The Mothers

Vedic Mother: 001

Kristen Vandevier

Q: Give us a bit of background on your life story. Where did you grow up?

A: I grew up in Connecticut in the '80s.

Q: How many siblings, did you come from a big or small family?

A: I was the youngest of three kids. In some ways it was an ordinary upbringing and in some ways it was unique. There was no meditation involved, it was a very classic Western lifestyle. Went to school, had ballet class, after school sports -- that kind of stuff. I did them, didn’t necessarily like them. One unique thing: my Mom traveled a lot. As a young child, she would go to Egypt, South Africa, all over the world. There was this part of me that had some awareness for life outside of the life I was living. I also had a much older sister. She was living in NYC. There was some awareness that life could look different. As a kid, I was very artistic. I excelled at art. There was a lot of introspection happening. I was the youngest by far, so would spend a lot of time on my own -- sometimes would listen to music, sometimes not, but often going inward.

Q: Tell me more about your Mom’s traveling and the impact that had on you as a child.

A: I remember missing her, a lot. Missing her a lot when she left. I remember the flak she got for it from other people. I missed her, wished she wouldn’t go but I also admired it. I was fascinated when she would come home with the stories, the artifacts. It broke down those boundaries of what one can do, especially as a Mom. It doesn't have to look a certain way. Just because you have a passion for something, and because you are a Mom, you have to throw that down the toilet. She didn't care when people gave her a hard time. She grew up in NYC in the 40s and 50s. She had a tough side to her that she actually seemed to enjoy when people told her what to do, defiance. She would bring home books, albums, images of these incredible places, people and cultures. They were real in a way that maybe they weren't real to others.

Q: What was your career path? Have you always worked in non-profits?

A: Not even close. I very much worked in the for-profit space prior to becoming a meditation teacher. Because I was an artistic kid, I wanted to go to art school. My parents weren't interested in this. "You're artistic, but you have other talents, too". I went into Advertising. I could do art and writing and it was something my parents would support as a career path. I went to Boston University for that, graduated and wasn't able to find a job right away, so I went back to school -- grad school -- in San Francisco at the Academy of Arts, built my portfolio and then worked in Advertising. After grad school, I lived in Los Angeles (Venice), in a very stressful work environment. [In Advertising] no matter what I was selling, whether a filet-of-fish, a hotel subscription or a pair of shoes, it was selling the idea that you were lacking something. It was selling that you had a need and it was outside of yourself. This was nagging at me. I tried to find ways of bringing more consciousness into Advertising towards the later end of my career. But it still wasn't working.

Q: Who was your initiator into Vedic Meditation? When did you first learn VM?

A: I learned how to meditate in 2010 with Thom Knoles. I was introduced to him by James Brown, a boss of mine at the time, who was always missing ahead of a presentation, etc. -- I could never find him. He would be meditating. He encouraged me to go to an intro talk. I recognized the feeling right away. Four years before, I had a massive higher consciousness experience that lasted 3-4 days after my Mother passed away. In those four days, everything was sparkling, I had love for everything. Total unity experience. I tried hypnotherapy. I got a taste of it from that. I quickly discovered meditation could get me there. I wasn't a great meditator in the beginning. Once I got pregnant, I totally fell off the wagon multiple times. I found it hard to meditate twice a day.

Q: Tell me more about your path to Initiator Training (IT).

A: For me, it was helpful to have the calling be so clear. It was still only a voice in my head. It’s hard to take action or not convince yourself that you’re not crazy. It was such a scary road. I certainly had many panic moments. When I had the epiphany to go, the company I was working for completely absolved two weeks later. I did not speak of the epiphany, I ignored it. I wasn’t even thinking about IT. I was thinking about Menla -- Thom’s retreat. That’s when I got to Thom and he told me I needed to do this. There was so little time, I had to get right into action. I told Ben, he turned green, but was supportive. We as a partnership were having trouble at this point. People who have two children under the age of 2 -- I've realized, that is kind of normal. If you can get through that period in your life, you can get through anything. I just kept moving forward with the pre-requisites. I couldn't think about leaving. I would get nauseous thinking about it, so I wouldn't. If it was meant to be, it would be. As it got closer, it got scarier, but I was much more into it. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But, I got to talk to them. I had a satellite phone. Now, the connection is great. It wasn’t the 3 months that was difficult, it was the first half -- once I was through the first half of the 3 months, it was all downhill from there. It was exactly what had to be happening, it was clearly dharmic. The kids were young enough, they hardly remember it now. The only thing I still get flak for from them is that I missed Valentine’s Day. It was a lot to integrate as soon as I got home, a high contrast experience -- whereas the rest of my colleagues went to Bali to unwind after IT -- but I don't regret a second of it. Since then, the work I am doing now, I am far more proud of. Now that it’s over, it was all great. They have a lot of independence. Ben, too. He was terrified the first time I left. I learned very quickly to not talk to people about my plans. I will say, once I came back -- everyone thought it was a great idea.

Q: How has your meditation practice supported your journey through Motherhood?

A: To imagine parenthood without meditation is a frightening thought to me. I know parents who don't meditate -- I don't know how they do it. We know stress comes from changes in expectations and parenthood is all about that. And it happens all the time. They are little, adorable, bundles of demand. It’s a lot. I don't know what human being can handle all of those responsibilities: having a job, having an infant, not sleeping most of the night, handle

Q: Tell us about your journey into Motherhood. Did you always want to have children?

A: I always wanted to have kids, didn’t have a number in mind. I loved my Mother very much, always thought of myself as a Mom. It wasn't long into my career that I discovered the lifestyle I was living was not

what I wanted to be the kind of Mom I wanted to be. I had started backing out of that lifestyle by 2012, when I had my first child. I went freelance instead of full-time, worked for a small agency for a while. When I had Scarlett, I started with freelancing and that enabled me to buy a house. The moment we made the down payment, I never worked in Advertising again.

Q: When did you first get into meditation? Did you always want to become a VM teacher?

A: My practice came first, then the inspiration to become a teacher, then Meditation Without Borders. It was during one of my meditations at teacher training that I had this very deep, Mother Divine, experience. There’s a technique we do, Cosmic Body. I was stretching not only my awareness but I had this thought “whatever is out there, must be kind of lonely”. I tried to send this ping of love, not just awareness, and what came back was this Mother Divine feeling. One of the qualities of Divine Mother is that she sees all of her children as equal. Of the people getting this amazing technique, it’s only getting to this one stratum of the population. Some of the children aren't being supported, basically, was the feeling. Getting meditation to those who don't have access to it who are suffering more acutely, because of their circumstances, came top of mind. This was the seed of it. This was part of my mission. We all get clues to our mission. This was one of the main downloads. The next clue was my fellow IT colleague from Mexico, Isabel. She and I would have conversations about how she was the first Mexican teacher. She speaks Spanish, finally hitting a population that doesn’t get access. One of the times she was visiting me in California, in the beginning of 2019. We were in meditation and I came out of meditation and said “we have to do a non-profit together”. It took us a year to get the structure of it together. We launched in February of 2020. The timing was laughable. But we had our first project - a cancer center in Mexico, that sponsored women who couldn’t cover treatment. We had the full first year laid out. In May, a Women’s prison. August, we were to head to Cameroon to work with women in a conservation at a gorilla sanctuary. September, an orphanage in Guatemala, etc. It all got cancelled. That’s when we started the podcast, because it was something we could do. After the podcast launched, we interviewed a bunch of people. Last year, we started our next project: a homeless community here in San Francisco. It was incredibly intense, but such a beautiful experience. We taught a real range of individuals. Some were really into it, some were half listening. It was one of the most transformative experiences I’ve ever gone through. Just this week, we have three different opportunities: Prison in Mexico, IRC Wellness Fair, Rwanda Women’s Network. We provide all the funding whether from our pockets or from fundraising. We don't need a lot of money. To teach meditation is a pretty low-[operational] cost endeavor. The cost is more in our time, than in money.

Q: Is your partner a meditator?

A: Yes. He learned a year or two after I learned. He really got committed after I left. He wouldn't have had the energy if he hadn’t. What I discovered was he was very well equipped. Some of my friends' husbands found it very threatening, almost as if it would give their wives ideas. Once I came back, everyone thought it was the best idea.

all of the constant plans that change because of a sick child, it’s so much. Meditation lets me release all of this stress that comes from those experiences and lets me be present with my kids and enjoy them. Not care that the dishes have been piled up or there is a bunch of laundry -- that I'm literally looking at right now. That we are in credit card debt. All the things that happen with young parenthood. I feel like there is this threshold of surviving and then everything else is where you get to enjoy it. Most people are just hovering in the survival space, and dipping right back down. Meditation allows me to get way above that. Don't get me wrong, I still have those horrible mornings. But it lets me do things with them that are a little further outside, because meditation has given me the adaptation energy that allows for those experiences. I drove my kids across the country and back over the pandemic, for example.

Q: Any Vedic rituals you’ve brought into your family traditions?

A: I do sun salutation in the morning with the gayatri mantra, they join me if they want, they meditate on their own, they love the Puja, practically know it. They know a lot of the myths and stories. They’re fascinated, I don't push it on them. They go to a Waldorf school -- Steiner was very Vedic inspired. We celebrate certain holidays. Scarlett right now, her ancient history project is on ancient India for example.

Q: A favorite quote, book, poem you’d like to share?

A: “All they [kids] need is to be loved and know they’re loved. Everything else is just details”. - James Brown. This came in handy when I felt like I was failing. This has been central to my path as a Mother. This is my one job -- to love them and all the challenges they come with. And of course, Guru Dev's “You deserve the best...”. Mothers tend to give everything away. We lose a sense of our own deserving power. The best is an environment with your family and your children that is one of peace, enjoyment and joy. You have a right to make that the environment for yourself and your kids. You're the leader in that. They wont have an enjoyable childhood if you yourself don't have joy, and you deserve that, at the very least.

Q: Any questions I didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

A: In terms of my viewpoint on [Motherhood and Meditation], the more Moms we get meditating, and teaching meditation especially, the better our world is going to be. The health of the Mothers in a society is the backbone of the entire society. If we can get more Mothers teaching, it's going to change the way meditation is taught. Where Moms go, kids must come. There is a way of teaching that has more of a Mothering aspect. This requires Moms to see themselves outside of their standard role a bit, mothering not just the children but everyone. When I told myself “It’s impossible.” the voice inside my head would be like “Ok, if it’s impossible, what if it wasn't, what would that look like?”. Following this, and having the courage to follow this – its so much more effort to do anything as a Mom. Mothers are not just those who give birth, but those that Mother. We need more Moms in every field. We have to remember that all sacrifices come back to you. Whatever you sacrifice you will receive. There is no loss.

Vedic Mother: 002

Layla Broumand Phillips

Q: Give us a bit of background on your life story. Where did you grow up?

A: I'll start from before I was born. Epigenetics has a lot to do with the things that we carry. I have become a huge believer that epigenetics – the things our foremothers and forefathers passed on to us, the traumas that they've experienced, unfortunately, unless we break the cycle and create awareness, we carry those things with us. Both of my parents are from Iran. My Father came [to the U.S.] in the 50s/60s, Mother also came in the 50s/60s but had to escape Iran, and had to go through various things. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California in a big, Persian family. I grew up there most of my life until I went to college on the East Coast. I became a city hopper. I love and lived in all cosmopolitan, metropolitan cities: New York, Boston, Madrid, Paris, LA. They all had beauty for what they were. Part of my heart is in all of these cities, I would do it all again if I could. I do not regret this period of my life. For me, retreating was to do that – live in different places, experience life through the lens of a different perspective and different culture. But here I am in Bucks County, PA, with Beth as my neighbor -- my lovely neighbor. I moved to Bucks County in 2012. Bucks County and Solebury, PA was never on my radar. My husband was from Philadelphia. Philly was also never on my radar. We came to Solebury and saw this farm that has been in my husband’s family since the 1950s. We were living in Los Angeles at the time, still dating. My husband wanted to find something he could dig his heels into – an organic soil business. We were looking for agricultural places, or a plot of land in California. We thought we would come here for a year and try out New Hope. One year has turned into 10 years. Solebury really sucks you in.

Q: How many siblings, did you come from a big or small family?

A: I had a small, nuclear family. I just had one brother. But, in the Persian culture, your Aunts, Uncles, Cousins are also your siblings and extensions of your parents. For me, I had multiple parents. I was surrounded by a lot of people, community was really huge growing up. That has changed unfortunately, over time – generationally. Life has changed a bit.

Q: What was your career path?

A: My career path has had a lot of action, has seen many different things. Started off in the world of Marketing and PR. For a stint of it, I was in NYC -- Estee Lauder -- just when e-commerce was starting. Clinique was one of the first makeup brands to sell products online. I did that for a really long time. I also did my graduate studies in linguistics. I taught all sorts of people, specifically, I appreciated working in community colleges in NYC. This translated into secondary English classes. I thought I wanted to do my Doctorate degree – aborted an attempt at your alma mater, Columbia. I always thought I would end up being a Professor. I always thought I would end up in academia. I really wanted to be a child psychologist when I was growing up. Fast forward, I moved to Los Angeles, I was at UCLA -- I thought I would go do the same

Q: How has your meditation practice supported your journey through Motherhood?

A: I think it’s helpful because the more that we can do introspection there's another phenomenon that happens… as a Mother, it has helped me to take a beat. Take a breath. Because so many things are thrown at us as Mothers. Especially as time goes on, and the kids get older, and they become teenagers and the little problems for little people are no longer and we have bigger people and bigger problems. They are contending with being their own individuals in this crazy world. To take a breath, take a moment -- knowing that I will be okay, we will get through this. To have a place and a space to clear my head is so helpful.

Q: What was the most surprising thing about meditation?

A: That I could do it. I would think... "Meditation? Not for me. No thanks. I'm glad that you love it and it's working for you, but it's not for me." Meditation has been in my sphere. My Mother, years ago, when I was living in NYC, got into Kundalini yoga. Kundalini is a lot of breath-work, a lot of meditation. Movements for a long period of time. I remember, when I would come from NYC and visit her guru in LA -- I would go and meditate, we'd do the breath of fire, I was like "yeah, no thanks" -- if I wasn't moving at Mach 3 at the gym, I wasn't helping myself. For me, time has led me to meditation and to a more Yin state. I was very young-forward most of my life. Things happen in our lives and we all have them: whether we lose loved ones, have children, we need more grounding and better connection with ourselves. I desperately needed to connect with myself to balance out being a Mom, and all the other things. I feel like that's why I was finally ready to meditate.

Q: How did you first get into Vedic Meditation (VM)?

A: Coincidences. First of all, I was ready to learn. As you know and we’ve talked about, I’m trying to create a wellness space, a wellness community. I started it through food and then by opening up a space -- Honey Hollow Farm -- for people to come and stay and retreat together. I’ve always loved yoga. There's come a point where now people are wanting to come here and host their own events. Through having this wellness space, I’ve met a lot of beautiful people – yourself included, Holly Caracappa included. Sally Miller. Sue Elkind. My friend Sunshine Kate. I want to be me, and I want to be them. I saw that they needed it, to be them. Like me – we all contend with our own self. I feel like it was introduced to me before I was ready and all of a sudden I’m ready and the universe laid it all out for me. In the last year or two, the universe was extremely supportive in leading me to the path of meditation.

Q: Any Vedic rituals you’ve brought into your work/family?

A: The biggest one being Ayurveda. I really really try and eat seasonally. Movement, food, nourishment and now meditation. In terms of seasonal food, the spices. I’m a firm believer in let food be thy medicine. If you're experiencing certain things and you need your body to warm up, cool off, to balance out. There are ways to

thing at Columbia over at UCLA -- but I wound up meeting my husband and having a baby. I decided I was very disenchanted with academia, it was no longer academic, it was bureucratic - it was run like a business. It lost it's appeal -- I was no longer charmed by it. So, I started making soups for pre and post-natal moms. As a new Mom myself, I found that what we really truly needed to do, especially if we were able to nurse, we need a lot of fluid because you are giving so much to your child. Soups were a great way to get the nutrients and hydration that we need. It all started with soups. It became a family affair. When we moved to Solebury, and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, I started doing cooking classes and still making soups and I would leave them at the end of the driveway. What I realized is I enjoyed the connection and the energetic exchange, food is meant to be sacred and ceremonial. Just like you wouldn't go to a Japanese tea ceremony and there would be tea waiting for you outside of your door. It's lost in translation. It is about an exchange. It is sacred, it is ceremonial. During Covid, I was door dashing food for our tenants at Honey Hollow Farm. My heart was still not fulfilled by doing this. I like to explain why. Why it's important to connect with your food. Or, the experience of eating your food. Because I feel like we are living on auto-pilot right now. Food is something we do to get us from one stop to the next. It is not it's own thing, and it should be. It is one of the most important relationships we have with ourselves and our community, is our relationship with nourishment. I'm here to bring that back.

Q: Tell us about your journey into Motherhood. Did you always want to have children?

A: Yes, I always wanted to have a big family. I didn't like being one of two, even though we were one of many. I wanted to have more siblings. Three was the most that my body could do, and my age. I have 3 children - 15 boy, 13, girl, 8, boy.

Q: When did you first get into meditation?

A: I wish I had gotten into meditation years ago. I really, really do. But, in the same breath, I wasn't ready for it years ago. I say that now, because the older version of myself, the one that's come so far - it doesn't matter if you are a Mother, a caregiver, or a caretaker, we expend so much energy, as wives, as parents, employees, business owners, friends, daughters, siblings, we expend so much energy taking care of other people that we truly need to fill our own cups in order to do the best job that we can and to be as spread thin as we are. I wish I got into meditation years ago, because, in the short amount of time that I have been meditating in the last few years, it is a place that I can go where it's just my own, where what is going on within me matters, and I can experience walking away from the ledge, so to speak -- walking away from the chaos, from all the things that make me want to combust and implode.

manage that. In all fairness to my parents, that has been life long. This is part of Persian culture. Including things like turmeric, saffron, ginger and cardamom and cinnamon. I did start an Ayurveda study about 2-3 years ago. Understanding your doshas. Understanding the different Ayurvedic spices and foods. This is really where I started to hone in on -- there’s a reason why our bodies do what they do at different times during the year or if we are under stress. Its important to honor our bodies for the bio-individual beings that they are, and we can't compare ourselves.

Q: Any questions I didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

A: I would reiterate that I think it's beautiful that you're doing this Vedic Mothers project. I feel like... Mothers don't put themselves into the equation. We live in a very patriarchal world and women take on a lot. As women, we tend to be nurturers, we tend to be caregivers and this comes at a cost to ourselves. I do feel there is so much value in meditation for Mothers. I do think that being able to create a community where they feel less alone – whether it's that your child is 2 and you're sitting at the park, trying to make new friends at the park, or you're juggling a career, or you have a few teenagers in the house and they're getting all attitudey and disengaging with you. You need your grounding, you need your centering and you need your community of people that understand where you are – and what it means to give so much of your being to others. But, in order to do that, you need to be able to put your own oxygen mask on. I find that a Vedic life, Vedic Meditation, is helpful in that way. It helps me put my oxygen mask on so that I can help my children and my family. Being able to do this community is that Mothers need this. I wish somebody came to me when I was a younger Mother and felt very alone. Motherhood can be very lonely if you don't have the right people that understand what you're going through.

Vedic Mother: 003

Suzanne Tick

Q: Give us a bit of background on your life story. Where did you grow up?

A: I grew up in the Midwest – in Bloomington, Illinois. I moved to New York after I went to college at University of Iowa, and then came out to NYC as a textile weaver. My first job in NYC was working at a textile sweatshop, in fashion. I had to go back to school to get a job in the contractor industry. I went back and got an Applied Science degree at FIT. My career started with my mentor, Boris Kroll. From Suzanne's website: "She traveled with Boris to his mill every Tuesday. There she learned the whole process of constructing a textile: fiber selection, yarn twisting, dyeing, costing, warping, jacquard-design structures and dobby constructions. It was a kind of textile boot camp."

Q: How many siblings, did you come from a big or small family?

A: I grew up in a small family, I’m an Irish twin to my older brother. He was born in June, and I was born in June 12 months later.

Q: What was your career path?

A: I worked in the industry from ‘82 until ‘93, and in ‘94-’95 I started my business, Suzanne Tick studio where I’ve collaborated with many companies.

Q: Did you always want to have children?

A: Yes. Always wanted to have children. I had two miscarriages, by now I would’ve had three [children]. I now have one grown son, age 32, who lives near the West Village, he lives a couple of blocks from where he was grew up – in a 4th floor walk up.

Q: When did you first get into meditation?

A: I started a daily yoga asana practice when Gabe was 6. I had, previous to that, in ‘86, five years after I came to New York, the AIDS epidemic hit the design industry. I had been in it for four years and a lot of the project managers I had been working custom projects with were getting ill, a lot of friends were dying. I took workshops, a lot of workshops on [grief] surrounding the Tibetan book of living and dying. I went to the New York open center, did a lot of workshops there. Did stuff with Tibet House – all kinds of stuff to try to figure out my spiritual path and helping others but nothing ever stuck. I ended up doing a 200 hour teacher training with Dharma Mittra, really ended up getting into that, never taught yoga.

Q: How has your meditation practice supported your journey through Motherhood?

A: The asana practice was good in terms of keeping my body in good health and shape, limberness. I raised Gabe in a 4th floor walkup and then transferred him to this building when he was 8, it’s a vertical living. I’m

Q: What are your plans post-IT? What are you up to today?

A: I was in the class of all women. We were on one of the last deportation planes to come out of India, to get back to the U.S. If I can get 1% of the architecture, designer, art community – I would be happy. That’s my mission. To get with the people that are interested in this practice. It’s been so much fun. I have about 40 students. Some join the group meditations, some don't, some I never hear from again. I always give them a shout out at their anniversary.

Q: What was your first intro to Vedic Meditation?

A: As they say, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. A couple of my buddies, we were doing a sound meditation – and afterwards, they said “wow, you must be a meditator.” and told me “you should meet Thom”. Two of his teachers, Melanie and Neil were here in New York. They came and did an intro talk for me – I had just canceled a full week of travel because I wasn’t feeling well. They happened to be here for that entire week. I learned right away... And it just worked.

Q: Any Vedic rituals you’ve brought into your work or family-life?

A: Absolutely. I do puja a lot. Every Friday, I send a picture and a visualization of what I want to talk about. I express what I’m going to talk about through things I hear about in the news, or topics my student bring up. I do a Sunday group meditation and talk every Sunday at 9am ET. I work with my team on messaging – our whole process of creativity – we call it our “Unified Field”, our entire collection, is based on the knowledge that we’ve all learned through this practice. All of the knowledge is woven together. Even to the point of creation, maintenance and destruction. We give a textile three tries and it’s out if it doesn’t continue to pass the tests. Our whole world has changed, all of our worlds have changed, since understanding Vedic knowledge and how it works. It’s very embedded – since 2016. The Fabric of Space collection, Structural Dimension, learning all of the knowledge has then informed all of our collections.

Q: How was the lead-up to IT, leaving your business for three months?

A: I had to talk to my clients a year in advance, then I talked to my staff three months after all the clients got back to me. I have a pretty great group, I give them a lot of autonomy. I trust them. My son moved back into my house while I was away. A lot of the design community wanted to know what the heck I did for three months while in India. So, I did a monthly call on creativity and the meditation process. I did a lot of that right off the bat. I started teaching the four day course – it took some time.

up and down the steps all the time. Being physical and carrying things up and down – all the fabric quilts, the carpet samples, traveling all over the world. You really have to keep your head on and be in physical good shape to handel carrying things around and moving around so much. It’s been a healthy experience for me. You only know what you know when you know… I wish now, that I had this VM practice under my belt

twenty years ago, man, because it is so restful. I was a single mom for a long time, running my own business, raising my kid. I was a worry-wart. I would wake my son up in the morning and dump my anxiousness onto him. In the mornings, it was hard on him. I would just barrage him with my worries – which now, he reminds me of regularly. I recognize that now.

Q: Is your son, Gabe, a meditator?

A: Yeah, he learned how to meditate. He learned from me when I got back from India. Everyone on my team has been initiated into the practice. I call down every day around 3:30pm for a daily group meditation. I also offer it to all my students, virtually.

Q: A favorite quote, book, poem you’d like to share?

A: I love the one we always talk about… "You deserve the best. Never feel unworthy or not justified in having the best. I tell you, this is your heritage; but, you have to accept it. You have to expect it; you have to claim it. To do so is not demanding too much." - Guru Deva, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. I also think practicing the saying of “next” every time, and any time you start going down into that dark hole of negative self-thoughts, smallself thinking, I’m not worthy, imposter syndrome – all of those things. It’s really worthy of saying “next” – it’s not worth your time and energy to take you there.

Q: What motivated you to go to Initiator Training (IT)?

A: I actually really wanted to deepen my practice. I always thought “IT” stood for “Intensive Training”. I thought it was an extension of Exploring the Vedas and Mastering the Siddhis. All I heard about was that you get to a place of meditating up to 14 hours a day. That was enough to get me [to apply]. I really didn’t know what I was getting into, to tell you the truth. I wanted to deepen my practice.

Q: As a leader, do you think your business would be totally different today, had you not learned to meditate when you did?

A: I’ve always been a good leader. I think it isn’t about that as much as, I’m just so much happier. I’m able to adapt without the anxiety. I’m so much more pleasant to be around. I’m tough – I expect a lot. I’ve always had a pretty healthy career, that hasn't been my problem. I just wasn't happy. I probably would’ve had a much more abundant career in my happiness. I built a carpet company from $110M to $450M in 10 years, and then a textile company from $10M to $50M in that same amount of time. I’m touching a lot of different products and managing a lot of different people. The physical wear and tear, without the meditation practice. I now feel like I can do anything.

Q: Any tools that you use, resources you read on a regular basis?

A: I do a lot of reading. I listen to a lot of podcasts: Buddha at The Gas Pump. I keep up with Thom’s mentoring circles. I’ve done Vedic book clubs. I’m always tapped into the knowledge. The teaching keeps me really active. Morning rituals: oil treatments in the morning before showers, and also being conscious of what I’m consuming, conscious eating is so important.

Q: Any questions I didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

A: I think the opportunity to simmer down in this practice really allows you to be so much more aware and compassionate with what is actually happening with your children and to see it so much more clearly. To be more relevant with your reactivity. Without the practice, I’d still be a messy, worry-wart, not hearing the clues from [my son]. It has supported a better relationship – having a sense of humor about some of the silly things.

Vedic Mother: 004

Jen Pitts

Q: Give us a bit of background on your life story. Where did you grow up?

A: I was born in Rochester, Michigan. We moved to California when I was 3 years old. I grew up in the Central Valley -- Modesto, California. It was an upper middle class life. I always did my homework because it never occurred to me to not do my homework -- college was not an if, it was a when. I thought everyone else was a lot like me until I fell in love with a boy at age 15, who was nothing like me. I remember being 15 years old and his Mom saying “I can’t afford to raise my sons to believe they can go to college”. That was life-changing for me, because it just felt wrong. This guy who I was totally in love with, who was so smart, would not have the opportunity to go to college. It was a formative relationship and moment in my life -- because I really wanted to do something about that.

Q: How many siblings, did you come from a big or small family?

A: 1 of 3 kids – older brother, younger sister and two incredible parents.

Q: What was your career path?

A: I was an English major in college, I loved to write. I was always interested in people’s stories. True stories. Non-fiction. I did school newspaper and things like that. A lot of the women who I really respected were educators. My Mom was a teacher initially. I loved schools and I loved the women that were interested in them. I thought I might become a teacher. I thought since I was really interested in education and I'm very interested in the story and this experience of this family that I'm now connected to through my highschool boyfriend, I wanted to understand populations that didn’t grow up the way I did and who weren't getting access to the things I thought were key. I ended up getting married very young, to this guy who I met on my first day of college at Santa Clara University -- he ended up being gay (that's a totally different story). I got married when I was 24, we moved to Seattle because that's where his family was from. I had shitty jobs after college. Sold wine at a supermarket. I was 26 when he came out. I had a huge do-over and decided I was going to New York. That's where writers always go. I worked at a law firm during the day, studied at night become a teacher, all while getting divorced. Moving to New York changed my entire life. I ended up at the Robinhood Foundation for four years. I knew nothing about philanthropy but as soon as I saw this place, it's where I wanted to be. I was making $30,000 in NYC in 2003. I was doing whatever was needed at the time. My boss was a genius. She was really hard on me, she made me work really hard. Another woman was another huge mentor of mine. She was handling all of the writing for Robinhood at the time and needed support. She taught me how to interview people, how to put a story together.

Q: When did you first get into meditation?

A: I learned to meditate in 2011. My friend, Leslie Glasser brought me to a knowledge meeting in LA. In the

Q: Tell us more about how you survived through those early postpartum days and months with Sammy.

A: I had the practice at that point. When he was on the inside, I had that one time a day with him. Once he was born, I was all over the place. It was a little haphazard. I remember Thom telling us the benefits of twice a day meditation. It turns out it's actually 1,000% true. I don't think I was totally equipped to use this tool as a new Mom. When I got pregnant with Samuel, I knew needed to utilize this tool in some way. (Note to Reader: "Mother's Program" was specifically designed for new parents. This program encourages meditation whenever, wherever, and for however long your schedule allows while juggling parenthood.)

Q: Any Vedic principals you have applied to parenting?

A: Jordan is also a meditator. He had his own practice, he had it when I met him. Meditation has been a part of our kids whole lives, because they've always seen us doing it. At Stella's age, Nina loved to say "I am meditating" and would sit next to me. Once I went to India, Sammy was 5 months old. When I came back from India, I began to consistently meditate twice per day. Sammy would sit with me for the full 20 minutes. Wouldn't say a word. From ages 3-6. He’s an early riser. That morning meditation at 6am, before the house was awake, he would crawl right in and sit with me. Nina would come sit, but then excuse herself. Samuel still does it every once in a while. It's been a really special thing. For me, I don't know that I have explicitly laid out Vedic principals to them, but slowing down, really slowing down. Taking space. Teaching worthy inquiry. These are the topics that we consistently engage in. Nina learned to meditate with Julian Hunter at age 6. I asked her, and she said "yes". It was never forced. She loves the idea of it.

Q: Do you mind sharing how many children you have, their ages and names?

A: Nina 7, Samuel 9

Q: How has your meditation practice supported your journey through Motherhood?

A: Meditation gives me a very honest ability to check in with myself. If something blows me out, or I get pissed, I have the ability to sit with it. "What of this is mine? What do I need to do?" Jordan and I both have a very consistent practice of accountability and apologizing in our house. Processing, and being able to sort through things faster and with more clarity.

Q: What’s in your toolkit as a Mother? Favorite book, poem?

A: I really try not to underestimate my kids and what they can handle. I know how to be appropriate with them, but I'm very honest with them. I don't totally talk to them like babies. Samuel has always been super curious about death. It doesn't freak me out. The first time he asked me "Mom, are you going to die?" I asked him “Are you

spirit of worthy inquiry, I was curious about it. Leslie reached out to me the following Fall to join her for a knowledge meeting in San Francisco. I felt like I couldn’t afford it. I paid on a sliding scale. I had never met Thom until he came to San Francisco. I was healing a lot of things. I had been divorced, I had done a lot of work. I had this very strong career, busting my ass working really hard, but I really wanted to meet someone. I really wanted a family. I had a lot of pain and suffering that I was holding onto – I was really ready to forgive, let go and live my life. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the course, I just remember having a massive release of joy. I was deeply into it, meditating in crazy places -- the bathroom of Nordstrom -- to get my twice a day meditations in. Very soon after I learned, I met the man that ended up becoming my husband. Things just started happening. I moved home, I met Jordan, my dad died a year later, and five months after my Dad died, Jordan and I moved in together and I got pregnant with Nina. Meditation was there for me, the whole way. I was on and off during my Dad's death and then the pregnancy. I struggled to find time during that period of my life.

Q: Tell us about your journey into Motherhood.

A: Meditation came back for me with Sammy, my second child. You feel like you don't have time before a baby, and then after, you really don't feel like you do. Meditation became a way for me to be with Sammy (in utero). It was the only time I had to be with myself and my baby -- between work and family life.

Q: How has becoming a Mom fundamentally changed you?

A: Two kids put me off the rails. I can get 1,200 people seated for dinner at a fundraiser in 15 minutes. But an infant and a toddler at bath time, forget it. I remember seeing pregnant women at the grocery store, shortly after Sammy's birth and thinking "I really hope that's your first -- because this is SO hard". I found going back to work VERY hard after two kids. The logistics. Getting them to two different places. I remember thinking this is maybe bigger than I can handle. Sammy was born in August, I went back to work in November. We had a huge event for work around this time. I’m nuts and started telling my boss (at four months pregnant) I was thinking about what’s next. I had been there for 10 years. When I came back in 2015, homelessness in San Francisco was really bad. My last event was not as much of a success as I wanted it to be. I didn't want it to be my blueprint for my team that I loved. I came back for six months. I wanted to nail this event and leave behind a stronger blueprint for my team, and I want to go to India. I had just come back from maternity leave, we had a new COO, and I was asking to leave for two weeks. I was working with a reiki healer at the time. Nina was 2, Samuel was 4 months old. She told me if I don't go on this trip, I"ll get an ass-kicking from the universe bigger than I've ever seen. You have to go. I went home, told Jordan I need to go on this trip, and he agreed, "you have to go".

feeling curious, or are you feeling nervous”. He was curious. I think slowing down, and the comfort of knowing we are all dropping our bodies one day. Sammy likes to go deep with it and I don't feel afraid of that.

I think not being afraid of the things that were not talked about in my upbringing, our upbringing, are important. Worthy inquiry. That to me, is one of the things I hold near. How do I not let my own shit get in the way of talking about things that matter. What do I want my kids to know? I want to give my kids some information. Worthy inquiry is a guidepost for me as a Mother.

Q: Any questions I didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

A: In a high stress times, I would hate to think what would happen if I didn't have meditation as a tool. What it has done for me professionally... My creativity has turned into low-hanging fruit for me. It's a shortcut for me. When you have two kids and you're working full-time, running your own business, a lot of my work would be from 9pm to 1am. I'd get my kids down and that's when I would work. If I was exhausted, I could do a third 10 minute meditation which would wake myself up, elevate my consciousness, and struggle less. It creates less struggle. Without this tool, I would've been too tired. When your kids are young, and you're firing on all cylinders, I don't know that I would've survived without it. There are enough times that I've done it and not done it, that the magic is clear. When you have that moment "F*ck, am I really going to take 20 more minutes right now when it's 9pm so I can write that speech?". 20 minutes now will save me 60 to 120 minutes later. Some of my the best, clearest work, when your mind is muddled and you're exhausted, I could still grab it. For me, it made me so deeply functional and able to perform at a top level even during what was a high-water high-stress moment of my life. Meditation is a different tool for me now. It's deeply connected to the rhythm of working and parenting and trying not to be a lunatic. The thing with Vedic Meditation is, without it, I do think it's a fast track of being addicted to suffering and chaos. There's enough chaos, you don't need more. It's really just hard to imagine life without it.