Meditation Teacher – Free One-on-One Guidance

You can work with a meditation teacher here, one-on-one, for free. No package, no trial, no consultation that turns into a sales conversation. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our teachers donate their time.

If you would rather read about how to choose a teacher in general, we wrote about that in Finding a Meditation Teacher. This page is about what is actually on offer here, and how to start.

What working with a teacher here looks like

You meet over Zoom, usually for about an hour. There is no intake form, no assessment, and nothing to fill in beforehand.

Most conversations begin with you describing what happens when you sit down — where your attention goes, what feels like effort, where you get stuck. The teacher listens for the specific thing getting in the way. Very often it is one small instruction that was missing or misunderstood: where attention should rest, what to do when the mind wanders, how much effort to apply.

You will usually sit together for part of the session, so the teacher can hear what you are actually doing rather than what you think you are doing. Then you talk about it.

That is the whole thing. No homework unless you want some.

How often, and for how long

Entirely up to you. Some people come once, get unstuck, and never need us again. Some check in every few weeks for a year. Some appear after a long gap with a new question.

There is no schedule you are signed up to and nobody follows up to ask whether you practiced. The method we teach is meant to be pleasant enough that you want to come back to it — if you are having to force yourself, that usually means the instruction needs adjusting, not that you need more discipline.

Who you would be talking to

There are four of us. Each has practiced this method for years, sat multiple long retreats, and been taught directly by senior teachers. Each explains things differently, and you are welcome to talk to more than one.

You can read about each of the guides and pick whoever sounds like a fit.

We teach one method rather than a menu — a gentle, loving-kindness meditation drawn from the Buddha’s earliest recorded teachings. That is narrower than most places, and deliberately so. It means the person you are talking to knows this practice deeply rather than knowing twenty practices a little.

If you have been pricing meditation coaching

Most one-on-one meditation coaching runs somewhere between seventy-five and two hundred dollars an hour, often sold in blocks of six or eight sessions. That is the normal shape of it, and there is nothing wrong with it — people should be paid for their work, and a standing paid appointment genuinely does get some people sitting.

What we offer is closer to guidance than coaching. No goals are set for you, no accountability structure, no package. Just a teacher, when you want one.

As for why it costs nothing: these teachings were given freely for two and a half thousand years, and we would rather not be the ones who put a price on them. We wrote about that at length in The Gift of Free Teaching.

Who this suits

It tends to suit people who have tried meditating alone and stalled, people returning after a long gap, and complete beginners who would rather be shown than read about it. It also suits experienced practitioners curious about a method built on ease and kindness rather than concentration and effort.

Being straightforward about the limits: our teachers are meditation teachers. They are not therapists, counselors, or medical professionals, and meditation guidance is not a substitute for care from someone qualified to provide it. If you are dealing with something that needs professional support, please seek that out — and if you are in crisis in the United States, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available around the clock.

We will also say plainly if we think we are not the right fit. There is no sale to lose by telling you the truth.

How to start

Have a look at the guides and get in touch with whoever you like the sound of. If you would rather get a feel for the practice first, start here or read the complete method.

Some people prefer to come to a free weekend retreat first and talk one-on-one afterward. That works too.

And if you simply have a question, ask us. Nobody will add you to a mailing list you did not ask for.

May you be happy. May you be peaceful. May you be free from suffering.