Hello, I’m Ralitsa - a mindfulness and meditation teacher based in Hong Kong. 

I’m a passionate advocate for mental health, well-being and what makes people thrive and flourish.

Welcome to this space where I hope you can find how I can support you to integrate mindfulness into your life. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned practitioner - mindfulness meets you where you are. I trust there’s something new or a timely reminder here for you, waiting to be discovered. 

My introduction to mindfulness was during my studies in Psychology - a second University degree which I decided to pursue at a later stage in my life. I was always interested and curious about human behaviour and fascinated by people. I came across Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as a complementary approach for helping people suffering with depression to prevent relapse in this not easy to manage recurrent condition. I was amazed to learn that a significant body of research was showing that MBCT is as good as medication for depression, in some instances even better. I started reading and researching about it and I became more and more intrigued by the explosion of studies showing the many benefits of mindfulness from better management of everyday stress to helping people with a number of chronic health conditions and management of anxiety and depression. I was fascinated by the origins of mindfulness in Buddhist psychology and how these ancient teachings interface with modern psychology and neuroscience.

As I soon discovered - reading and learning about mindfulness is wonderful, but not enough. Mindfulness is a skill. And as with any new skill it takes practice. When I started meditating as a fresh participant in a 8-week MBSR course - it all fell into place. The decision to train to become a mindfulness teacher was easy - I couldn’t wait to share these teachings with others. I have been incredibly lucky to practice, learn and train with some of the best mindfulness and meditation teachers in the world and the biggest thank you I can say to them is to share their wisdom. 

I remember very well the first mindfulness class of the MBSR course. I just came back to HK after dropping off my eldest daughter at University in the UK. When it was my turn to introduce myself, my voice started shaking and I could only manage to say “Hi, I’m Ralitsa” before I broke into tears. The stress and grief of my baby leaving the nest  simply couldn’t hold anymore. I felt embarrassed, even ashamed. I liked to see myself as a relatively emotionally intelligent person and here I was unable to control my sadness. It took some time to regain my courage to speak in class again. I thought that everyone was judging and feeling sorry for me. I thought. Week by week I realised that my thoughts are not facts, that emotions need to be recognised before they can be regulated, that actually crying is a healthy way to complete the stress cycle. I discovered that there was another way of knowing - different from the thinking mind - that comes from the body and from the heart. As Jon Kabat-Zinn likes to say, "When you hear Mindfulness, you should be really hearing Heartfulness.”

Fast forward, now I happen to teach in the same room where I had that first mindfulness class. I like to tell this story because it immediately invites and gives people permission to be as they are. This is the first step of any mindfulness journey. In fact, of any journey of healing and self-discovery. As a mindfulness teacher I’m constantly reminded of the power of human connection and compassion.

This beautiful Thank you note and the moving words of gratitude I receive at the end of mindfulness courses, remind me why I love what I do so much. My work connects me with amazing people willing to learn, change and grow. Feeling humble and grateful to share some of these kind words with you.

Be well,

Ralitsa 

Ralitsa’s Education and Training:

• Qualified MBSR Teacher, Mindful Academy Solterreno, Spain

• Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCT-L), Foundational Training, Oxford Mindfulness Centre, UK

• Advanced Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness Training 

• Mindfulness In The Workplace Teacher Training, Oxford Mindfulness Centre, UK

• Certified .b Teacher, Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), UK

• BSc (Hons) in Psychology