Live Your List: Learning to Heal in Different Ways
For this Life Coach from Catherine Hill Bay, visiting Nepal was at the top of her bucket list. She planned to spend a month in the land-locked country to experience not being near the ocean. But when Tarryn Meason landed in Pokhara in October 2015, she never expected it to have such a powerful impact on her life.
Living in Western Australia, Tarryn worked and played hard. As a crane driver and rigger on mine sites, doing 12-hour shifts, up to six weeks in a row then during her breaks surfing. When she holidayed, it was to travel to Asian countries to see and experience different cultures. She had already ticked off Bali, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal was the next stop.
Tarryn (and a good friend) planned to head to Pokhara, Nepal’s second-largest city, known as the place for adventure and relaxation. In Pokhara, they wandered the city taking in the chilled-out vibe. One such day, they booked a day trek to the Annapurna Range.
“It was the most beautiful thing, walking through villages, green glens of dried-up waterfalls, to our destination where the view was amazing, and the cup of tea so deserved and delicious. I loved that every stop there was a toilet with a view – of the incredible Himalayas,” said Tarryn.
Towards the end of the fortnight, they stumbled upon Om Family meditation ashram, where the pair decided to take a breath and bodywork session, then go back the next day for a dynamic meditation under the full moon. It was this experience that changed Tarryn’s life.
After the fast, intense hour-long practise of chaotic breathing, wild movement, shouting, and complete stillness, Tarryn was told to walk to her hotel, not talk, and be conscious of her surroundings. And she did.
“It was amazing – a new kind of high, an out of body experience where I was really present in the moment – everything seemed so much brighter and fresher. I went to the hotel’s roof, sat under the full moon and thought this is the start of something new.”
Tarryn then spent the next two weeks living at the ashram and studying one-on-one dynamic meditation, kundalini meditation, kriya yoga and chakra balancing.
“It opened my eyes to healing in different ways. I had not seen or experienced anything like it before. And I wanted more.”
On leaving the ashram, Tarryn was given a complete dynamic meditation CD set. She returned to Australia ready to continue her kriya yoga studies but couldn’t find it anywhere. She thought this would be her new direction. But, before she could start, Tarryn had a breakdown.
“From my extreme living, my body had a meltdown. I had always suffered a lack of self-worth and anxiety due to my dyslexia, but I had a complete collapse and couldn’t get out of bed or leave the house for weeks on end.”
During this time, Tarryn delved into body, mind, spirit correlation. She believed it all had to be connected, and she started to explore her past and emotions. Then after, a year of visiting doctors with no success, a nutritionist diagnosed her with adrenal fatigue.
“This was such a relief. We worked on balancing my body through gut health and good nutrition. My brain fog began to disappear, and I started to feel alive again. Plus, with a higher level of self-awareness, my anxiety lessened, and confidence started to return.”
For four years, Tarryn worked on bringing her body, mind and spirit into harmony. Through her experience, she decided to be a holistic life coach and subsequently studied at the Mind Body Food Institute in Brisbane.
Today, she combines her learnings and training with reiki, massage therapy and raindrop (essential oil) techniques to work one-on-one with clients and groups.
Now, she is completing her yoga teacher training and hopes to graduate in November, all while juggling a move back to Western Australia with her husband Simon and 18-month- old daughter Indie.
