Meet Merle

I have taught and co-facilitated workshops and retreats internationally, for the past 20 years on the art and intuitive science of writing; the power of silence; the rewards of intuition.

As a young child I remember asking myself the question who is Merle? as I biked hard up the mountain to primary school, determined to find the answer. This quest has taken me on a lifelong search to discover the meaning and substance of what the Indigenous People call “Original Medicine”. They say there is a unique essence we each bring to our world and the life journey is to discover what this is and how to express it.

 

I have taught and co-facilitated

Everything I teach Or Write Is From Experience

In my search, I have had the privilege to sit at the feet of great teachers: Buddhist monks, Yogis, mystic poets; writers, dancers and musicians. I have had the gift to look into the eyes of my first grandchild, minutes after he was born, in my writing room in Cape Town. I have learned to trust that there is an inner guidance, an inside GPS that I call the “it feel”. This has led me into some wild adventures and has also taken me to the dark side of the moon where I met the challenges of loneliness and self-doubt. It guided me to a partnership in marriage to a man I hardly knew and I’m happy to say is still, after fifty three years and many quests together, my beloved.

My longing to find the truth of my medicine has taken me on a vision quest up the Groot Winterhoek mountains to, as the Indigenous young warriors are instructed to do, sit alone, to fast and reflect. I have spent a three month winter solo, in a cabin on the shores of a frozen lake, in Northern Ontario, meditating in complete silence.

 

I am currently gazing into the horizon of my life and writing a book about the potential and wise council of this exciting third phase of life. Guided by meditation practise, my daily dive into icy wild water and the mystic poets –  I knead Hafiz into my sourdough; dig Rumi into my organic carrots and spread Kabir into my wrinkles.

 

Their encouragement and humour give me reason to keep laughing, crying, teaching and writing.

 

 

 

For the past twenty years I have taught and co-facilitated workshops in Norway, France, Italy, UK, Canada, Israel and South Africa, using writing, meditation and silence to drive the journey inwards. I have sat with the San Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert, listened to their ancient songs and stories and been deeply impacted by their indigenous wisdom. I have collaborated on a book about this experience, “Spurensigge”, published in German in 2001. I have published a book on meditation for children, based on Listenbear, who teaches children how to bear the unbearable. It has been adapted by Save the Children and World Vision International and distributed to thousands of children in many languages.

I have recently completed a 2 year post graduate program in Mindfulness though Stellenbosch University Medical Science faculty.

12 + 12 =

MEDITATION  MINDFULNESS  WRITING   COOKING

Listen: Podcast & Meditations

For you to listen and enjoy.Take a break and do a quick three minute breathing exercise, a sample meditation, listen to a poem or enjoy Merle reading Listenbear.

MEDITATION  MINDFULNESS  WRITING   COOKING

Meditation

For you to experience. Each day is a new beginning, each breath is a new beginning. I work with a method to help you connect to the body, the breath and the sense of connection to the truth of who you are.

MEDITATION  MINDFULNESS  WRITING   COOKING

Mindfulness

To enjoy and experience. To meet the “toomuchery” of life with new perspective.
To bathe in the joy of breathing Mindfully, moving Mindfully, speaking and eating Mindfully.

MEDITATION  MINDFULNESS  WRITING   COOKING

Writing

Is there an authentic writing voice? And if so, how to find it? This is the essence of what I teach.  That Yes, there is an authentic and original writing voice that is the essence of You.