ABOUT KUSALANANDI

Claudia Keller is the secular name. Kusalanandi is the spiritual name. Kusala means “wholesome” and -nandi “she who likes to do wholesome things”.
Spiritual names are a person’s inherent potentials and tasks at the same time.

As a practitioner for psychotherapy and lecturer for mindfulness and meditation retreats, Kusalanandi has made it her goal to accompany people on their way to a self-determined and meaningful life. For her, this is a matter of the heart and a calling at the same time.

For this therapeutic and pastoral work, she can draw on more than 12 years of practice and training as a Buddhist nun, as well as numerous training and continuing education courses in the field of Western psychotherapy.

In 2005 Kusalanandi completed her training as a Kundalini Yoga teacher according to Yogi Bhajan.

From October 2007 to February 2020, Kusalanandi was a Buddhist nun. Kusalanandi devoted herself full time to meditation and Buddhist teachings and lived for about 7 years in traditional monasteries and meditation centers, mainly in Asia, where she practiced under highly developed teachers. In total, Kusalanandi spent 2.5 years of her life in the “Noble Silence”.

More than 10,000 hours of meditation and introspection create an inner meta-perspective – an inner objective observer – that allows one to create distance from everyday perspectives and beliefs, as well as profound experiences in the human psyche/mind. Inner issues, unresolved conflicts and also new ways of solving them show up much more clearly.

At the same time, inherent qualities such as serenity, equanimity, patience, kindness, empathy and compassion are developed and strengthened, and mindful presence in the present is sharpened. This makes it possible to encounter oneself, others and things as they are with ever greater clarity and insight.

Several years of intensive studies to become a state-certified practitioner for psychotherapy, training as a psychological counselor, numerous advanced trainings as well as self-experiences and her own inner process work have continuously fertilized and complemented her practice in Buddhist meditation and psychology over the past 10 years.

A very important foundation of her work is the Buddhist practice of metta meditation, which is about approaching oneself, others, and life in general with loving kindness, goodness, and benevolence, leading to an appreciative, appreciative, and empathic understanding of oneself and others.

“Classic” metta content includes:

– May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.
– May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness within me.
– May I know how to nourish this within me daily.
– May I live peacefully and freely.
– And may I go through life strengthened, alive and with ease.

Kusalanandi combines these and other Buddhist methods such as mindfulness and meditation techniques as well as breathing and relaxation exercises with various methods of Western psychotherapy. The different approaches support each other in their depth, in order to develop new desired ways of experiencing, which in personal responsibility and authenticity lead to more freedom and aliveness and thus to more inner peace.