Chopra Center Staff Spotlight

Libby Carstensen

What brought you to the Chopra Center and what do you love most about working here?
A powerful synchronicity of events drew me to the Chopra Center. I was truly at a crossroads emotionally and professionally. I was looking for a new career path, ready to hang up my headphones as a radio personality and find a new path to emotional freedom that didn't involve medication and daily visits to my therapist. I was blessed to find both in one week at the Chopra Center.

I happened upon the Chopra Center website one night after several glasses of wine and self-loathing, and was drawn to the Perfect Health program. While looking for directions on the site, I noticed that there was an opening for a programs consultant. I met with lead educator and head of operations, davidji, one beautiful sunny day at La Costa and the rest is blisstory. My first meditation during Perfect Health was like a soul homecoming. When you serve at the Chopra Center, your spiritual and personal transformation happens at warp speed.

What is your favorite programs consultant memory?
My teammate Gabrielle and I participated in Seduction of Spirit in San Diego in November 2007. Being in such a beautiful space with so many meditators truly deepened my meditation practice. My favorite memory is practicing the first full round of sutras on the day that marked my one-year anniversary of service at the Chopra Center – truly a synchronicity. I just floated to my hotel room that night.

What is your favorite quotation?
"You're blaming that, for this?!" ―davidji, circa 2007.

This quote needs a little explanation. Davidji said, “You're blaming "that" (pointing to some situation or circumstance outside of myself) for "this" (pointing to how I feel internally). Whenever I feel myself getting into an ego state – or “object referral,” as Deepak Chopra calls it – I remember this simple quote and it shifts my awareness from the ego back to my true Self.