Neelama Eyres
Neelama Eyres is a spiritual teacher, author, workshop facilitator, and Co-Founder and Director of the Applied Compassion Training (ACT) offered through CCARE at Stanford University.
Neelama's background includes a degree in Comparative Religion, the study of Eastern spirituality and Western psychology, Spiritual sabbaticals to Southeast Asia and India, and a career of leading compassion, meditation and contemplative retreats, facilitating personal growth workshops and trainings, coaching individuals and couples, and Co-Authoring the book Divorced with Love.
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Co-Founder and Director of the Applied Compassion Training at CCARE Stanford University, Neelama develops, leads, and directs the 11-month Applied Compassion Training (ACT) through CCARE (Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education) at Stanford University.
Since 1998, she's worked in the field of personal growth and transformation in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, as a trainer and facilitator of experiential workshops—now under the umbrella of Inner Journey Institute, of which she is also Co-Founder. She has designed and facilitated hundreds of seminars and worked with thousands of people over the past 25 years.
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For the past decade, Neelama has been deeply immersed in the study and practice of the contemplative Christian mystical tradition. She has been influenced by many modern-day mystics including Father Richard Rohr, Father Thomas Keating, Cynthia Bourgeault and Adyashanti. Since 2010, she's led retreats and workshops to help people access the forgotten teachings and practices of the contemplative Christian tradition.
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​Neelama’s spiritual journey combined with her extensive travels throughout Southeast Asia and India have allowed her to spend considerable time in Buddhist monasteries and Hindu Ashrams, giving her a depth of experience in Eastern spirituality which, like her extensive studies of Western traditions, is reflected in all of her work.
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Neelama lives in Marin County, California with her husband David, her son Kai, and her bonus daughter Siena. You can learn more about Neelama here
On Motherhood
Neelama considers the most important gift and spiritual experience of her life the journey of raising of an incredible being, her son Kai:
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“Giving birth and becoming a mom have been the most profound passage on my life’s journey. Being a mother teaches me what it truly means to surrender … if only for a moment! I have been humbled time and again by my own human limitations, and have discovered that the source of unconditional love does not live within the bounds of my ego but, rather, must be called forth from another Source entirely. Kai has shown me the door to my own heart, and helped me to walk through it countless times."
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