Meditating with Jhourney

I started working for Jhourney at a very interesting time in my life; one of my relationships was ending and I was feeling like you normally do at that tumultuous time - a little shaky, unsure of what’s to come, fearing the unknown and how it will come to pass, wondering if life will be kind to you and catch you - those sort of things. I had done a retreat with Jhourney and they just seemed to like me and they asked me to come work for them; it was such a lovely gift that they gave me - they gave me structure and hope - as well as the gift of realizing how easy meditation could be.

Jhourney is the San Francisco-based meditation company that teaches you how to teach yourself to get into jhana; which, as a teacher I absolutely love that framework because thats how I have always taught - giving people information but allowing them to make sense of it themselves, and then being there as a guide as they work through things. The people that are drawn to Jhourney are these incredibly brilliant minds searching for something to calm the noise that burns inside them. For me it was my ADHD - my thoughts were always so loud I never thought that I could quiet the noise - for other participants it was across the board - they knew they needed something, anxieties, destabilizing life events, ruminating thoughts, not trusting themselves, etc.

The way that Jhourney ‘hacks’ meditation was the exact way I needed to help me understand how to meditate - as you all know I come from a vast biological and spiritual background studying the body, the mind and the heart. Most, if not all, of my friends were meditators and yet, I could not figure it out. The abstract instructions I was always given was just to ‘sit and try to let go of my thoughts.’

And, my friends, I cannot just ‘sit and try to let go of my thoughts.’

Or at least I thought I couldn’t…

When I went to my Jhourney Retreat in May of 2024, Jhourney did something that I desperately needed: they flipped the archetype of meditation on its head for me and told me I could break the rules. As a rule-breaker myself, this advice brought me great joy. I had this idea in my head that I needed to sit perfectly still and not have one thought in my head - based on intro talks of TM and Vipassana i had been to years earlier. With the powers of scoliosis and ADHD combined these things are impossible!

Jhourney offered easy solutions: if sitting hurts - then lay down. If neither works - then go for a walk - just make it slow and intentional. They helped me reorient my goal - not to try to get rid of my thoughts but to work alongside them. As someone who is very visual I started being able to befriend my thoughts to conjure feelings and then use my thoughts to help me stay in that feeling, and then once everything felt stable I felt more collected rather than scattered.

What a concept!

Jhourney helps so many people not only find meditation but love it, sincerely. They make it easy to understand and they guide you the whole way. Since my time with Jhourney I have considered myself a proficient meditator and even completed a 12 day Vipassana retreat in May 2025! Younger Jess always had that as an intention and finally achieving my goal felt so blissful.

I’m so grateful for the time I spent with Jhourney traveling through all throughout California and Costa Rica - it’s a time I’ll never forget!

Xoxo

Edge Esmeralda

So it’s kind of a funny story…

In the spring of 2025 I solo adventured (as I do) all through Southeast Asia - one of my favorite places in the world. I started in Korea, went to Japan and saw Mt Fuji for the first time (and cried of course) and then went to Thailand for another yoga teacher training and climbed the big walls at Tonsai beach. After that I went to the Philippines for some scuba diving, back through Japan to see my best friend, David, and then wound up in Hawai’i - for the first time - and managed to see 3 of the islands…

But!

All that travel is a Later Blog!

The point of this story is that solo travel is magical and makes dreams come true - it sounds like I’m joking but I’m actually not. Let me explain… Something happens when I (or you!) solo travel - where I just reach flow state, easefully and without any effort, the universe just bestows consistent gifts on me when I am doing what I love most - traveling, teaching and learning!

When I was in Thailand I got 2 very important messages - and this is the story of what happened after I got the first message.

My dear friend Hanna reached out; she and I had met while I was teaching meditation with Jhourney in California and fallen in love with each other (she’s a treasure). Because this meditation retreat that I was teaching at was local in California I brought my sound healing instruments and played a few Crystal Bowl Sound Healing Sessions for the participants and she, in particular, really enjoyed my sessions. She was reaching out because she worked for this pop-up city called Edge City; they combine AI, Tech and Crypto people with Health and Wellness people; essentially people who are creating the future LIVE - and people who care desperately for earth and humanity. She wanted me to bring my witchy offerings to Edge City to be on the Wellness side of things. I asked her about the dates and they fit ✨perfectly ✨into my travel plans and I said “Fuck yes I’d love to come!”

So after 3 blissful months of traipsing all throughout Southeast Asia (and Hawai’i) I came home to the Bay Area and went straight to work - for a full month 🤣

Edge City is a pop-up City that “pops up” all over the world - for one month; they’ve had locations in Thailand, Bhutan, and South Africa. Edge Esmeralda is a pop-up city located in Headlsberg, California in June that combines tech, AI, and crypto with health and wellness offerings in a ‘pop-up’ city style. What this means is that people from all over the world, from similar and also varying backgrounds, are able to come together and join this month-long container, which is lovingly referred to as an incubator.

An incubator is defined as a controlled environment used for the care and protection, and thats really what happens here: people come to join this community to share what they know, to listen to what others have to offer, and to come together in this very unique space for one month. Ideas flourish here, businesses are born here, friendships created here, patents received, partnerships meld, projects grow exponentially, funding is found… anything you can think of can happen here - at the Edge.

Hanna invited me to join the Consciousness Residency to bring my unique set of offerings to the ever-growing list of amazing sessions. I was obviously overjoyed to bring Sound Healing to Edge and I was blessed with the opportunity to kick off the opening session for Consciousness Week, as a Sound Healing Meditation, where I welcomed everyone to the beginning of this week by grounding them into their bodies, clarifying and setting intentions and manifesting the opportunities that would come to pass for them.

My offerings began as Crystal Bowl Sound Bath Meditations and THEN when I learned I could offer anything I wanted - I decided to share my entire toolkit with the participants of Edge Esmeralda, and I began hosting all of my favorite sessions - Meditation Nights, Vulnerability Circles, Sound Baths, Morning Yoga, opportunities for Silence and/or Sharing, and Breathwork sessions.

My favorite thing is creating beautiful and cozy spaces where people feel safe and comfortable to share, to be open, and to be vulnerable - especially when they are new to this side of science and ancient technologies! I love watching people’s faces as I explain sound healing from a scientific lens; its so easy to comprehend and yet can sometimes still carry the ‘woo’ reputation! It’s always such a gift watching someone flow through a session - watching them relax into the vibrations of the crystal bowls, watch them begin to trust and deepen their breath, to move their awareness from their head and into their heart. Seeing them process their emotions as they rise and fall and see them witnessing their own bravery in sitting with whatever arises within them. It can be so activating such that the person that entered the room feels vastly different than the person who leaves.

It’s such a honor to watch new friends in tech, crypto and AI be introduced to sound healing and embodiment practices - like breathwork, yoga or meditation - they have such beautiful minds and hearts. I love creating spaces where they feel supported & protected; I am always so grateful for the trust they put in me to guide them. At Edge Esmeralda I made so many new connections that have exponentially increased my already-global network of friends & family.

My time at Edge Esmeralda was mind blowing, heart opening, and so expansive. I am so deeply grateful for the team at Edge - Timour, Janine, Sophie, Syl + Hanna, and everyone who came to my sessions and for allowing me to hold such sacred space for them.

It’s always such an honor to hold space for you.

Can’t wait to see you at the next Edge!

Xoxo