About Steven
I teach meditation to people who think they can’t meditate.
The ones with the racing minds, the 3am worry spirals, the constant mental noise that never seems to shut up. The ones who tried a meditation app once, lasted four minutes, decided it wasn’t for them, and went back to scrolling.
Those are my people.
I know what it feels like when your mind won’t stop because mine doesn’t either. I have ADHD. I have dyslexia. I have been through bankruptcy, homelessness, and a diving accident at 18 that left me paralysed from the chest down. I use an electric wheelchair. I have 24-hour care to help me with the everyday things and also because I suffer from autonomic dysreflexia, a life-threatening condition that could strike at any moment.
And I have found more peace in this body and this life than I ever thought possible.
That is not a motivational quote. That is just what happened when I stopped fighting my mind and started learning how to sit with it. I want to help you do the same, without the decades of suffering it took me to get here.
What I Actually Do
I host two podcasts. Stillness in the Storms is where I talk honestly about life, suffering, Zen, and what it really takes to find peace when everything around you is falling apart. Inner Peace Meditations is where I guide you through it. Between them, they have had over 10 million downloads and regularly sit in the top 10 spiritual podcasts in the UK, US, and Australia.
My guided meditations on Insight Timer and Aura have over a million listens. One of my sleep meditations is among the most popular on the planet. I say that not to boast but because it matters. It means the approach works. Not because I am special, but because I teach from the mess, not from the mountaintop.
I send out the Weekly Calm newsletter every week. One email. No hustle. No noise. Just a moment of stillness in your inbox and something honest to sit with. You can join it here.
How I Teach
I call it Messy Mindfulness. Not because it is a brand. Because it is the truth.
Most meditation teaching assumes you have a calm environment, a working body, a clear head, and 45 minutes to spare. I have none of those things. So I developed an approach that works without them.
Short sessions. 10 to 15 minutes. Because that is what busy people can actually do.
Sensory anchoring. Using the sounds around you, the feeling of the chair beneath you, whatever is already here. You do not need silence. You do not need a special room. You need to start where you are.
And the bit that changes everything for overthinkers: you do not have to empty your mind. You never did. The thoughts are not the problem. Your relationship with them is. I teach people how to change that relationship, gently, practically, without any of the spiritual bypassing that makes most meditation feel like a performance.
Why People Listen to Me
Not because I have it all figured out. I really don’t.
People listen because I have been through things that should have broken me and I am still here, still teaching, still learning. There is no pretence. When I talk about suffering, I am not quoting a textbook. When I talk about letting go, I am not speaking from a retreat centre in Bali. I am speaking from a wheelchair in Cornwall, with a cup of tea going cold because I cannot pick it up without help.
That honesty is what people tell me they value most. I will not tell you to think positive. I will not tell you everything happens for a reason. I will sit with you in the hard stuff and help you find something steady underneath it.
A Bit of Background
I broke my neck diving into the sea in 1991. I was 18. I became a C5 complete tetraplegic, which means I have no movement or sensation from the chest down and limited use of my arms and hands.
I spent the next two decades trying to outrun that reality. I started a computer shop, went bankrupt, got married, got divorced, raised my daughter Kember, and slowly fell apart inside while looking like I was holding it together on the outside.
At 40, I hit what the mystics call a dark night of the soul. Everything I had been avoiding caught up with me. And that is when I found Zen Buddhism, specifically the Mundō Zen lineage through Jun Po Dennis Kelly. It did not fix my life. It gave me a way to be in my life without constantly wishing it were different.
I trained as a meditation teacher. I started a podcast in my spare room. I wrote. I taught. People showed up. And they kept showing up.
The full story is longer and messier and more interesting than I can fit here. You can read it on my My Story page.
My story page coming soon
The Numbers and Credentials
I do not love listing credentials because I think lived experience matters more than certificates. But I also know that if you are thinking about listening to someone guide your meditation practice, you want to know they are the real deal. So here it is.
- Host of Stillness in the Storms and Inner Peace Meditations podcasts (10M+ downloads combined)
- Over 1 million listens on Insight Timer and Aura
- Zen Buddhist practitioner and meditation teacher, trained in the Mundō Zen lineage
- Author of The Moving Road and 5 Simple Practices for Inner Peace
- Raised over £40,000 for Cornwall Air Ambulance
- Completed the Cornwall 500: over 450 miles in a wheelchair towing a replica helicopter
- Planning John O’Groats to Land’s End for 2027 to mark Cornwall Air Ambulance’s 40th anniversary
- Regular blogger and content creator since 2010
Serving My Community
Alongside my meditation work, I serve my local community in Cornwall.
I have been a Truro City Councillor for Moresk and Trehaverne since 2017 and a Cornwall Councillor since 2025. I was Mayor of Truro from 2021 to 2023. I currently chair the Finance and General Purpose Committee at Truro City Council. I am also a trustee of Community Energy Plus and the Royal Cornwall Museum, a Cornwall Air Ambulance ambassador, and a director of The Cornwall 500 CIC.
I mention this not to pad out my biography but because it matters to me. The same practice that helps me sit still with a racing mind at 3am helps me listen properly in a council chamber. Inner peace and community service are not separate lives. They are the same life, lived from the same place.
Ways to Connect
If you want to start somewhere, here is where I would point you.
Listen. Try a meditation on my podcast or on Insight Timer. That is the quickest way to know if my voice and approach feel right for you.
Start with a guided meditation
Read. The Weekly Calm newsletter lands in your inbox once a week with something honest and something helpful. It is free and you can leave any time.
Go deeper. I offer courses, personal coaching, and speaking engagements. If you are interested in working together, get in touch.
I am also available for public speaking on resilience, mindfulness, disability, and community leadership. If you would like me to speak at your event, conference, or podcast, please reach out through my contact page.