Worthy Stokes is an American-born writer, #1 bestselling meditation author, and trauma-sensitive mindfulness guide who works with an evolutionary perspective of consciousness that synthesizes emergent neuroscience, non-religious, spiritual healing and narrative presence. She designs contemplative programming for self-care and offers private sessions.

Her books are endorsed by esteemed medical doctors, psychologists, CEOs, spiritual thought leaders, philanthropic visionaries, science experts, and award-winning, NYT bestselling authors.

Her Survivor Story

After experiencing tragic loss as a young adult, she turned to nature, emergent neuroscience, and meditation to understand her grief. Years later, she miraculously survived a collision overseas and recovered from neurological trauma abroad, which led to a decade of healing and rehabilitation with trauma specialists and therapeutic supports.

Meditation proved to be the most transformative element of her recovery. Ultimately, her harrowing journey to recover the faculties of her bodymind sparked a personal quest to understand the art and science of posttraumatic growth.

Her Coma & Near Death Experience (NDE)

While in a coma, her lucid Near Death Experience awakened her to life as immanent consciousness; that singular event inspires all she does. Esteemed peers have called her "the real deal" and "a warrior of light and healing" who "really nails the essence of mindfulness" with "grace and compassion."

Her Healing Programs

After nearly two decades of research, study, and advanced, personal practice at the intersection of neuroscience and non-religious spiritual healing, Worthy developed and trademarked her proprietary mindfulness method: HeartMind® Meditation. Additional programming includes The HeartMind® Process and HeartMind® Awakening.

As a survivor of complex trauma, she is passionate about designing affordable support for spiritual sense-making, post-traumatic growth, and sustainable resilience. Since 2018 her meditations have been free on Insight Timer, the world's largest meditation platform.

Her Training & Her View

She has attended workshops, professional trainings, and retreats with a range of individuals: leading neuroscientists, sound healers, meditation experts, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, clinical researchers and engineers, religious scholars, indigenous thought leaders, bodyworkers, contemplative artists, medical doctors, breath scientists, poet laureates, Tibetan lamas, holistic psychotherapists, creatives, biodynamic and somatic/dance movement facilitators, art therapists, reiki healers, trauma specialists, and more. Additionally, Worthy has attended harm reduction presentations by theologians engaged in research pertinent to consciousness, faith, and healing, and her evolving perspective reflects a deep, abiding love for the places where science and spirituality come to touch. Her view is interdisciplinary, interconnected, trauma-sensitive, and directly inspired by lived experience.

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She has received darshan from Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) and practiced non-dual, meditative awareness (in person) with Adyashanti, Marlies Myoku Cocheret, and Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi Mishra. Over the course of 10 years (prior to leaving organized religion behind) Worthy attended practice retreats with the West's foremost, preeminent Tibetan author and scholar on sutra, tantra, and dzogchen.

Her Spiritual Transformation

Worthy's intimate meeting with Death irrevocably reconfigured her understanding of embodied consciousness and re-wired her spiritual faith. This life-altering passage through the pure, awakened field of infinite, multi-layered, unified intelligence (prior to returning to her physical body in the ICU) re-oriented her perceptual lens to a new, mystical view that would ultimately require years of therapy, study, and personal inquiry to integrate what she had discovered well beyond the perimeter of time, form, and space.

Her Education & Global Perspective

An academic scholarship and the generosity of high-net-worth individuals made it possible for her to attend The Lawrenceville School for all four years, where she was a recipient of the prestigious Eglin Society* award. Additionally, her peers elected her to presidential leadership positions in support of creativity, women and leadership, and performing arts theatre. She has said her time at Lawrenceville "taught me the importance of giving. Sometimes that means time and volunteerism. Sometimes that means money or opportunity. It's the spirit of giving generously to others that matters more than the gift itself. My years at Lawrenceville taught me the true meaning of philanthropy. And that no offering is too small to make an impact; every time we make a choice to uplift another person, it makes a difference."

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Worthy holds an undergraduate degree in documentary journalism and conducted qualitative research in Eastern Europe. She completed graduate-level course work in creative writing and narrative nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence College, and she has been privately mentored by award-winning, NYT bestselling authors.

She currently studies Narrative Medicine at Columbia University with interests in trauma-sensitive, narrative presence, spirituality, neuroscience, patient-centered programming, consciousness, and phenomenology.

Prior to becoming a #1 bestselling meditation author, her lifelong passion for impact-driven philanthropy led her to work internationally in the field of nonprofit communications. Her dedication to visionary projects inspired her to take on roles at organizations such as the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (grants administrator for donor-advised funds) and for indigenous-led initiatives (managing director; advisor; director of communications) to protect and preserve key indigenous assets - IP, cultural practices, contemplative arts, tribal wisdom, medicinal plant extracts, (TEK) - in critical locations across the world.

Nature, Nurture, & Place

Worthy was born and raised through early childhood in rural Montana while her father (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) worked alongside countless others to design the first Bob Marshall Wilderness land management policy plan as an employee of the United States Forest Service; he subsequently held leadership positions as an advisor on natural resource issues at the national level. Her mother is a retired school teacher with an M.A. in art education.

She is named after her grandfather, Dr. Worthy, a battlefield surgeon with the Harvard Group in WWII & a Founding Fellow of the American College of OB-GYN.

Her Retreat from Fame

After becoming a #1 bestselling meditation author and overseeing the outreach and PR strategy for four, extraordinary book deals in a row, she found herself overwhelmed by (and unprepared for) the immense social pressure that comes with being a public figure. To recover from the debilitating anxiety and physical stress that accompanied her unexpected success as an author and thought leader, she chose to prioritize her health. She withdrew from the public eye to focus on writing, research, healing, and her life's soul work.

Her Life Now

She lives with her husband, who is from New York City; he holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. from Columbia University. His global work in the field of literacy led to positions in international cities such as NYC, Seoul, and Beijing. He has managed education projects across all five boroughs of NY, NY.

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A certified yoga instructor with expertise in education, he has trained with Dr. Richard P. Brown, M.D. and Dr. Patricia Gerbarg, M.D. to teach Breath-Body-Mind, a scientifically grounded mindfulness method for addressing symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Additionally, he studied trauma-sensitive mindfulness with Dr. David Treleaven, Ph.D., a trauma educator and visiting scholar at Brown University.

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