Mayra Clay, 51, a London meditation teacher who calls herself a ‘modern-day monk’, says daily meditation has helped her find inner peace and transformed her life
A self-described “modern-day monk” who meditates on a daily basis has revealed she wants to “open people’s minds” to the realities of contemporary monastic life – and it does not involve her “sitting in a cave for hours”.
Mayra Clay, 51, a meditation teacher based in London, has spoken of how events during her childhood led her to suppress her emotions and develop feelings of “insecurity and a lack of self-worth”.
These deep-rooted insecurities posed significant challenges at the beginning of her relationship with her now-husband Marc, yet she credits a single meditation course with transforming her life entirely, guiding her towards inner peace. She and her husband have since both qualified as meditation teachers, and Mayra has penned a children’s book, inspired by an ancient technique, designed to help young readers understand and come to terms with their feelings and emotions.
Mayra describes herself as a “modern-day monk” and meditates several times throughout the day, often totalling many hours, but she is keen to set the record straight about what life as a modern monk truly looks like.
She told PA Real Life: “As a monk, there’s this idea that you have to sit in a cave for hours and meditate. Modern life is about interacting with life and reality, being present and, from there, just going out into the world and being yourself in a very honest way.
“One thing that I love about these meditation techniques is that they are very gentle and you don’t have to suffer to achieve results.”
Mayra was born and raised in Mexico in a Catholic household, and is the third of four children. She revealed that she had numerous friends and strong bonds with her siblings, and that her upbringing “lacked nothing in the material sense” – she had “everything (she) needed”.
Nevertheless, she explained that the dynamic between her parents created considerable “tension” within the household. “We grew up with lovely nannies, but I felt lonely… my childhood was not very stable,” Mayra said.
Mayra disclosed that this instability led her to develop feelings of “insecurity” and “anxiety”.
Yet when her parents divorced when she was around 10 years old, she described it as one of her “happiest” moments, as she knew it would bring less turmoil to her life.
“I felt, in that sense, it was not going to be so chaotic with their relationship and us being in the middle of situations,” she said. So, while it was heartbreaking, I felt very happy that day.”
In her early teenage years, Mayra felt that she “wanted to help the world” and, drawing inspiration from Mother Teresa, she joined a Catholic girls club.
During the Easter periods, she and fellow members would support impoverished communities, sleeping in local churches and engaging children with games and activities.
Upon returning home, however, she described feeling “empty” due to a lack of ongoing purpose.
“I felt like, ‘oh my goodness, I’m helping people, how amazing’, but when I went back home, it felt like an emptiness because it was not continuous,” she said. Later, while studying at university, she decided to visit her older sister who was undertaking a fashion design degree in Milan – and it was here that she met her now-husband Marc, a designer.
For nearly a year, the couple travelled back and forth between Mexico and Italy, but once she graduated, they relocated to Milan to build a life together. During this period, Mayra said she began to question her faith.
“At one point, I thought, ‘this is not working, something is not working for me’,” she explained. “I’m still a believer, but now I understand that, for me, God is inside me, not outside. God is in my heart.”
Mayra said that her relationship with Marc was “strained” at first – and she believes this was largely down to her childhood experiences, during which she frequently felt “jealous and insecure”.
One day, Mayra’s mother rang her to tell her about the “best ever” self-help course in Mexico, insisting that Mayra give it a go on her next visit home.
Mayra explained: “When she called me and said, ‘Listen, this is the amazing meditation course, you need to try it’, I said, ‘No, I don’t want to try it’. “I lied to her and said, ‘I’m completely fine with my life now’.”
A few months later, Mayra returned to Mexico to see her family, only to discover that her mother had already enrolled her on The Bright Path Ishayas course, which ran over a weekend.
She told her mother that this would be the “last course (she) would ever do” – yet afterwards, she felt “different”. “I felt that something had switched inside me,” she said.
“It allowed me to relax, it allowed me to feel whatever it was I was feeling, it allowed me to do whatever I want. So, I started practising the techniques based on love, compassion, gratitude and appreciation… and when I went back to Milan to see my husband, he said, ‘What’s happened to you?’.”
Following this revelation, Mayra described their relationship as “healthier, more joyful and loving”, and, on their next visit to Mexico, Marc enrolled on the course himself in a bid to further strengthen their bond.
Mayra went on to explain that the “gentle” techniques “take you to a place of stillness”, encouraging people to become more present and to forge new relationships with their own thoughts.
The couple subsequently relocated to London in 2009 and, following the birth of their first son, decided they wanted to “help others experience the same level of peace”.
They went on to complete the six-month Bright Path Mastery course in Spain, becoming fully qualified meditation teachers, before welcoming their second son and undertaking further courses throughout the following decade.
“It has helped me become more grounded and see life with different eyes,” she said.
“I have realised how important it is to be fully present with my family and friends, so that I am the best version of myself rather than repeating old chaotic family patterns from my childhood.”
While working at a nursery school, Mayra discovered she wanted to write a children’s book about an ancient technique used to heal relationships – known as the pink light.
The method involves closing one’s eyes and picturing a pink light radiating out and surrounding them, before projecting this pink light onto images of themselves and their loved ones as “unconditional love”.
“It’s a very ancient technique that everyone can do because it’s a very loving, very easy technique,” she said. “But I said to myself, ‘I would love to do the pink light, but in a way that kids can understand’.”
This is what inspired her to write The Boy and The Pink Light, illustrated by her friend Line Anderson. The story follows a joyful boy who suddenly feels a sadness he cannot explain, until he meets a radiant pink light that shows him how to navigate these unfamiliar feelings.
As well as helping children recognise and embrace their feelings, Mayra hopes that parents will read and learn from it too, particularly given that it helped her heal her own relationship with her father.
She revealed she now enjoys an “amazing relationship” with her parents, and her family have since taken up meditation themselves.
She feels deeply thankful for the warm reception the book has garnered thus far, and hopes that others will discover the benefits of meditation for themselves.
“I never thought (meditation) would change my life this much,” Mayra said. “In my mind, it’s better because, without these techniques, I don’t know where I’d be. It has been a beautiful journey, with lots of discoveries.
“I remember saying to my husband, ‘If this book even changed one life, that’s all that matters’.”
To find out more, visit Mayra’s website at www.mayraclay.com..
