Upekshanandi

I enjoy meditative exploration, reflection, and time in nature, and I’m continually struck by how transformative these can be. I also appreciate finding ways to stay relaxed, open, and receptive while living a full and engaged life.

I was ordained in 2017 in the Triratna Buddhist Community, and my training for ordination took place while living at Dhānakosa between 2013 and 2019, a period that deeply supported the development of my practice and understanding of the Dharma. I first came to Vajraloka Buddhist Retreat Centre in 2013 for a Heart Sutra retreat, an experience that had a profound impact on me and significantly shifted the way I see and relate to life. I still feel a strong sense of inspiration from that first encounter, and since then I have maintained a steady and ongoing connection with Vajraloka, initially through regular retreat attendance, later by supporting retreats as part of the team, and now as part of the wider extended community.

My practice has been shaped through sustained retreat experience, including long retreats led by Vessantara and solitary retreats, alongside a consistent practice of sadhana and embodied, heart-centred approaches, which continue to open a sense of ease, spaciousness, and receptivity in experience. I am continually drawn to these qualities, and to exploring how metta, loving awareness, and spaciousness can be directly experienced and lived. Over time, this has naturally led into a wish to share these practices in a simple, grounded, and experiential way.

I also lived at Vajraloka for around eight months after leaving Dhānakosa, and it was a very happy and inspiring time, during which I spent most of my time in the retreat setting.

I currently live in Nottingham and have been a Women’s Mitra Convenor at the Nottingham Buddhist Centre since November 2022, supporting people at all levels of experience and enjoying being part of a vibrant community.

On the whole, through my Dharma life, I am interested in supporting others, as well as myself, to trust and deepen their own experience of practice, with an emphasis on warmth, simplicity, and directness — and on discovering together how meditation can open up a more spacious, kind, and accessible way of being.