About the Teacher
My name is Chris Gowin. I live with my wife and two boys in Spokane Valley, Washington. It is my own path that has led me to be a compassionate and caring meditation teacher.
I have struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life. I dealt with it for years through the use of medication, thinking that if I could only grab hold of the things I was chasing in life all would be fine. Then in my early thirties, with my wife and children depending on me, my anxiety began to build and manifest as terrible panic attacks that crippled me for days at a time and led me into deep depression. I knew that I had to fix myself, not just for me, but for the sake of my family who needed me. I began seeing a counselor, and together we worked through many of my problems and uncovered deeply hidden emotional trauma that needed my attention.
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Things began to improve, but I was still being tortured by my own mind daily. Stress, anxiety, and anger were still with me seemingly always. I still was having anxiety attacks that I knew were caused by my own thoughts, but I didn't know how to stop the out of control thinking that was plaguing my life.
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That was when I started my meditation practice.
I started seeing results in my daily life almost immediately. Then, as my practice grew over time I found myself not only getting by, but thriving for the first time. It improved my relationships with pretty much everyone around me. I was amazed at what this practice had done for every aspect of my life. I had uncovered something within myself that I wasn't even aware of and I was content for the first time since childhood. I felt as though I had found something necessary to life that everyone should be practicing.
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Then Covid-19 hit. Those first months were incredibly difficult for everyone. But somehow, as the world seemed to be coming to an end I continued to thrive. I was not immune to the challenges of the pandemic by any means, but as I saw how it was effecting those around me, I knew that I had something to offer that my community needed. I began teaching a few friends in small groups at the park where we could social distance and meditate together. In doing this I realized my passion for this work. I decided that I needed to reach more people in order to spread this gift to all who need it. This is how Blue Moose Meditation came to be. I didn't start teaching meditation because I wanted to be a meditation teacher. I started teaching meditation because I wanted to help people, and this practice is the best way for me to do that. I am dedicated to helping others find the joy and peace in life that I have. There is much suffering in the world that we can do nothing about, but there is much unneeded suffering that we cause ourselves, and we can do something about that.
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Because meditation can be an incredibly spiritual practice, and because I learned meditation through spiritual traditions that I deeply respect, I try to be an open book about my own spirituality. When I first began meditating I didn't know where to start, so I did a bit of fumbling around. I eventually found my way to the teachings of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. I found the philosophy of this beautiful tradition to be more like psychology than doctrine. I thought about joining this tradition but experiences that I was having in meditation and in life were telling me that there was more out there. I started reading from a multitude of spiritual teachers and the more I absorbed, and the more I meditated, the more I became drawn into a deep spiritual practice of my own, drawing from a multitude of traditions. I now follow the path of Raja Yoga. A tradition handed down from the great Indian sage Patanjali. I follow the teachings of the great yogi Paramahansa Yogananda who came to the United States in 1920 and founded the Self Realization Fellowship. My Guru Paramahansa Yoganada taught that the Vedas of India and the Holy Bible are communicating the same spiritual wisdom. Both Jesus Christ and Bhagavan Krishna are represented in our lineage of Gurus. I do not pass on the teachings of my Guru through my courses. I teach a practical path of meditation that can be followed by anyone, no matter your beliefs. I teach a path to discovering your own spirit, once you have done that you may find yourself drawn to experiencing the spirit through a chosen religious tradition, or not. My family history is rooted in Christianity, and I have much love for the Buddha and Krishna as well. My immense love for the Devine Intelligence permeating the universe is expressed through a combination of these traditions.