Journalist, meditation teacher and yogi, also the founder of social change initiative No Beers? Who Cares! Claire Robbie has combined everything she is passionate about into a varied and interesting career that she has evolved around also being a present mother to her son Jack.
Claire Robbie has been teaching yoga and meditation for over 10 years. She has trained and continues to study with some of the world’s leading teachers in different styles/philosophies/types of meditation and yoga. She combines her own learning with her personal experiences from her own non-negotiable practice and teaches from the heart in an accessible and practical way. She knows that meditation is the foundational key to living a happy, content and peaceful life.
She is the meditation coach for some of New Zealand’s leading business people and entrepreneurs and is passionate about making meditation an integral and ‘normal’ part of our community.
She now travels around the world teaching meditation and yoga and also speaking on consciousness, shifting habits, alcohol education, meditation and the mind.
Claire is the Founder of The School of Modern Meditation, an online & in-person centre for meditation, breathwork and the inner arts for new and experienced meditators alike. www.wearesomm.co
Available for:
- Guest speaker
- Corporate events
- Emceeing
- Social media
- Media commentary
- Brand ambassador
Here’s your chance to learn more about one of New Zealand’s leading meditation teachers:
What is No Beers Who Cares?
I started NBWC in January 2017 as a way of holding myself accountable as I gave up drinking for 2017. So many people wanted to join me that I decided to turn it into a ‘thing’. A website was created, regular monthly events started taking place and the movement grew and grew. Creating a community was important to me as the first time I gave up drinking (a stint that lasted 2 years) was quite lonely, and I found myself struggling to socialize and get out. I lived in LA at the time and had been working in events – an industry that was notoriously ‘boozy’ and I found I had to really dig deep to get out and have fun. NBWC is all about normalizing socializing sober and providing events and support in this.
When and how did you discover meditation? How did it change your life?
When I started training as a yoga teacher, I also started learning about meditation. It was almost an aside, we’d do a guided meditation here and there, a 5 minute savansana at the end of class. Over time I learned that yoga postures where fundamentally created so that yogis could spend more time in meditaiton, rather than the actual focus of yoga like it is here in the western world.
I then started doing some deep meditation trainings, and then just before I had my son began a twice daily practice that has become the foundation of my life.
A consistent daily meditation practice is the most nourishing thing anyone can do for themselves. As we develop compassion, patience and understanding of themselves, we become more able to do this with those around us. The stress release, calm and clarity that comes with this practice is profound.
What’s one thing you’d change in New Zealand society right now, if you had the power?
I’d make a comprehensive meditation course mandatory at schools, and create a meditation culture within companies so that it became normalised.
What are the top three things most people struggle with when they first ‘get on the wagon’?
Doing the things they used to do ‘drinking’ sober. Learning how to socialise sober, date sober, go to weddings and still have a good time. But once they do, it creates a massive paradigm shift and we realize that the best version of ourselves is the present version of ourselves.
What’s one tip people can do for better mental clarity and wellbeing?
Learn to meditate! But as a start – take at least 5 minutes a day to themselves, just to relax and be present. A few deep breaths can work wonders. And move – the human body is designed to be pushed and stretched and to move. Cut back on alcohol and caffeine consumption and find an activity that is relaxing that you enjoy to do regularly.
What was the biggest career (or life) lesson you have learnt so far?
If everyone else is doing it, it pays to question ‘why’?
What are your aspirations for the next five years?
To teach 2500 people to meditate and open a retreat centre on Great Barrier Island.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
I went to uni not knowing what the hell to study so my BA is in Ancient Egyptian History and Russian Politics… hasn’t been overly helpful…