Lessons From My First Meditation Course (Part 6)
From Self-Doubt and Perseverance to 38 Students and Heartfelt Reviews—A Creative Project’s Journey
Welcome to the Slow Work & Business Series!
This is a space to explore how work can feel joyful, mindful, and less overwhelming. As someone navigating life after the rush of traditional work, I’m documenting my journey—projects, lessons, and all the highs and lows. If you’re redefining work on your own terms, let’s figure it out together with heart and ease.
I have always loved the newness of things—new places, new books, new people, new foods, new songs, new libraries. It feels like an exploration, a journey of its own kind, with its own rhythm, tone, and credence. The start of anything is always filled with excitement, enthusiasm, inspiration, and all kinds of wonder.
But today, I want to particularly talk about our journeys with the projects we embark on. Especially creative ones. Because by the time we reach the end, we’re no longer the same person who began. We leave with lifelong habits, new skills—technical, mental, emotional—and a bunch of lessons we didn’t see coming.
For me, Insight Timer has been one such project, constantly shaping and reshaping me in multitudes.
(Insight Timer is a community for meditators and yoga teachers where teachers can create courses, and host meditations)
When I first started uploading meditations on Insight Timer, it was more of an experiment. No pressure, no expectations—just curiosity. Over time, though, it became something more.
My friendship with Insight Timer has matured in various phases. The “I have no idea what I’m doing” phase. The “maybe I should quit” phase. And now, it feels like a steady friendship—one where I get to create, connect with people, and somehow, in the process, earn too. I’ve gone from pure curiosity to indifference to wonder to dedication and commitment. I suppose every creative project changes through seasons, just like this one has.
I call this project Becoming a Full-Time Meditation Teacher— meaning surpassing my current active income so I can fully rely on Insight Timer in the future passively. What makes it special is that there’s no pressure. This isn’t my primary income, so I get to approach it like a wonder project—one where I create, meet an incredible community, meditate with them, and, as a byproduct, earn. It’s fun, meaningful, and something I already love doing daily.
I also have a limiting belief about making enough money through creative projects, but this is going to slowly change as I explore this more and more. Hopefully, Insight Timer will change it.
I have been connected to Insight Timer—both as a student and as a teacher. Today, I would like to share what it has taught me as a teacher and what I have learned since I set my mind to this new, but not-so-new-anymore project.
Perseverance & Patience
Oh man. I thought I had patience when I became a teacher, but audio editing humbled me. I love creative work, but I now know that editing is not my thing. I can visualize the flow of a final production, but sitting for hours to fine-tune every detail? Nope.
My recent course was rejected around 10 times. I recorded it five times, and it still got rejected. I even hired someone for the edits—no luck. Finally, I bought a new mic, went through yet another round of edits, and it finally got approved. Editing, in general, is a humbling process. Your laptop slows down, you listen to the same raw file a hundred times, and before you know it, a five-minute audio has taken you two hours. This entire process has made me respect video and audio editors so much.
This process helped me see what is “enough” in moments.
From dreaming of launching ten courses, I scaled down to “let’s just get one approved first.” But honestly, every frustrating step made me better. Now, I can produce impressively high-quality audios... and I still don’t like editing.
Presence
Ironically, a meditation project has taught me so much about being present. I have this superpower—and also a curse—of magnifying projects. I dream big, plan big, and then realize I need to scale things down by ten.
But over time, sitting with my meditation tapes taught me to just focus on the small step in front of me - just be present with what is in the front. Instead of stressing over the entire course and trying to work on every big idea, I just needed to record the first lesson.
What’s in My Control? (And What’s Absolutely Not)
This whole journey also forced me to separate what I can control from what I can’t. It’s so easy to get caught up in income, numbers, reviews. But at the end of the day, I can’t control how many people listen, whether a course gets approved on the first try (clearly, mine didn’t).
But what I can control? The meditations I create, the courses I build, the consistency I show up with. The more I lean into effort-based milestones, the less I spiral into overthinking.
Now as I’ve checked off a big milestone in this project (getting it approved), let me introduce you to something close to my heart—this course.
I started thinking about what I genuinely wanted to give people—something I’ve personally navigated. And one thing I’ve worked through (and still work through) is the inner critic.
I’ve learned to quiet it over the years, and I’ve helped others do the same. So, I decided to build a course on it—journalling and meditation woven together to help people navigate self-doubt. I wanted to keep the course brief (I was also trying to get approved: remember?) so it turned out to be a 2-day course.
Ironically, the course I created was about overcoming the inner critic—and guess what kept showing up while making it?
This voice in my head:
"This is pointless."
"Nobody’s going to listen."
"You’re wasting your time."
And somehow, after all the hurdles, multiple rejections, sharpened editing skills, loads of patience, this happened...
38 students have already signed up. A month ago, I wasn’t even sure this course would ever see the light of day. And now, real people are taking it, applying it, leaving messages about how it’s helping them.
If this is something you’d love to explore, you’re welcome to check it out below. It’s behind a paywall (Insight Timer’s policy), but if that’s a barrier, let me know—I’ll see if I can work something out.
What’s Next?
For now, I just want to enjoy this moment—this first course, my first students. Every new student makes me ridiculously happy.
I’m not creating any new courses this month, but I am continuing my weekly meditation sessions—which are super fun. About 60-70 of us come together to meditate and write our morning pages, and it’s such a beautiful space.
But soon, I’ll start recording my next course—a 10-day Slow Living series, with a small mindfulness practice each day. I’m excited (and slightly nervous).
Thanks for reading all the way to the end. It means so much to me. 💛
(P.S. Here are some of my favourite meditations. No payment needed—just things I’ve created with love.)
Related post →
Read The Whole Series Below
Part 1: Why I Left Traditional Work
Part 2: Building A Life After Traditional Work
Part 3: Building My Work Boundaries
Part 4: How To Prepare Life After Traditional Work
Part 5: Why Slow Work makes More Sense
Let’s connect!
If you’re a solopreneur, yoga teacher, therapist, or creative entrepreneur looking for support with your online brand or business systems, I’d love to hear your story.
I put together a Notion workspace for yoga teachers to help with organization and ease the planning process. It’s something that has been really useful in my own work. If it sounds useful, feel free to take a look! 😊 → Yoga Teacher Business Dashboard
I hope you’re enjoying Kaus’ Postcards. I started this publication to cultivate a writing practice and connect with people through my writing. I’ve decided that after my 100th post, I will open the publication for monetary support. Currently at 74/100.
I love Insight Timer and have been using it for years. Just found you on there :) you have an incredibly calming voice.