress and struggling to sleep at night with a racing mind. I wanted those around me to give meditation a chance and see how it could transform their wellbeing too. I decided to train with BSoM so I could share this with others, in the hopes of encouraging them to add little moments of mindfulness or meditation into their day and improve their overall wellbeing….
I didn’t set out how to help any specific people other than those around me, but what I realised was that those around me were busy, time-poor, stressed out, overwhelmed and knew that something needed to change but didn’t know where to start.
Now, that’s exactly who I support in my 1-1 programme and London workshops/retreats. We focus on building a meditation practice that helps them to better manage stress, build mental resilience, and find quiet in the chaos through their practice”
What she loved about the training was…
“…the in-person aspect of the course. It gave me the confidence to teach and having those contact hours with my tutor were really beneficial. I also loved that I got to know the other teachers who I studied with, and it’s been great to see their businesses grow over the years since.
I was really keen to find a course that was externally accredited and that I felt provided me with the education I needed to go out into the world and support others with meditation. I also wanted to be part of a teacher’s register and have CPD courses that continued to support me as I grew as a teacher. It feels like BSoM will always be with me to guide me on my teaching journey rather than just being another course that once you complete you never hear from again. BSoM ticked all the boxes”.
About Ciara’s business, Finding Quiet
About a year after she qualified with BSoM, Ciara launched Finding Quiet - her mindfulness platform where she hosts all of her 1-1 programmes and advertises her meditation workshops and retreats.
Now, almost two years down the road, she is working on a rebrand and just about to launch a new edition of her signature 1-1 programme in the hopes of reaching more people and supporting them in learning to meditate and live a little more mindfully.
Ciara feels that there are so many misconceptions about meditation - what the practice is, how you should do it and what you’ll get from it - and so she has always wanted to show that meditation is accessible, even for busy, time-poor people. Everyone can do it and it can be adapted to suit all lifestyles. Her key motivation has always been to show how just practising simple techniques everyday can do wonders for your wellbeing and totally transform how you experience through life - just like it has for her.
Ciara mainly works with people living in busy cities who feel stressed and overwhelmed and want to try meditation and breathwork as a way to help them manage stress, build resilience, sleep better and find more joy in the everyday.
Finding Quiet offers the following services and sessions
- A 1-1 programme which is great for those who want more bespoke guidance and support. It’s focused around learning to meditate and live more mindfully.
- Regular free community classes on Zoom which are open to anyone and everyone. These are shared on social media and in the newsletter to let my community know when they’re happening. They are often themed, for example in the past have looked at meditation & sleep, mindfulness vs meditation etc. Ciara is really keen to make meditation accessible to everyone and so offering a free virtual class to my community has been a big part of my business since the beginning. It allows them to try it out, see my teaching style, and start them on their journey.
- Morning retreats and wellbeing workshops in collaboration with other wellbeing practitionerssuch as yoga teachers, mindset coaches and sound healers.
Ciara says “These fill me with so much energy and joy. It is such a privilege to hold space for clients at retreat and to create a safe space for your clients to come together, connect with other like-minded people and share their experiences”
- Corporate workshops and meditation classes.
Ciara says “Research shows that so many employees feel stressed and on the brink of burnout, juggling their work and personal life without much balance. I think it’s more important than ever that employers equip their employees with the tools they need to help them manage stress and build mental resilience - in work and in life - while also assessing their own workplace culture if their staff feel they are overworked”.
In addition to teaching meditation…
Ciara is beginning to support wellbeing brands with events for their communities, press and influencers. She says “this is mega exciting for me as I’m a journalist by trade and have been to many wellbeing press events over the years. To be on the other side of it and actually hosting a session feels very full circle. Watch this space!”.
Her favourite aspect of teaching is…
“watching a client’s transformation over the course of a six-week or longer programme. It could be as simple as they now realise all the misconceptions about meditation and have a better understanding of the practice, or it could be as transformative as they are now managing stress better or falling asleep easier because their practice helps them to relax at night…
I also LOVE teaching in-person events. It’s such a brilliant opportunity to form deeper connections with clients and to provide them with not only a relaxing few hours on a retreat, but real tools and techniques that they can take away from the event and implement in their own lives”.
How you can work with, or find out more about Ciara and Finding Quiet
Next event is – 26th November – ‘Morning Retreat – Navigate the Year end with grace’
Meditation, breathwork and yoga retreat in Central London.
Website - https://www.findingquiet.co.uk/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finding.quiet/
Newsletter - https://findingquiet.myflodesk.com/newsletter-sign-up