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Curiosity. Just try. Beginner's seat.

Featured guest: Michele Troughear

Magdalena

4/3/2026

Today we will bring forth an experienced meditator, a practitioner, to share with us her experiences of finding mindfulness, learning meditation through the simple act of sitting but also observing and letting the body communicate what messages we could respond to.

I would love to start with this quote from Michele’s website so it can relate better to some of her focused areas.

“Stress is a built-in response designed to help you rise to challenges, learn, and adapt. Often when you meet a high-demand moment, your body mobilises, focus sharpens, energy increases, and you become more alert. This response can be healthy and helpful when it’s understood and used well.”

We met in Hong Kong perhaps twenty years ago and we have managed to have each other in our orbits ever since. Michele’s journey into surrendering to meditation and stillness practices was somehow reinforced as a path while visiting Asian countries and mainly Thailand. Sitting in retreats, observing monks in monasteries, meeting mentors on the way and noticing where her attention was really going, contributed to leading Michele to a new calling.

Returning to Melbourne, Australia, while still integrating that “mystical experiences” in her body, mind and spirit, Michele was prompted one day by her friends to start teaching meditation locally. This practice continues ever since.

And these “little moments” are still here for us to remember, to bring back to life and to explore in our interview, how one stays on a journey, how one keeps diligently to “translate” into practices what we learn, what we find transformational.This unassuming consistency is ever present and Michele is here for us to offer an essential example of what we do really, when we choose to practice meditation and teach to others too.

Michele kindly shared with us, among her practices, some of her professional guides on her path like Alia Crum (Empowering Mindsets), Paul Gilbert (Compassion Focused Therapy). We will also share with you one of her favourite mindfulness meditations by Ram Dass that can be found on Insight Timer, and even more wonderfully, you can listen to Michele as well on Insight Timer, in case you already have the app.

I hope you enjoy this chat as well and you can find many things to take away.

I truly enjoyed her solo silent retreat ritual, that she practices annually for the end of the year. This is some takeaway for me too.

And for all of us, the last words of wisdom from Michele are: for anyone interested in meditation, no matter which level you are at, remain CURIOUS. JUST TRY. Jump into the BEGINNER’S SEAT.

Thank you Michele.

Michele’s short bio:

“My understanding of pressure, recovery, and the mind comes from years of meditation, silent retreat practice, martial arts, study, travel, and decades of close work with people whose lives are full and demanding.

I’ve spent thousands of hours listening carefully to what happens when someone isn’t sleeping well, feels chronically tired, mentally overloaded, caught in difficult relationship dynamics, or is simply trying to keep going when something is not right. Much of my work is helping people make sense of what is happening, see what is taking a toll, and working out what will bring about change.

People often come to me because they want calm, clarity, and room to think properly. I give people room to speak honestly and work through complexity without being rushed or given superficial advice. I’m often able to spot the cycles, habits, and pressure points that are hard to see when you’re in the middle of it.”

You can find her on LinkedIn, her website and Insight Timer

LinkedIn

Website

Magdalena’s Substack