Why Beachcomber?
Once I decided to set up this new venture, I put together my ideas for the vision, mission and values of the organisation. These had arisen in my mind as I walked the dogs on the beach and as I meditated. It was something I wanted to be clear about before I did anything else. My values are very important to me. I wanted the organisation have a down to earth and cheerful atmosphere where enjoyment of life and community are important.
Then I had to think about what the organisation would offer. I really wanted us to be accessible to busy people on a tight budget, which so many of us are these days. So there’s some free stuff, the guided audios, optionally backed by ambient music, the short early morning and late evening Monday Meditations and their recordings (available at any time), so you can try us out to see if you like our style. There are also two free places to each of our in-person events. Then the subscription to A Year of Meditation provides affordable ongoing deepening meditation training in bite sized digestible chunks with short practices and daily life activities that can be fitted into busy lives. We have our in person holiday retreat days and weekend on the East Coast of Yorkshire, with fun twists, including mindful crafting activities, plus a disco on the weekend. For those wanting more bespoke, in depth support for their meditation practice, there is the meditation mentoring and mindfulness supervision.
Then I had to pitch my ideas to family and friends to see if they would support me. My supportive sister Helen. My daughter Jenny, who is doing our artwork and created our beautiful and distinctive logo. My brother-in-law Steve, who has a recording studio and is a music producer and created the soothing ambient music to back the guided audios. My friend Claire, who has serious experience of running a business and who is also an accountant and my friend Karen, who is a tech genius. My mindfulness teacher friend Tracy, who jumped at the chance of offering the mindful crafting sessions and who is the perfect person to lead them. All said a resounding yes, and although they listened to me waffling on about my plans for what we would offer and mission and vision, they really said yes because they wanted to help me. I was humbled and moved by their willingness to jump on board and offer their skills. Of course, I am forgetting my golden labradors Rosie and Iona, who are very happy to star in videos promoting Beachcomber Meditation, in return for the odd chunk of cheese!
Then there was the name. I wanted something to represent where we live on the East Coast of Yorkshire. I wanted something to communicate my belief that we all have the qualities we need to live a happy life already within us. Then the word Beachcomber came to me. Wandering on the beach, paying attention, curious about what gemstones, shells and sea glass are already there waiting for us to find them amongst the rocks, seaweed and sand. This seemed the perfect word. When I shared the name with my friend Caroline, she was delighted, as it is the name of her dad’s (who is sadly deceased) favorite cafe on the sea front in Scarborough where the two of us have spent many happy hours chatting and drinking - coffee for me, tea for Caroline.
After checking that Beachcomber Meditation was free to use (my first career was as an intellectual property lawyer) I had to then apply to Companies House for a Limited company to be set up. As usual, these processes are a bit of a palaver, but on 18 February, I received notification that the company had been established. Again, I told my fried Caroline and she exclaimed ‘Don’t you know what day it is?’ I didn’t and she informed me that it was Tibetan New Year and an especially auspicious beginning as this year is the Year of the Fire Horse. The Year of the Fire horse brings prosperity, happiness and health and is extremely rare, happening once every 60 years. It is a powerful cycle symbolising freedom, bold energy, courage, ambition, endurance, forward movement and rapid transformation. So pretty good!
Then there was the website, CRM (customer relations manager), emails, document management systems, etc. We very quickly we settled on Squarespace to meet our needs and we got to work to set up the website - I had already written most of the copy. Squarespace is brilliant and we hope that you like the website and the services we have on offer.
Dates for your diary!
Our first Monday Morning Meditation is at 6.45am on Monday 13 April, on Zoom. A live fifteen minute guided practice session to provide calm and clarity for the day ahead. Our first Monday Evening Meditation is at 9.45pm on Monday 13 April on Zoom. A live fifteen minute guided practice session to provide rest and relaxation before sleep. If these time are not convenient, then the recordings of these sessions will be available all week to stream from the website, at a time to suit you.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Kind Wishes
Heather