be here nowra.
in 2019/20, the east coast of australia was devastated by the worst bushfires in its recorded history, impacting my hometown of nowra. at the time, i was living in new york city but returned home to help, expecting to participate in cleanup efforts. however, i noticed significant accumulated stress among the locals, exacerbated by the fires and the subsequent covid-19 pandemic. nowra was struggling with high rates of crime, violence, unemployment, and mental health issues.
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during this period, i was practicing vedic meditation, a technique that effectively helped release stress from my physiology. it was working so well that i began training to become an initiator of this ancient practice. realizing the potential impact of sharing this technique, i dedicated myself to becoming a teacher. after three years and 3000 hours of training, i returned to nowra in 2022 and established "be here nowra," a meditation center aimed at helping the community manage stress and improve their overall well-being.
research suggests that if 1% of a geographic population starts meditating, it can have a seismic effect on the collective. as a filmmaker, i was captivated by this concept, known as "the maharishi effect," and searched for a documentary on it. finding none, i decided to explore what would happen if 1% of our community learned to meditate.
i shared the idea with anyone interested, and steadily, people continue to learn meditation. i've taught individuals ranging from 9 to 84 years old across various professions and demographics. it turns out there's a huge demand for this simple practice. in the first two years, nearly 200 people attended a four-day course with me. we now host three weekly group meditations, run a book club, and have a thriving social group. we are a diverse collection of individuals eager to create positive change for ourselves, our families, our community, and the planet.
in 2023 we ran a kickstarter campaign to raise money for the documentary. 384 individuals contributed raising a massive $77,000 for the documentary film we are producing with CONVICTS. Watch the trailer here.
we started creating research around the effects of vedic meditation in partnership with the university of wollonong. in october 2024 we are inviting meditators from all over the world to nowra to measure the effect that a large gathering of consciousness can have. it's a celebration of vedic wisdom with retreats, workshops, wisdom talks, consultations and social events. it's called "here in nowra" and we would love to have you join.
