It Begins With Me, It Begins With You.
Are you passionate about contributing to world peace? Me too!
But..... in reality, our families and our communities are experiencing increasing levels of division, disharmony and disconnection. This is having a wide reaching impact on the way our children are growing up and on our ability to care for each other
and our planet. Verbal, mental and physical violence are eroding our quality of life on a daily basis.
What can we do to create a more peaceful world?
I have asked myself this many times. I had no idea of the answer until I experienced a personal crisis. All of a sudden violence and division were not "out there" - they were right here, within me. Violence and division were no longer someone else's responsibility
- they were mine.
What is the future I want to help create?
I want to contribute to a future where people respond calmly, peacefully and lovingly to each other and all of life. I want to contribute to a future where we are able to celebrate diversity but acknowledge the common humanity we all share. I want
to contribute to a world where division, disconnection and violence are not a daily reality for so many people. I want to inspire people to realise that creating a more peaceful world “begins with me”.
But I need your help.....
Your support will help me contribute to a future where people respond calmly, peacefully and lovingly to each other.
It Begins With Me…..It Begins With You.
Who am I?
My name is Bianca Sands, I am an Australian mother who is passionate about contributing to a more peaceful world. My family relationships have inspired me to learn about what creates peace, harmony and connection and to share this with others.
I have a background in health education, health promotion and community development and have supported women and children for a number of years through personal development workshops, birth circles and sharing circles. As I have grown in understanding of
the challenges facing families today, as I have faced challenges personally, I have seen and experienced the profound benefits meditation can have.
Through the practice of awareness meditation I have realised that if I want to contribute to a more peaceful world – it needs to start with my own inner peace and the contribution I make to my relationships. For the first time in my life I felt that world
peace might truly be possible – if we can each come to understand the tendency we have towards violence and learn how to instead cultivate calm and peace. I see this is the responsibility of every individual.
There will never be lasting peace in our world while we are unaware of the violence within ourselves.
There will never be lasting peace in our world until we are each able to take responsibility for our responses and actions.
It Begins With Me, It Begins With You.
What have I been doing?
I have been teaching meditation for almost 2 years now – teaching from an experiential perspective, sharing my story with others. Since Oct 2014 I have been conducting
free online meditation sessions – initially for people in Australia and now for participants in many other English speaking countries. My focus with these sessions has been to support and inspire people to practice awareness meditation and
to take responsibility for what they contribute to their relationships and our world.
Participant feedback
"Thank you again for last night Bianca. It was lovely to reflect on how fortunate we are and on what it is to show gratitude. I went to sleep thinking of everything I am grateful for- waking up and hearing the birds sing, being able to walk along
the beach in the early morning, my healthy family and friends, my working body, although not perfect, it has all senses working with arms and legs to appreciate movement, the sound of music and laughter, hugging my children, hearing them play and laugh, to
be fortunate enough to have nourishing food and clean water readily available to us. the list goes on....Thank you once again for the beautiful meditation" - Emma, Australia
"I have been learning to stop worrying about things that haven’t happened. I am prone to anxiety and as a result was having trouble sleeping. I began thinking about this group and these sessions and the connection I feel during these sessions.
I have been teaching myself to calm down and stop worrying about things. But I still find that during the middle of the night the problems seem a lot worse than they actually are. The breathing definitely helps me." Sara, Australia
"I am more aware of my breath in daily life. There is more of a feeling of happiness too, not that I wasn't happy or optimistic before, but it's growing. I feel I am more aware in general, more grounded somehow and able to handle things that come
up. It's easier to make decisions too, I don't agonise over them as much as I used to. I feel humble and grateful to be part of this group". "Inspired" Colleen, Australia
Meditation is my contribution to world peace - it can be yours too!
Why I am asking for your support?
To continue this work and to continue offering high quality experiences and support to participants it is time for me to undertake some more formal meditation training. However, undertaking further training is a BIG investment for my family. For the
past 10 years I have not been engaged in regular paid work instead devoting this time to nurturing and educating my daughters, supporting my husband and providing support to others in my community in a voluntary capacity.
I am passionate to teach meditation to others so that they too may experience inner peace, then together we can all contribute to world peace. I need your support to undertake the following steps and grow the contribution I can make.
The next steps......
Step 1: Attend Meditation Instructor Training
Successful funding of this project will be used to cover the expenses to attend Meditation Instructor Training at the One World Academy in India in November 2015.
The course I have chosen to attend offers a unique, world-class and non-sectarian approach to meditation. After the training I will be able to offer 15 new "Detox" meditations – each meditation has been created to give participants a direct experience
of peace, calm and a greater capacity to cope with the challenges that arise in daily life.
Step 2: Conducting Accessible Meditation Sessions
Upon return from Meditation Instructor Training I will continue the delivery of unique, non-sectarian meditation sessions in an online or e-course platform. Online delivery is a powerful way to overcome barriers of geographical isolation and perceived
disconnection experienced by many, it is also a great way to bring people together from all over the world and remind participants that they are not alone in what they experience. I live in a remote area in Australia and online and e-course delivery enables
me a greater scope to reach out to participants. By supporting this campaign you have the opportunity to participate in these meditation sessions.
Step 3: Website Development
If this project reaches the Ultimate Funding Goal the next step is the development and launch of a website to support participants with information and free meditation resources.
Step 4: Mentor Others
My longer term vision is to create and support a global network of meditation instructors. Each instructor has the potential to create a huge ripple effect in their families, communities and the world at large.
It Begins With Me....It Begins With You.
By supporting this campaign together we can contribute to a more peaceful world.
There are MANY ways that you can support this campaign!
* Choose one of the rewards that will most benefit you and make a pledge to support this campaign.
* Purchase a reward to give to a someone as a gift (a great idea for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas).
* Email a friend who would benefit from participating in the meditation sessions I offer and invite them to support "It Begins With Me, It Begins With You".
* If you have already been participating in the online meditations I offer you might like to make a donation based on your experience of these sessions (but please feel free to also choose your preferred reward!)
* Share this campaign and my story on social media to help me reach more people and make a greater contribution.
