Stephen Archer has been involved with mindfulness for over 40 years, starting his meditation journey as an ordained Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest tradition at the age of twenty-three. This involved working closely for 13 years with different teachers and completing a number of long solitary retreats to strengthen his practice.
Stephen has led over 100 residential meditation retreats, delivered courses in healthcare and prisons and assisted the Mental Health Foundation of NZ to develop their approach to mindfulness.
Stephen is in demand as a mindfulness meditation educator in the workplace, having worked with Air New Zealand, the NZ Olympic team, and Weta FX amongst others.
He has been constantly evolving his teaching style and relationship to meditation. He facilitates with a modern, non-religious and highly accessible style. At the heart of his teaching is the acknowledgement that all dimensions of human nature must be included in our practice, and retreatants are encouraged to trust their own authority and capacity for wholeness.