I’m Amanda Jane
MEDITATION, BREATHWORK & CONSCIOUSNESS GUIDE
For much of my life, I have been drawn towards a deeper understanding of life, consciousness and the nature of who we are beneath our thoughts, beliefs and conditioning.
My own journey has taken me through meditation, breathwork and ultimately into the understanding of non-duality, the recognition that beneath our individual thoughts, identities and life stories, we share the same fundamental awareness. We are not separate from life, but part of the consciousness in which all experience arises.
Today, this understanding sits at the heart of how I live, how I guide, and the work I share through Rise Temple.
My Story
My name is Amanda Jane. I was born in the UK to West Indian parents, my roots stretching into the soulful lands of Antigua and Jamaica. My childhood was marked by both wonder and trauma. I grew up amidst abuse and domestic violence, witnessed things no child should, and later endured the same in my teens. By 22, I had lost my father to cancer... a loss that shook the ground beneath me.
After relocating to Australia in 2006 and becoming a mother in 2008, I faced postnatal depression and financial hardship, having lost my London home during the Global Financial Crisis. A beautiful place that I had purchased in my mid twenties and poured so much love and pride into. For years, I silently navigated the weight of social anxiety and trauma. But somewhere within that darkness, I discovered a quiet power... my breath.
A journey into stillness
My path into meditation and consciousness began long before I had language for what I was seeking.
Over the years, meditation became an increasingly important part of my life. My practice deepened through multiple 10-day Vipassana retreats and my exploration of Advaita Vedanta, leading me towards a deeper understanding of consciousness and non-duality.
Through this practice, I began to recognise the awareness that is already present beneath thought. The witness that can observe thoughts, emotions and experiences without becoming consumed by them.
Rather than trying to control or silence the mind, I began to experience what it meant to simply observe. To allow thoughts to arise and pass without automatically following them, and to become more present with life as it is happening now.
This understanding changed not only the way I meditate, but the way I experience life.
This is the foundation from which I now guide others at Rise Temple.
Where I am now
At 53, I find myself in a very different place.
For much of my life, one question seemed to lead to another. I wanted to understand myself, the mind, our experiences and ultimately the truth of my own existence.
Today, many of those questions feel answered.
Not because I know everything. Far from it. But because I no longer feel I am searching in the way I once was.
My years of meditation and inward exploration gave me the recognition that we are not simply the thoughts, stories and identities appearing within the mind. There is an awareness that observes it all.
This has become less of a philosophy to me and more something I experience through practice.
There will always be more to experience and understand, but there is now an inner sense of having arrived at something I spent much of my life looking for.
My practice feels less like searching and more like remembering.
This is what Return to Stillness has come to mean for me.
Not finding something new.
Recognising what has been here all along.
The practice I share
At the heart of my work is the exploration of consciousness and learning to experience life as the witness.
Witness consciousness invites us to begin observing the thoughts, emotions, stories and reactions that arise within us, rather than becoming completely identified with them. In creating this space, we begin to recognise that we are not simply the constant movement of the mind.
Non-duality takes us deeper into the understanding that we are not separate beings moving through a world outside of ourselves. We are intrinsically part of the whole of life, with every experience arising within the same field of awareness.
For me, this understanding is not something to be intellectually mastered. It is something we begin to experience.
As we loosen our attachment to the stories of the mind, there can be less to fear, control or resist. We begin to surrender more deeply to the current of life and meet what arises with curiosity rather than immediately defining it as right or wrong.
This doesn't mean that life stops being challenging. It means that whatever arises can become part of the practice.
A thought can be witnessed.
A reaction can be observed.
Fear can be met without becoming the entirety of who we are.
An experience can teach us without needing to define us.
Through meditation, conscious breath and the practice of witnessing, I invite people to explore this for themselves.
Not as another belief to adopt, but as something to directly experience.
Rise Temple:A dream realised
Rise Temple was born from a desire to create a space where others could step away from everyday life, slow down and turn inward.
Set amongst 45 acres in the Byron Bay hinterland, it is now home to private retreats, meditation and Breath & Belief experiences, with this work also extending online to those further away.
I don't see myself as someone standing above another person with the answers. I am a guide, sharing the practices and understanding that have shaped my own journey while creating the space for you to explore your own.
Because ultimately, this isn't about becoming someone new.
It is about beginning to recognise what has been there all along.
This is my journey.
With love,
Amanda Jane
➡︎ CREATE YOUR OWN RISE TEMPLE - Online sessions
➡︎ VISIT RISE TEMPLE - In-house sessions & retreats
