“I discovered I'm capable of changing my emotional states. I can self-regulate, and that's why I'm not afraid anymore that it would come back.”

Leonia knew she was depressed when she struggled to get out of bed in the early mornings. It was horrible, she says – the kind of thing you can feel in your body. But she also knew something had to change, and she was determined to change it.

It began with Dr Joe’s Morning Meditations and Post-its scattered around her home – reminders not to default to her old programs. Then she discovered Walking Meditations and, on her very first outing, had what she now calls a life-changing experience. That same day, she set a goal to complete 88 more Walking Meditations, “no matter what.”

Not quite halfway there, Leonia is no longer depressed. She’s walked in rain and freezing weather, still experiencing those “wonderful uplifting emotions.” If feelings of insecurity arise, she allows them only a few short moments in her day. Because she understands it isn’t about healing, but change.

“You have to change,” she says today. “You will change. You are capable of changing.”

Recorded at the Cancun Week Long Advanced Retreat in June 2024