Hi, I’m Neil Morbey. I’ve been obsessed with rock climbing for 20 years and I worked long hours as a Landscape Architect for 10. Throughout all of this I had incredible adventures, but I was avoiding something. Since bullying in secondary school and spinal surgery at seventeen I had been using work and pleasure to distract myself from my underlying emotions, and to avoid my social anxiety.

This all began to change when I tried to meditate. I picked up a basic book, read the instructions and began. As I focused on my bodily sensations I observed frustration, pain, heartache. There was emotion in my body and mind and it was unbearable. Tears streamed down my face and I had to shake on the floor to calm down. I realised then, this was the start of a journey of healing and self-discovery.

Over the next few years I trained in many mind-body modalities as a way of trying to understand myself and change the way I think and feel. What I didn’t know then is that, rather than change myself, the path of healing lay in accepting myself, exactly as I am, and learning to respond to my judgemental thoughts with kindness and compassion.

This changed my relationship to my emotions, my pain and my sense of self. As the relationship became more friendly my body relaxed and healed. I opened up to people and became less serious, less anxious and more calm and compassionate. It remains my life’s work.

I was lucky enough to meet Mark Dunn on this journey. He taught me the STOP technique and helped me begin to teach meditation and self-enquiry. We now work separately and together and are lifelong friends. I have learned from him and others that we must reach out to others, build up communities of friends and in order to do that we must first get to know ourselves with kindness and compassion.