I'm Ben Smith
Here's my story
My Early Years
I was born in Leicester, England in February 1993. My dad was in the midst of a profound spiritual expansion after discovering a local spiritual master who chose to remain anonymous. He later became a meditation teacher himself. At the age of 6, I was introduced to meditation and throughout my childhood, spiritual matters were always a hot topic of conversation.
Early 20s
I wanted to test myself physically and mentally, so I entered a triathlon and quickly became hooked. After several years of training, I eventually raced for Great Britain’s age-group team in both triathlon and duathlon at the European level. I won both the Llanberis and the Isle of Anglesey swim/run races and found myself on the podium of many triathlon races across all distances. I raced 50-mile ultra mountain marathons and completed marathon swims. In 2017 I finished my first Ironman at the age of 24, placing 3rd in my category. The following year I finished top 10 in the National triathlon championships. I also went on to climb mountains around the world, summiting Mont Blanc twice and Italy's tallest peak – Gran Paradiso. Later, I climbed solo on the tallest mountain in the remote Transylvanian Alps – Europe's most populated area of wild bears and wolves.
2020
In 2019, a foot injury put an immediate end to my flourishing triathlon journey. Alongside this, several people close to me had disclosed their struggles with mental health. This was the catalyst which inspired me to begin teaching meditation, a practice that had been an integral part of my life. In 2020, I moved from Leicester to Bournemouth on my own and started a new life on the south coast of England.
2023
Throughout 2020-2023, I had been teaching meditation and mentoring people across all corners of the world. My own practice had also levelled up and I was rapidly growing. In 2023, I had various profound out-of-body experiences during a rigorous period of personal meditation training. These gave me certainties of many truths I had previously only understood on a theoretical level. In 2023 I also started my YouTube channel.
2024
In February 2024, I created 'Inner Journey School.' My aim was to create a hub for spiritual seekers across the world to learn real, genuine meditation techniques and get direct support and guidance with their spiritual path. At the time of writing this, it's December the 2nd, 2024, and we have 385 students.