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Roxana Castaños is one of the most recognized voices today in the meditation and spiritual development scene. Not in vain, his advice and practices have helped great personalities and creatives to rediscover their inner voice and master their mind to vibrate high and attract others. Learn more about Roxana Castaños, spiritual guide and host of the podcast The Intention of the Day.
How did Roxana Castaños get started in the world of meditation?
I discovered this world at the age of fourteen when they took me to a Temazcal for the first time, as I was suffering from lovesickness and anxiety. That made me short of breath, it was difficult for me to be in places with many people, and I experienced many uncomfortable mental states at an age when everything seemed so huge.
In that Temazcal, I discovered the curiosity I felt about all this. In the Temazcal, the shaman warned that it was possible that their hands or beards would get numb, that they would feel like they might faint, or something like that. So, I feared that was what I already experienced all day. I couldn’t imagine going into a place to subject myself to this. I just happened to be in the middle of this mat igloo with hot volcanic stones in the center. Once the door is closed, the volcanic rocks get wet and release steam, providing unparalleled body purification. But at the same time, you are in complete darkness at a temperature of 40 degrees while you sing, listen to drums, and practice different rituals and exercises of the Temazcals, and I stayed there by instinct; I could have run away, and I didn’t.
I stayed there as if by instinct, in the middle of the Temazcal. Just when I started to think I was going to pass out, I discovered that I could breathe through it and that if I kept breathing without coming out, I could get through that uncomfortable tunnel. Suddenly, beyond leaving the discomfort behind, I began feeling powerful, as if I had accomplished something. And I stayed there until the end. I couldn’t believe it; my dizziness went away, and it was the first time I reflected on that phrase from The Mind Moves Mountains, as I thought this was real. Staying locked in this space in which I feared that something could happen to me and controlling my mind and seeing that absolutely nothing happened. That was long before I knew about Buddhism, before understanding the nature of the mind or what would come next. When I left there, I was a different person.
Novel knowledge
From there, I took my first Buddhist course at Casa Tibet and began understanding the nature of the mind. At that time, I was reading a book by Erich Fromm about the forms of love. I started my path in Buddhism, and then my parents were about to take a course on brain functioning, for which I asked them to enroll me with them. There, I had a thousand more experiences about how I felt with many exercises, and from there, my passion was born to understand myself, observe myself, and learn more about Buddhism, Toltechism, and other topics with great teachers such as Miguel Ruíz and Andrés Portillo, with whom I later helped to do their courses and thus helped me pay for more courses.
Likewise, I also studied topics like Kabbalah and other related paths when I began to understand them more than religions as spiritual philosophies and then see how they all converge on the same point. The importance of knowing and understanding your nature. The theme of unity. Know that what you see outside is because it is inside you. I also studied the value of compassion, unconditional love, forgiveness, and many things that I understood, thanks to my addiction to learning from an early age.
Consistency on the road
Later, I started working at CIE, and I remember that, back then, the Dalai Lama came very often. When I asked for permission, it was not to go to the dentist or the doctor but to see the Dalai Lama. I took every conference he came to. Their representative also came and participated. I focused a lot on Buddhism and Toltechism, and when I was about twenty-four years old, they began to ask me for talks. I didn’t do any of this. I was more of a graphic designer and worked more as a publicist and in the commercial part. Later, I opened my office where I was a publicist with a great partner, internationally recognized. At some point, I spoke with him to explain that I couldn’t continue creating needs for people and had to leave the advertising world behind. Then, I started making web pages and giving my courses.
I took a course to learn to teach and design courses, and I created a course with everything I understood, with what my life had changed and what I knew. I started first with my family, and they liked it a lot, and from there with my friends. A friend lent me his living room, and we were all happy when we finished. From that moment on, they began to ask me, and a friend offered me a space in a room she was occupying to teach dance classes, and she invited me to give my first meditation classes.
I started teaching my classes on Wednesdays at six in the Condesa. At that moment, I spoke with the universe, God, or the Universe – any way you might like to name it – I am willing to do anything as long as I don’t neglect myself or my family, and to this day, I am still under this vision.
I was there for two years, sometimes no one came, but even so, I stayed the whole hour to meditate. Then, I moved to Polanco to work from home, and thanks to my ex-husband, I could afford to put design aside and focus my time on continuing my spiritual growth. I set aside the ego and accepted his help by learning to receive from those who love me so that things flow. Then, I gave my first course, and he supported me for a month and a half. From there, all my courses have been mostly fully booked. It’s surprising how, when you’re where you are supposed to be, then things happen smoothly.
What moves people
With experience, I identified the most important themes for people, such as the recurring theme of Letting Go. Letting go of a marriage, a job, your relationship with yourself, and unrelating with who you were to take a step forward. Being able to change your habits, manifest yourself. Talk about forgiveness, change, and other fundamental topics.
My first course was Dynamic Consciousness. It is a course that I have presented several times. I taught it for eight years in a row. Recently, I just finished it once again. I think that if at some point I decide to put something into a book, it will be this because it is my methodology for eradicating suffering, where you realize the spiritual and universal laws, and that sets you off on a roll in very different ways in your life.
Later, I started teaching more specific topics like Forgiveness, Change, Letting Go, or simply meditating. There, I taught them what meditation is so that they can learn to bring it into their daily lives.
The right moment
Right during the pandemic, I stopped giving in-person courses. From the first week, I ordered a tripod on Amazon, and I started recording my courses and asked my designer to make a webpage. That’s when I started with that and giving my morning meditations. Every morning from 7 to 7:30 am, I do a live on Instagram with my community to start the morning meditating. This project arose from thinking about how to deliver my love for transformation and commitment to helping. Since then, the morning meditations have continued, and I hope they last for many years.
Since then, the courses have been more online as this opened new sights by making it easier for people to get around. I have also taken courses for companies. I continued with conferences and other projects like private sessions with extraordinary people like Mario Domm, Angie Taddei, and other great people with whom I have had the opportunity to live in private consultations in which I taught them to meditate, We got into their themes, and help them heal and level their energy. With four or five classes over a couple of weeks, I taught them how to self-deal with their issues and become no more than an extra support later.
Vibrating High
In 2017, after the earthquake, it was imperative not to pity myself or allow myself to cry or suffer from what was happening and lose energy. That made me think that I needed to be well for myself, and I decided to advertise on Facebook and Instagram to promote a meditation in the park to which 500 people came. That was spectacular since everyone ended up vibrating high at a time when it was most necessary. See the transformation of the attendees and how, in the end, everyone shone in the middle of such a dark moment.
Later, I started working with Sonoro to make the podcast The Intention of the Day, where the most important thing is to focus on how we begin our days. Many have the excuse not to meditate due to lack of time, so in just four minutes, you have this balm in an intention that opens new doors for you and changes your energy. It’s just a tiny sample, but it impacts. If you can and want, you can do the twenty-minute morning meditation. There is no excuse not to start your day vibing high to attract beautiful things.
From there, I had the idea of making a deck called The Intention of the Day to facilitate the intention of the day, and the geniuses at Sonoro had the brilliant idea of including the QRs to take them to the podcast and include some very special intentions. It is a beautiful and interactive project where you can download workbooks, listen to podcast chapters, and more.
I also presented the Meditation Cabin. A project that I started eight years ago and that, when related to the podcast, has reached incredible places with great allies such as Wellness Palacio and Antara..
All those experiences are the result of years of preparation. Welcome what comes, setting my intention, and letting things happen. It is a broad ecosystem that includes the site with the recorded courses that people can take, the cabin, the deck, private sessions, the podcast, meditations in the mountains, support for people experiencing homelessness, classes in the prison video academy, and many options to share this effort.
I would invite everyone who feels stressed, anxious, or angry to meditate since meditating is not about blanking your mind. It is about learning to direct your mind, which is your grandest tool. You focus your mind, focus your energy, and like attracts like, there is no more. That’s the key.
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Statement – Alan González S. ©
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