My Sur-Thrival Story and Personal Mission

“Real meditations for real people.”

I’m Leslie Riopel and I’m a sur-thriver.

If you’re struggling to survive right now, I understand. I am too. I'm sharing my sur-thrival story with you to show you that it is possible to thrive even through adversity and challenges.

In terms of my journey, I’ve decided this is the year I’m going to put myself out there. I’m going to live authentically and live boldly. I’ve spent the last 10 years feeling very isolated. I’ve gone through my own dark night of the soul. In the last few years, a lot has happened. My beautiful mother passed away, I got sued by my own sister. I've had some tumultuous relationship challenges. As a result of the stress, I developed chronic UTI's which have left me nearly housebound and my health has suffered.

The journey has been a very draining one and I’m in the process of rediscovering myself at the age of 58. In spite of all of this, though I’ve had some incredible blessings. I’ve spent the last 17 years as a mother to an amazing, gifted child. I was able to spend time with my beautiful mother before she passed. I reconnected with my baby sister. and discovered that we have a lot in common. As my son turns 18 it’s time for me to figure out what’s next. Who am I and where am I going? How do I define myself outside of motherhood as my son prepares to go off to college? How can I bless the mess and embrace the uncertainty ahead? How can I use all of my blessings and all of my lessons to create a beautiful new world where I am happy, healthy, abundant, and free? That is my quest.

My mission is simple – I want to share my journey with people and help people understand how beautiful a simple meditation can be. I want to help people bless the mess and embrace the uncertainty in a crazy new world. I truly believe that one person can make a profound difference in the world and one person can create a movement. I believe all change comes from within and in those small things you do every day to help yourself move forward.

As a society, I believe we can move forward even in fear. My goal is simple - creating real meditations for real people. I don’t have a million-dollar budget or a team of assistants. What I do have are my own beautiful mind and my creativity and my spirituality.

Through my work with Planet Blessed I want to create a movement. I want to help raise the consciousness of the planet one meditation and one person at a time. That’s how I can make a difference in the world.

I’m Leslie Riopel and I’m a sur-thriver. I’m also a mother, a writer, a Reiki and meditation practitioner and a psychology professor. Welcome to my world.