Thoughts. Never-ending thoughts. On a mission for the cessation of the fluctuation of my mind, I began the journey of a lifetime. Over a decade ago, seeking mental relief, I took up yoga. Kundalini yoga. A good friend invited me to Golden Bridge. I met her at the hip, trendy yoga studio. Located in Hollywood, it was the place where you just might meet a celebrity getting their “om” on.
The class was led by Gurmukh, the yogini instructor and co-founder of Golden Bridge Yoga. She was a student of Yogi Bhajan. I clumsily rolled out my yoga mat next to my advanced yogini friend. I anxiously looked around the room. The place was packed! After the opening sat nam, I asked my friend, “How long is this class?” “An hour and a half,” she said. How was I going to sit still for that long?!
I managed to survive that first class. And fell in love with yoga. Something happened to me that day. My mind found some space. I felt a little peace. I was hooked. I had tried meditating before with no luck. My mind was always racing. Now I craved meditation. And was able to fully experience it after yoga during savasana.
Fast forward to present day. I was looking forward to visiting Headspace at Bergamot Station all week. I had continued my yoga practice and began a morning meditation routine at Codetalk Bootcamp. It makes all the difference in the world when you practice meditation on a daily basis.
In preparation for the tour, I started listening to the guided meditations after downloading the Headspace app. When I arrived at Headspace, I found a company full of people whose main objective was happiness. The first thing they said was that Headspace has one mission: to improve the health and happiness of the world. Wow! What a concept!
Priya Nayak welcomed our group. She had great energy. She gave us a tour of the workspace, an open space located in a warehouse at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California. The employees were friendly. Of course, there was a meditation space! Jessica Salinas and Lauryn Nwankpa joined Priya after the initial tour to give a company presentation for Codetalk.
The girls of Codetalk discussed user experience (UX) and design. We gave feedback on our experience with the app. I love that it helps a busy person like myself schedule time to meditate into my daily routine. The only way to make something a habit is to incorporate it into your daily routine. They asked if there was anything we didn’t like or anything we can think of to improve the app. It reminded me of a marketing research focus group. I have been to a few of those for various products over the years.
Next, a panel of 6 employees from various departments answered questions. The people present were Natalie Huynh, Software Engineer, Connor Fitzgerald, Sales Dev Rep, Charlie Hart, Senior UX designer, Dion Fulwood, Software Engineer, Riana Singh, Sales Dev Rep and Will Bumpus, Manager. They each spoke about their experience at Headspace. They told inspirational stories about how they got into tech.
We had an amazing lunch. I enjoyed a vegan, gluten free meal. Everything was fantastic – the hospitality, the people, the energy, the space. It was a phenomenal day! I felt synchronicity at Headspace. I will surely visit again in the future!