Meet Annelies Richmond

We recently connected with Annelies Richmond and have shared our conversation below.

Annelies, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I used to move to a new city every 2-3 years with my family as a military “brat” / military kid, and I was quite shy. I also got so picked on in middle school, being the new kid in a very wealthy Texas private school. So, I had quite the low confidence & self-esteem as I grew up.
I became a ballet dancer and entered that as a profession – I was so passionate about dance and worked hard, auditioned and became a professional ballerina. I was still so insecure. The whole profession is about looking good enough, performing well enough, getting the right reviews, staying on point with your technique and a low enough weight, etc. It was high pressure and I would get SO nervous before stage. I also lived in such a small-bubble world, the ballet world – that was all there was for me at the time. So, if something happened in my career / in my small ballet-world, it was life-altering, either elating or devastating.
I got injured badly during my career, right after starting to get solo roles and getting promoted…. and had to take an entire year off. I could not walk without pain, so I wondered how would I ever get back to dance. I wondered what my life was really about. I started reading and reading, searching and searching, all kinds of career paths and also spiritual books. I loved the spiritual books, but I was like – “How do you DO this in your life for real?” It all sounded elusive and maybe not even possible. Finally a neighbor referred me to a 4-day meditation and breathwork course by the Art of Living. I stepped into that course and was like, wow. I mean I was already taking yoga 4 times a week, but after having my first experience of Sudarshan Kriya, I was blown away. This meditative breathing technique was so deep and transformative, and my body pain that I always had a dancer, went away after a few days of practicing! I was hooked. I started to practice every morning. Soon I noticed more subtle and deeper shifts, feeling more calm at work, feeling more relaxed and confident in the at-work auditions for new choreographers, until finally, I remember walking onto stage one night at the Metropolitan Opera, with those 4000 or so people watching, and was shocked to find myself – not nervous!! How could this be? Where was the psyching myself out and the normal anxiety / panic that used to set in?
So, I decided to become a teacher of Art of Living, of the same 4-day Course I had taken. The weird thing was, I was deeply afraid of speaking in front of people!! But, I was so inspired that these techniques would be sooo helpful to other people, that they should reach everyone, that I went for the training anyway. A two-week in-residence training. I hid in the back!! So that they wouldn’t make me stand up and present in front of others.

I got to meet Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in person, who is the founder / master teacher of the Art of Living and the one who brought out into public this amazing technique I had been practicing, Sudarshan Kriya. I was blown away by his presence and his teaching, and his unparalleled intuitiveness. When I met him, I told him that maybe I want to become a teacher of this, and he immediately said, Yes yes! You would be wonderful. And he proceeded to tell me (without me ever telling him!) which prerequisites I had done, and which ones I still had to fulfill before I took the Teacher Training. I was like, whoaa, how does he know that?
Fast forward, I took the two teacher trainings necessary to become a certified Art of Living instructor, and I really had to face my insecurities in these trainings. I had to stare them right in the face. But the training was amazing and really brought out the authentic you. As soon as I got back to New York, I started teaching these courses, even though I was still nervous to be in front of a group of people. And was even more nervous now, with having to teach something that was completely new to me as a teacher!
With so much encouragement from Gurudev, his ability to instill a faith in yourself that is quite unshakeable, and also with just getting in front of group after group of New Yorkers of all types to teach each Art of Living Course that came my way, I slowly lost my insecurities and developed more, and more and more self-esteem and confidence. I was only able to do this because 1) I was coming from a space of service (this was not my job! I was doing it as service because it helped people) and 2) the teachings and techniques that I got to share, were just so profound. I had challenge after challenge come my way, like – teaching a group of NYC psychiatrists (yikes!), teaching opposing gang members in Harlem who landed in the same course together (yikes!), and, taking these courses into an inner city school where the principal asked me to design a school version for 4th graders – 180 of them at one time! Uhh. That was exhausting. But sooo rewarding, seeing their peaceful little smiles at the end!
These experiences over time, made me have to rise to the occasion, to feel the fear and do it anyway, no matter how scary it seemed. I was only able to do this because I wanted to help people, my teacher encouraged me so much, and because of my meditation practice which really changed me. My confidence slowly improved, and self-esteem started to come naturally.
I began to be able to get in front of larger and larger groups, and teach and lead workshops, without really getting nervous at all. Just being able to be myself.
Until last year, I had the ultimate challenge. I was asked to lead the yoga and meditation live on the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations for Prime Minister Modi and entourage, live on TV, that would be watched by a billion people! My team was 6 nervous and adorable children who would lead with me. I was somewhat nervous, but it went wonderfully, and I realized that I had come a long, long way. 🙂

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

After being an Art of Living teacher for about 10 years, I started a special program within the Art of Living Foundation for college students and universities, called the SKY Campus Happiness Program. I am so passionate about this program, and its rapid growth, because I feel what young people need most (and what I needed at that age!), is powerful tools to reduce stress, get rid of negative emotions, boost mental health, increase confidence in oneself, manage the mind, find purpose in life, and in general feel good about themselves. I have developed a national team that runs SKY Campus Happiness in the USA, and over the last 12 years, we have expanded the program to 130 universities!
I feel so happy about this because young people and also faculty & staff at universities, are getting the most amazing evidence-based breathwork and meditation practice that I have found – Sudarshan Kriya – right in their university. They are also getting authentic social connection, emotional intelligence training, service learning and leadership training, all through SKY Campus Happiness. Under the guidance of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, we have put in all of our favorite approaches to happiness and resilience, all in one program.

I focus most of my time traveling to universities, giving talks, teaching students, teaching staff and faculty, leading leadership trainings, and also training new SKY Campus Happiness teachers! It is the most fulfilling work. And, my full-time team are the most amazing people on the planet. They have hearts of gold and they just go out there to take care of people and empower people. I am so lucky to be working with my team. Many of them took the SKY Campus program in college, and became so inspired that they wanted to work for our program full-time.

I also work with 150 passionate volunteer teachers who have taken the rigorous 1000-hour Art of Living Teacher Training, and become SKY Campus Happiness instructors, and teach as service, outside of their busy work life, just because they love empowering young people so much!

What I feel very excited about now, is that we are slowly getting the SKY Campus Happiness Program into different universities as a for-credit class, So that students can now get academic credit and learn a most powerful practice of SKY Breath Meditation (Sudarshan Kriya) right in their class-load. I also am very excited that some universities are putting the SKY Campus Happiness Program into their orientation programming so that students learn powerful tools for resilience, uplifting mental health and managing the mind, right at the beginning of their academic year.

What is so unique about SKY Campus Happiness Courses for students, is that it combines 4 approaches to well-being at one go. Not only do students learn very powerful breathwork and meditation (SKY Breath Meditation), they also get to experience social connection, emotional intelligence frameworks, and leadership training.

What I love about our program is that we train university students to become peer leaders – after they take a SKY Retreat for themselves, we offer leadership trainings and meditation facilitator trainings so that they can lead others and teach on their own campus. This makes for more and more good impact on our campuses, and students getting to learn from expertly trained students.
We also do this for faculty, where they can learn to teach the program within their university for students, or for other staff and faculty.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The most important skill for me was learning to meditate properly, with a real technique from an authentic teacher, who knows the mind and how to train someone’s mind. This has been the biggest game-changer in my life. There is nothing like the bliss of true meditation, and also the happiness it brings into your everyday life! It makes everything come in technicolor 🙂
My advice would be to those early (or late!) in their journey: learn to meditate! Do not learn it from a book! Learn to meditate from a true, trained teacher who meditates themselves everyday, and who teaches a technique that is rooted in tradition and also has research behind it. My favorite is SKY Breath Meditation! Once you learn it, this is key: PRACTICE IT!!
The second skill for me was picking a teacher / life coach who I trusted completely, and who cared about my growth. I never would have grown so much and so fast, without my incredible teacher.
The third skill was doing everything I did in a team, with amazing people. There is nothing like moving in a team. The team brings energy, juice, fun, allows you to mentor and nurture others, and brings so many skills together in one place, more than one person has. My advice would be: build you dream team and move with them! Be authentic with them.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

The one who has been most helpful in my life for overcoming challenges and developing the knowledge and qualities I needed to be successful, is Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I have had the great honor and privilege of getting to study with, learn under, and work with Gurudev through my involvement in the projects and programs of the Art of Living Foundation. It has been a mind-blowing journey. I always wanted to learn from someone who actually walks the talk, and Gurudev is someone who is constantly walking the talk and more. I have found it so inspiring just to be around him, to see how he takes the utmost care of each and every person he comes into contact with, and still maintains a huge vision of bringing peace and belonging to the whole globe, while tending to that peace and belonging in each individual. The way he interacts so personally with anyone he comes into contact with, but also is visiting presidents of countries and advising them on global scale matters, really blows my mind to watch! And, the subtlety of his meditation and breathwork teachings and yogic wisdom are unparalleled.

Contact Info:

• Website: skycampushappiness.org / artofliving.org
• Instagram: @anneliesrichmond
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/AnneliesLRichmond
• Linkedin: Annelies Richmond
• Twitter: @anneliesrich
• Youtube: Wellbeing with Annelies

Image Credits

Archie Patchirajan
Gautam De