A while back, I embarked on a 3-month meditation coaching program with a student named Simon. In this email, I’ll tell you about it because, even if you have no interest in coaching yourself, you’ll get a flavour of what’s possible if you fully commit to your meditation practice for a short period of time.

During my first chat with Simon, I discovered what his motivations and goals were, and we discussed how I might be able to help him. He told me he wanted to sleep better and feel less stressed at work without sacrificing productivity because he liked his job. He also wanted to be less reactive and more emotionally balanced. He often found himself ruminating, lost in thoughts about worst-case scenarios. This sparked intense feelings of dread and worry. He would snap and be moody with family members and then spiral into shame.

Simon also told me he had an interest in Eastern spirituality. He liked my stories of meditation masters and the idea of insights and shifts in consciousness tha...