Gratitude to my teachers
I grew up in France near Paris until I was 19 years old. I was raised by loving parents Marie-Ange and Patrick, grand parents Rene and Jeanine and uncle Jean Claude and shared their constant love, kindness, support and generosity with my beautiful and loving sister Melanie. These of course were my first and foremost teachers to whom I owe everything…
At the age of 11, being obsessed with sports and especially Judo, Tennis and Gymnastics, I was encouraged by Michel and Marise Chesnier to become a Physical Education teacher. Up to 15 years of age, I was taught Judo by Laurent Perrin and Eric Van Wymeersch. From 16 onwards, Pascal Boinet became my Judo teacher and with his continuous kindness and knowledge led me to obtain the grade of Shodan, black belt first dan.
I finished my teacher training for HPE on Reunion Island where I received heart touching instructions from various teacher including Armand Bouscaren and Marie Chiron. Their example and wisdom have influenced the way I relate with teenagers ever since. Over these years I owe to acknowledge my dear friends Sebastien Jacques and Nicolas Esman for their continuous friendship, life lessons and example of kindness.
Together with my partner Laurene Dartiailh from who I have learnt so much in terms of wisdom, love and patience, I met Annick Jouhier and Emmanuel Rolland who taught me about alternative pedagogies, Permaculture, spirituality, Macrobiotics and much more. During this time I also studied and visited alternative schools such as Dewey, Illich, Rousseau, Krishnamurti, Montessori and Steiner.
In 2007, while being continuously thirsty to learn I met Anat Dagan who taught me non-violent communication and helped me to gain deeper understanding on Jiddhu Krishnamurti‘s teachings. His teachings, which are still a source of insight to me, has profoundly changed my vision on life and on education and have been a major thread in the direction I took as an educator.
In 2008 I met a remarkable teacher, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu who became my primary source of inspiration and knowledge since. Together with receiving teachings with his son Yeshi Silvano Namkhai and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, I continue up to this day in applying what I have learnt from these three exemplary beings.
During these years, I also had the great fortune to share my daily life and home with an amazing human being, who became a very dear friend. Thupten Rabgyi stable wisdom and patience towards me in our day to day living has taught me so much.
I arrived in Australia in 2009 and decided to become a Health and Physical Education teacher when my visa started to settle in 2013. Unfortunately the lack of funds in order to bridge my French qualifications and then a spinal injury mid 2014 led me to forget this option. I went through years of rehabilitation and it is mostly to my wife Nicki that I owe to be as fit and healthy as I am today. Since we met in 2009, her ever inspiring wisdom, clarity and kindness have rippled into all areas of my life.
As well I have received countless support and steady care from my Physician and Qigong teacher Vera Externest over these years of recovery. Together with the knowledge of Tibetan Medicine I learned from Dr Phuntsok Wangmo and the use Osteopathy, Yoga, Meditation, Breathing and a lot of patience, I became able to envision a teaching career again. During these years I spend time deepening my understanding of critical thinking and discovering of computational thinking mostly through the guidance of Yeshi Silvano Namkhai.
While my physical strength and ability was recovering, I started teaching ‘Meditation’ in 2015 from the permission of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and ‘Breathing’ after being mentored by Fabio Andrico, Patrizia Pearl and Oni McKinstry. Since then I have dedicated most of my spare time to these two activities.
Since 2009, I have also learned a great deal from my dear friend and teacher Veda Murti who taught me some aspects of Yoga Nidra, Asanas and Shatkarmas. Over the last few years I also learned some precious skills as I became Buddhist chaplain from Barbara Sullivan. Furthermore, I received wonderful teachings from Elio Guarisco and Igor Berkhin about how to teach meditation in a simple but deep manner.
After having recovered some more, I completed a Master of Teachings in June 2020 from which I added some teachings knowledge and skills to my original degree. In particular I took great pleasure in learning about collaborative learning and project based learning. I am particularly grateful to lecturers Dr Susan Simons and Dr Shelley Davidow for their mentoring, constant support and kindness. Over these years of study I also learnt a great deal from Sir Ken Robinson which will remain an ever present source of direction in terms of education.
I finished my Masters and became a registered teacher while Covid-19 was becoming very prominent in the world. My long journey of learning from all the teachers mentioned above led me to become interested in providing quality education as well as share my knowledge about Health and Well-being to children and teenagers outside of school, either home schooling or after school.
From this wish I opened a studio in Gympie to teach meditation, breathing, emotional intelligence and relaxation. I do so through the 2 main programs I created: the Wise Games program and the Why’s Life program. These became the fruition of a life long journey. From all I have learnt, I am now so pleased to be able to help children, teenagers and adults improve their well-being through kindness and clarity.