Andrea Monier: Meditation, SSRI Cessation and Liberation
I was honored to have my friend Andrea Monier on the podcast. Her journey, as shared in our conversation on MINDBEND EP.45, is not just a personal testament to resilience but also a compelling invitation for others to explore the depths of their inner worlds. Andrea’s path—from struggling with anxiety and navigating a pharmaceutical-induced brain injury to embracing meditation and teaching others—is a story of healing, curiosity, and profound self-awareness.
Andrea’s exploration began eight years ago, motivated by a personal need to address anxiety and difficulty staying present. “I started meditating out of necessity,” she recalls, describing the early days of her practice. Her curiosity was sparked by spiritual literature, particularly the transformative insights of Autobiography of a Yogi. This led her to study Kriya Yoga, a meditative practice emphasizing deep, intentional breathing and connection to the divine. Though she acknowledges the myriad forms of meditation available, Kriya Yoga resonated deeply with her, serving as a foundation for her journey toward balance and self-awareness.
But meditation alone certainly wasn’t a panacea for all of Andrea’s challenges. She soon realized that while meditation was instrumental in training her brain and fostering presence, it didn’t address unresolved trauma lurking beneath the surface. “I was still having a lot of trauma responses,” she explains. This realization led her to explore Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, a modality that integrates shadow work, somatic trauma processing, and inner child healing. Andrea approved of my likenening this approach to a toy box—each toy representing a part of ourselves. Some are beloved and well-used, others are neglected or even broken, and a few may rattle noisily, demanding attention. “Our personality was created to avoid pain and seek safety,” she observes, noting how childhood experiences shape the protective mechanisms we carry into adulthood.
Her ability to blend meditation with parts work underscores the importance of integration in personal growth. “Meditation creates space,” she says, “but parts work helps you engage with what emerges in that space.” By cultivating loving self-awareness rather than shameful self-awareness, Andrea has been able to hold space for her inner parts—those protective mechanisms—and approach them with curiosity and compassion. This dual practice has been pivotal in her journey toward greater wholeness and peace.
Touching On the Science of Meditation and Consciousness
Andrea’s journey isn’t just rooted in personal exploration; it’s also informed by her efforts to take a deeper dive into neuroscience. “Meditation isn’t just about calming the mind,” she emphasizes. “It’s about consciously altering our brainwave states.” By shifting from beta waves—associated with everyday analytical thinking—to alpha and theta states, meditation helps bypass the egoic structures of the mind, fostering deeper connection and clarity.
This neurological foundation underscores why meditation is such a powerful tool for mental health and resilience. Beyond its impact on the brain, meditation regulates the nervous system, offering a counterbalance to the stressors of modern life. “When we meditate, we’re training ourselves to respond to life’s challenges with greater equanimity,” Andrea explains. “It’s like building a muscle for presence and self-compassion.”
For Andrea, this scientific understanding enriches her teaching practice, allowing her to demystify meditation for her students. By grounding spiritual concepts in neuroscience, she bridges the gap between ancient wisdom and contemporary science, making meditation accessible to those who might otherwise be skeptical.
Confronting Anxiety Through Self-Awareness
A recurring theme in Andrea’s story is the interplay between what we call “anxiety,” and self-awareness. Anxiety, she explains, often signals a part of ourselves that feels deeply unsafe. “It’s a call for attention,” she says, urging listeners to approach their anxiety with curiosity rather than avoidance. For Andrea, this meant learning to sit with uncomfortable emotions rather than numbing them. “When I feel anxious, I ask myself: What am I noticing? What am I needing right now?”
This shift from reactivity to curiosity is a cornerstone of Andrea’s approach to healing. It’s also a skill she believes is vital for the younger generation, who face unprecedented levels of distraction and stress. “We’re not taught emotional regulation skills,” she laments. “Yet they’re essential for our health, relationships, and overall well-being.” By integrating these skills into her meditation teachings, Andrea equips her students with tools to navigate life’s challenges more skillfully.
From the Personal Healing Path to Teaching Others
Andrea’s journey from student to teacher was both organic and intentional. Her own healing experiences ignited a desire to share these transformative practices with others.
Monier’s troubling journey with prescription SSRI’s began during her college years, a time when many young adults grapple with identity, stress, and emotional turbulence. She recounted being placed on an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) to manage anxiety. At the time, it seemed like a reasonable solution — a widely accepted fix for what countless people were told was simply a “chemical imbalance.”
However, the challenges arose not just during her time on the medication but when she decided she wanted to come off it, which was fairly early on into a period where the operative word to describe her physiological experience of the Rx might me “dependency.” Monier described how tapering off SSRIs was anything but straightforward. Withdrawal symptoms often mirrored or even exacerbated the very issues the medication was supposed to alleviate, creating a confusing loop of dependence. This is a phenomenon that we will continue to discuss and share about here on the Mindbend platform.
In our conversation, Andrea bravely shared how her experience underscored the importance of informed decision-making around mental health treatments and highlighted the need for compassionate guidance when navigating changes in medication.
Sadly, her story is a familiar one for many who’ve wrestled with pharmaceuticals intended to stabilize mental health. Monier’s experience serves as a reminder of the complexities of treatment and the importance of exploring a variety of healing approaches, including non-pharmaceutical modalities, to support mental well-being. It is against this backdrop that it becomes abundantly clear that her trials with Rx medication have informed her passionate and dedicated approach to cultivating mental wellness for herself, and others.
“Your relationship with yourself predicates every other relationship in your life,” she asserts. “If we want to improve our connections with others, we have to start with ourselves.”
As a meditation teacher, Andrea combines her background in storytelling and performance with her expertise in mindfulness and parts work. This unique blend allows her to create a safe, engaging space for her students to explore their inner worlds. Whether guiding them through meditation or helping them anthropomorphize their inner parts, Andrea’s goal is to foster self-compassion and integration.
Her approach is deeply relational, emphasizing the importance of connection—both with oneself and others. “We learn through relationship,” she says, whether it’s with a trusted teacher, a supportive community, or our own internal parts. By cultivating these relationships, Andrea believes we can unlock profound healing and transformation.
Lucid Dreaming and Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness
Andrea’s fascination with consciousness extends beyond meditation into the realm of dreams. About a year and a half ago, she began experiencing lucid dreams, a state in which one becomes aware of dreaming while still asleep. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous listening to Adrea describe her lucid dreaming experiences, as it’s something I’ve always hoped to encounter more for myself, but never gone out of my way to master, let alone understand. “It’s like waking up within your dream,” she explains, describing the ability to consciously navigate her dreamscape.
Initially, Andrea’s lucid dreams were playful—a chance to indulge in fantastical scenarios. But over time, she began using these dreams as a tool for self-exploration and healing. “I started having conversations with people I had unresolved conflicts with,” she shares. “I’d bring them into my dream and work things out.”
Andrea’s most profound, and possibly harrowing, lucid dream occurred recently when she confronted a recurring nightmare involving a demonic reflection in a mirror. “This time, I said, ‘I love you’ to the demon,” she recounts. “It transformed into something less threatening and, eventually, into just a mask.” For Andrea, this dream symbolized the integration of shadow parts—a theme that echoes throughout her work.
Moving Forward: Sharing the Gift of Meditation
Today, Andrea is committed to sharing the practices that have so profoundly shaped her life. As she builds her teaching practice, she continues to draw on her experiences with meditation, parts work, and lucid dreaming to offer a holistic approach to healing. Her ultimate goal is to help others cultivate peace within themselves, which she believes is the foundation for creating a more compassionate world.
“When we hold space for ourselves,” she says, “we can hold space for others. And that’s how we create meaningful connection and transformation.”
Andrea’s story is a powerful reminder that healing is not a linear process but a journey of exploration and integration. Whether through meditation, parts work, or the transformative power of dreams, she demonstrates that the path to peace begins within. Her work invites us all to embark on this journey, armed with curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to embrace our wholeness.