Diego Hinojosa is a Peruvian man currently living in New York City, who was interested in exploring avenues of mental health care that he had never looked into before; namely, a more spiritual side of himself.
Diego was a self-proclaimed beginner when he was told about Calliope’s course this year. “My self-care journey had mostly just been through the lens of psychotherapy, which has been great, but I’ve sometimes felt that its limits are those of a very Western approach. I think giving yourself the most beneficial viewpoints in life means that you need to seek out diverse therapies. Calliope definitely felt like more of an alternative spiritual method of self-care that I was only just opening myself up to.”
Because of Calliope facilitators’ range in fields of expertise, beginners of mindfulness and meditation, like Diego, are given a variety of starter tools to familiarize themselves with the practice. “Coming from a place where I really hadn’t studied meditation or anything like it, each of the classes gave the perfect amount of complexity to give me an introduction into what the teacher was talking about.” Diego went on to explain how coming out of the course, he felt like he was already moving into a headspace where he’d be cognisant of when he needs to take time to “pause, breathe, reset, and move on.”
He also talked about the misconceptions around practicing mindfulness and meditation that were debunked during his time taking the course. “I think people have this notion about these more “spiritual” teachings being very abstract, but it’s a LOT more tangible than it sounds. When you read about the tools you’re going to learn, or the concepts you’re going to be talking about, it’s so much more practical for your day-to-day life than it might initially feel like. That’s something I’d want a skeptic to know.”
Diego’s willingness to challenge himself with a new mental health care modality is, in the end, what he attributes to the beginning of consciousness-raising in his daily life. “The decision to open myself to something I hadn’t tried before definitely paid off – I felt so lucky to be invited into a space where I was learning to connect differently, and I think I will carry that as I move forward, too.” Calliope’s commitment to fostering an environment that nurtures mindfulness resonates profoundly with Diego’s transformative experience and serves as a testament to the organization’s guiding values.