I left Canada five and a half years ago for Australia, it was my first trip overseas. I spent a year there on a working holiday visa and did four months of WWOOFING to get a second. At the end of that first year I traveled Asia for six months, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Nepal.

I then came to Sydney and ended up living there for over two years working at a yoga and Pilates studio and teaching mindfulness and meditation for free at Lentil as Anything, a by donation vegan restaurant that supports the community.

My visa expired and I had to leave my new home so I travelled Europe for six months and saw some of the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and finished in Morocco.

Illness brought me back to Canada where I stayed with family for six months before going back to the UK where I spent four and half months alone in the small town of Llangollen to read, write and meditate.

I have a Major in Microbiology which I've never used but am still glad to have.

I'm just about to start my Social Work degree and will be moving to Vancouver Island to study there in August.

A bit about me... I'm gay and Vegan. Though I don't find those details are particularly interesting and I don't find my sense of identity in either. Just sharing as more of an FYI

I meditate and do a little yoga everyday. I could rightly be described as a minimalist. I tend to only buy used clothes and avoid buying things I don't really need! I also like to cycle everywhere I can!

I write and teach on meditation, mindfulness and personal development.

I like to be spontaneous. I love to dance anytime anywhere that I feel the urge, which is often, and everywhere. I'm not opinionated, the opposite in fact, and value in others an open mind.

I strive to live a life full of appreciation, gratitude, generosity, and patience. I wish to help others have their own experiences that will give them insight into their true nature.

In particular I aim to do this through sharing what I've learned through meditation and by reading people's energy. It's not as esoteric as it sounds. It's more like an analysis of ones mental and emotional patterns. It's really very practical and can be very intimate. It's the quickest way to get to the most personal and interesting of conversations.

I would love to meditate with hosts and offer readings / energy work in exchange for staying. It's what I love to do!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It changed my life. When I was hosted back in Melbourne when I first came to Australia, I met the most fantastic people, made a dear friend, Callum, who introduced me to so many new things that completely changed the direction of my life.

Interests

Bike riding, hiking. Dancing (for fun). Meditation. Admiring nature - everything about it. Plants, animals, rocks, scenery.

When I go to a new place I like to spend hours upon hours just walking around looking. Just looking, and listening. To common and uncommon places, whether alleyways, indoors, or outdoors.

• writing
• dancing
• dining
• vegan
• yoga
• pilates
• meditation
• reading
• cycling
• hiking
• personal development
• buddhism
• outdoors
• optimism
• botanical gardens
• energy healing
• zen buddhism
• chakras
• energy work
• tibetan buddhism

Music, Movies, and Books

The Power of Now by Ekhart Tolle
A New Earth by Ekhart Tolle
You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh
Everything by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Movies? I love drama and science function. Music? I like nearly everything!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My first five days in India involved a near kid-napping, food poisoning, almost getting killed by a wild elephant (which killed someone else), and an ancient Vedic ritual on the river Ganges with a sadhu.

I've got a lot of stories, a LOT, some quite unbelievable. But all in all the most amazing thing I've done is leave my home of Winnipeg alone to live in a foreign country where I didn't know anyone.

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to share what I know about meditation and spiritual energy. I can always give you a reading, it often leads to a fairly intimate discussion of personality, fears, strengths and weaknesses etc.

I can also teach you / lead us through some yoga, Hatha / Vinyasa style!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Yoga, mindfulness, meditation, counselling - appreciation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Cambodia, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada