BY: LEANNE BENN
How many times in a day, do we stop and become aware of our mindfulness and the air that flows through our body? Learning to pay attention to our breathing and the art of mindfulness is what certified meditation teacher Che Marville hopes people can understand. Marville is more than a meditation teacher, she is an entrepreneur building her personal brand as well as the Vice President for organizational development for the past two years at Origin Active Lifestyles, a national and global retirement organization. Marville is focused on the health and well being of thousands of employees all over Canada.
Being active in the health and fitness industry is just one part of Marville’s life, most known as a former NDP Oakville politician, Marville ran for Provincial and Federal office twice in 2015, but this never changed her values and the platforms she brought with her everywhere. Whether it’s politics or the workplace, her love of mindfulness and helping people learn will never be lost.
Always known for having unique jobs, Marville was able to add a unique lens to the marketplace with her use of generalized skills. As a result, you can never really be without a job she expressed.
“For me, I don’t really believe in that concept of competing with others, I just believe in the idea of understanding your skill set as a human being. To become excellent at whatever you do or whatever you are great at, then apply that to the marketplace.”
While always having an understanding nature, Marville grew up around hard-working figures in her life, including her mom who was a nurse. At the age of 11, she began to practice yoga and study various books on the fitness technique. It was an activity she can do with her mother to help her mom relieve stress. While many people did not know about the health and wellness aspects of yoga back then, Marville continued to study the art and through the help of one of her teachers, she also got involved in meditation.
Similar to the expansion of the mind that is possible through meditation, Marville began to apply this to her life skills. The goal is to always be learning, expanding, following your intuition, and challenging yourself and your set of skills in a way that you can add creativity to the marketplace. With the unpredictability of the job market, it’s important to thrive upon your knowledge of general skills.
Marville found herself on different career paths as a young adult. After gaining an undergraduate degree in political science from York University, Marville showcased her love for activism, with a focus on women’s issues, poverty and her most passionate topic of health and wellness. No matter the situation, Marville would aim for the employees around her to be healthy and safe. As she expressed, if society paid greater attention to mindfulness, there would be a better chance of combating issues such as depression and the general stress of life which impacts your ability to be a healthy person.
During her time in politics, Marville realized the diversity she added to the arena and she realized the limitations people could put on their lives if they don’t believe they can achieve something. Just her participation in politics made a difference and within that lies a great value. After returning to the private sector from politics and working with Origin, Marville started to pay attention to sharing her wellness tips with those around her and getting into teaching her meditation classes again. After all, at this time she has been practicing meditation for 30 years and has been a teacher for over 20. Coming from a Christian family, meditation was not that different than prayer for Maville, she unlocked a new way of managing and processing stress.
Her meditation practice is under her self-titled brand of Che Marville and is in the process of expanding online. Some of Marville’s tips that she gives her employees, include:
Self-Worth: To do anything of significance in this world you have to first value yourself. Self–worth and self-esteem, according to Marville are the two main areas that cause people not to follow their dreams.
Breathing: The physiological action of focusing on your breath and bringing awareness to your body and mind will change the way your body responds to stress. In essence, learn to breathe.
Mindset: If employees change their thoughts to a more positive direction, this can make a drastic change in their life, it applies to the law of attraction and the concept of having positive thoughts to attract good things to your life.
Take Action: Don’t get stuck in your own thoughts or get too absorbed in social media. Due to her background in politics, Marville expressed her role of being an observer first before taking action and expressing her point of view. Understanding someone, to see something in a different light is a major part of self-development.
While Marville aims to be compassionate and of service to those around her due to her nature of being an activist, she also is a realist when it comes to paying attention to the economy around her. The system cannot be taken for granted. Due to the changing economy, Marville recommends that employees be educated on what they are doing, to be self-aware and to strive for the ability to keep on learning.
