Meet Andrew Viselli

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andrew Viselli a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

Committing to something every day without knowing where you will end up, simply trusting it will take you further and further away from where you started, only to eventually realize you ended up exactly where you began, just in a different mindset and space. This is where the mindset shift occurs: realizing you have to change everything you thought or believed to make any headway forward. It requires a complete and utter commitment to this change. Nothing gets in the way of this focus, this dedication, this commitment to self.

Anyone who comes into your sphere will soon understand the journey you are on and their role in this journey. They can help; they can hold you accountable. They may not get in your way, and if they can’t understand this, then, “Thank you, I’m sorry, I need to move forward.” It’s funny how many people you share this with understand your journey because they agree to it even though they don’t know what it means. And you don’t know what it means either, you’re just moving. I always felt like I was on a bullet train to somewhere unknown, but the train was moving so fast that I never wanted anything to get in the way of its progress. I never knew where I was going to end up or where I was going. Yet those people who came into my life understood what I was doing: the commitment to myself to change. They had witnessed me so beaten up, so down, so full of shame and guilt that I think they all wanted to help in some way. And yet, I knew that the only thing that could help me was me.

This is not easy. This is so hard, right now, sitting here crying, thinking back to these moments of solitude and isolation. That time was really hard but necessary. I just read something today, and I don’t know if I’m going to get this right or not, but it said, “When God wants to make a man strong, He isolates him.” All I know is I was isolated. All I know is that I was the only one who was going to be able to fix whatever was broken in me, broken by me. I had to look in the mirror; I had to own my mistakes, and I committed to it. I was dedicated to it. I was focused on it. Much like meditation, you have to want to meditate. You have to want to receive the benefits of what meditation gives you, but you have to show up every day. You have to carve out the time, you have to commit to sit, you have to have the focus to follow your meditation practice—whichever practice of meditation you follow, whether mindfulness, mantra, or any other.

Sometimes we do things and we don’t know why we do them, and this is partially true about meditation. I don’t think I knew what the true benefits of it were; I just knew that when I did it, I felt better. When I was able to drop into my meditation, closing my eyes, following the breath, crossing my eyes ever so slightly, and focusing on the space directly above my eyebrows, on each exhale, I seemed to go someplace different, someplace that wasn’t the now. What I’ve come to realize is that place is exactly the now. It is exactly the mirror into my soul, into my life. The only space that can give me the answers was there.

Don’t get me wrong, I read every book I could find, I listened to every talk I could, I found every resource there was to help me be better. Each one brought me a little bit closer to healing, to an understanding that I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t broken; I was just broken down by my own mistakes, by years of trying to be something for others, never being true to myself—except in volleyball or in teaching in a classroom. Those were the only places I ever felt free. And yet, in meditation, I always felt free. So that’s all I wanted to do: meditate. I dedicated myself to it because it allowed me space. One day, my therapist said, “You know you can’t just meditate 24 hours a day unless you’re a yogi in the caves of the Himalayas.” I said, “Well, that sounds perfect, that’s what I’d like to do.” And this is the best part—she said, “Even the yogis have to come out of the caves and down into the towns and villages and cities so that they can see and understand if their meditation is even working.”

So meditation on the mat or in the studio is the practice, the training of what you are to become. Yet, your everyday interactions are where you can tell if your meditations are deep enough if they have taken you to the soul level, and if the soul level has opened up enough for you to go into your darkness, to look into these spaces of pain—what we now call traumas, big T, little t, it doesn’t matter. How deep are you willing to look? How far down are you willing to go? That’s where I was, and I have committed to going as far down as I could because I never wanted to feel that way again—from the loss, the pain, the grief, the shame, the blame, the guilt, and the fear. I never wanted to be back there. So I say to myself, “I’m never going back.” And when I say that, I mean I’m never going back to the person I was who caused these problems in my life and other people’s lives. I am shedding that. I’m releasing those energies and emotions trapped and stored in my body, and understanding that the tears, the screams, come out for a reason, and they have to come out. As they come out, they release the stored emotions that for years have been put down and put away, partly because I’m a man and I was told to put them away, partly because I didn’t know how to deal with them. I didn’t have the skills or strategies, and couldn’t communicate appropriately from the heart with love. I think that’s where I am now, what I attempt to do every day: being clear-minded, open-hearted, and speaking from this heart space, and living from this heart space.

Now, not to say that everything is rainbows and unicorns, because it’s certainly not. There are times now when I feel the rage, the anger, the jealousy, and I want to burn everything down. However, because of my time with my therapist, my daily practice of meditation and breathwork, and all the beautiful lessons from my beautiful teachers, I can sit with those feelings and do nothing. This lesson of doing nothing, the wu wei—the act of doing nothing, is just simply hitting the pause button. What lesson do these emotions, these feelings, these thoughts, have for me? What am I supposed to learn from them? How do I grow from them? Because to act on them is certainly easier and yet so much more destructive. From the observer’s mind through the practice of meditation, I am now allowed to see the thoughts, feelings, and emotions as well as the outcome of acting on those thoughts, feelings, and emotions. There is no desire in me to act on them. After the pause, when they have all subsided, I truly understand the power that comes from that. It fills me with a sense of gratitude for this practice of meditation, of going within and not being afraid, knowing that nothing ever needs to be done, and that everything will always work itself out.

I say this from a space and a place of practice, trial and error, failure, lots of failure, and all those beautiful souls who’ve come into my life that I’ve asked to hold me accountable, to tell me when my behavior is ugly, when my comments are ugly when they are not from the heart space. I am forever grateful for those souls who understand what I’ve asked for in our relationship and are more than willing to help hold me accountable so I can continue my growth to become the best person that I’ve set out to become with no goal of what this person looks like. Just forever grateful for these souls, forever grateful for the dedication, the focus, and commitment to this practice, this beautiful practice of meditation, of sitting with the self.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Andrew Viselli is an Intuitive Coach with an impressive 30-year background in coaching. His expertise extends to being a certified Special Education Teacher, Breathwork Facilitator, Meditation Coach, Reiki Practitioner, and Life Coach with EQ training, enriching his practice with a diverse skill set.

Alongside his coaching endeavors, Andrew serves as a dedicated Special Education teacher in the Nantucket Public Schools, where he has spent 24 years refining alternative programs to positively impact others. His coaching journey began in 1994 and includes a noteworthy career in Hall of Fame volleyball coaching.

A pivotal moment in Andrew’s personal growth occurred in the summer of 2019 when he embraced a daily meditation practice. This led him to pursue teacher training and attain certifications in meditation and two distinct breathwork modalities within the last two years. Motivated by the profound impact of meditation, Andrew is committed to assisting individuals in their voyage of self-discovery.

Self-reflection is a powerful tool that holds the key to navigating life’s challenges. Looking in the mirror, both figuratively and literally, can be daunting yet transformative. It is through this introspection that we confront our inner demons, acknowledge our vulnerabilities, and embrace our strengths.

Andrew Viselli is a seasoned Intuitive Coach with a proven track record in helping clients achieve their personal and professional goals. With certifications ranging from Breathwork Healing to Meditation and Emotional Intelligence Training, Andrew brings a holistic approach to his coaching practice. His expertise, combined with over three decades of coaching experience, allows him to provide tailored guidance to individuals seeking personal growth and self-discovery. With Andrew as your coach, you can trust in his professionalism and dedication to helping you unleash your full potential.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three things that I KNOW unequivocally were most impactful on my journey: the ability to find Vulnerability, understand the power of Forgiveness, and develop a sense of Gratitude for the smallest things I had in my life.
Vulnerability was simply about looking in the mirror, and accepting who I was, where I was, and that I had to own my shit! Only I could change where I was.
Forgiveness was about understanding that I had to forgive myself for being the way I was, it was all I had known and I had to stop beating myself up for what I didn’t know. I also had to learn to forgive everyone in my life for what they had done. They did the best they could with what they had. We have simply done the best we can with what we have, It is up to us to make the change once we know!
Gratitude. The most basic way to bring about change in our lives. Find one thing, one simple thing to be grateful for every day. Life is about understanding this simple affirmation…Every day I am becoming more Grateful for all that I have!

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or feelings of despair come over me I go back to basics. I meditate, I walk, I read, I journal. All the things that I did when I started my journey. I simply realize that I am not the person who began this journey 4 years ago. I am adept with a skill set and ability to work myself through the problem without judgment, and without allowing the feelings to overcome me. I understand that this won’t last and that things will change. A deeper understanding that most situations require little to no action or response in the moment is also a beautiful practice (with guidance) that I have developed.

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