“To sit in a meditation session with Kelly Lindsey inspires. She is unique in her ability to make something as significant as meditation simple, specific, and sweet. Kelly’s specificity of instruction is unique. While self knowledge and discipline is important in meditation, many fall away from the practice because they don’t have those specific instructions on exactly how to gain this self knowledge and discipline; because they are not inspired to stay. The tools Kelly provides are simple, so they are easy to come back to over and over. As Kelly says, the practice is simple, if you just do it. That makes life seem simple too.

Kelly’s deep knowledge of the teachings inspires me to study, to feel into a deep knowing, to apply lessons both simple and perplexing, to change my life. The teachings are there, they always have been, and they always will be. Kelly weaves these ancient teachings gracefully into her dharma talks so that they aren’t intimidating. Her years of intensive study bring a comfortable and familiar transmission of the teachings, not one heavy with ancient terminology or a condescending or detached attitude. She passes these oral lessons on simply and specifically.

Kelly is a personal inspiration as someone clear and full of light, a source of confidence in effort that makes me think, I want what she has. She speaks of her reality with plain conviction of struggle, pain, pleasure, doubt. She’s vulnerable like me; I know she’s real, that she struggles as I do. The only way to fail is not to try. The light she shines entices us to do just that. To try. To practice.

Kelly makes her teachings simple and basic, because they are. Because the true essence of sitting with myself is just that. I’m inspired to sit with my pain, my joy, with what I need to deal with, or simply what comes up. Kelly inspires me to just sit. Even if it’s at a traffic light. Kelly is not the teacher that instructs: “just close your eyes, breathe, and meditate” leaving your monkey mind wondering if you’re doing it all wrong, judging yourself as different than all those “other” people who can empty their minds of thought after just a few weeks or even years of practice. Kelly helps us know that we are not alone in having brains that think, that our struggles are her struggles, that we are all beginners. She helps us to see that joy truly is in the effort; in this and every moment if we can trust ourselves to enjoy it.

Kelly distills the teachings so that they’re easy to use, they relate to my life, they make me want to be a better person by just breathing one breath at a time. She makes me believe that it is possible for my practice to change my mind, my self, the way I relate to my world and to the broader world. I have learned from Kelly how to practice, to grow, to evolve. I am inspired by the broad sense of the ancient practice of meditation, and Kelly has taught me how to be specific about how I do it and made me believe that I can.”