Voices, Mindfulness & Finding Peace, with Amy
Amy went through addiction and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After waking from a coma, she found meditation and eventually became a mindfulness teacher. This is her story.
What we talk about
Amy spent most of her twenties in an abusive relationship and battling drug addiction. During that time, she began hearing voices in Cantonese, her first language, that told her to hurt herself. She was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
After being pushed to the edge and waking from a coma, Amy felt she'd been given a second chance. A leaflet for Reiki in a mental health clinic opened a door. The work that followed, daily meditation, therapy, and discipline, that's what built the change. Over time, the voices got quieter. They're still there today, but Amy has learned to accept them and live alongside them.
In this conversation, we explore
- Misconceptions around paranoid schizophrenia
- How Reiki and meditation became Amy's entry point into mindfulness
- The link between trauma and meditation, and why mindfulness isn't always safe for everyone, drawing on Bessel van der Kolk's work in The Body Keeps the Score
- How mindfulness becomes a life skill, not just something you do when things go wrong
- Loving-kindness meditation (mettā), and how directing it toward yourself can be the hardest part
- Learning to set boundaries and choosing yourself
- The discipline of practising even when life feels good
About Amy
Amy is a mindfulness teacher based in Islington, London. She trained with the Mindfulness Association (UK) and teaches free 8-week mindfulness courses through The Stress Project, a wellbeing charity run by the Holloway Neighbourhood Group. She also offers private and corporate mindfulness sessions.
References mentioned in this episode
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a programme created by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Loving-kindness meditation (mettā)
- The Mindfulness Association (UK)
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