Aparna Khanna
The Heart Behind the Dojo
In the quiet spaces between breaths, I discovered that meditation wasn't about silencing the mind, but about listening to the difficult emotions we often try to outrun. My path led me through the thickets of my own inner landscape, learning to embrace the sour notes of life until they transformed into something nourishing.
For years, I viewed my sensitivity as a liability. I felt the sharp edges of anger and the heavy clouds of doubt more intensely than most. It was through the practices of MBSR and meditation in the Tibetan lineage of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche that I realized these emotions weren't enemies to be defeated, but guests to be hosted.
Lemon Dojo was born from this philosophy. It's a space where we stop performing "okayness" and start practicing presence. My journey from a corporate high-flyer to a meditation practitioner wasn't a rejection of the world, but a deeper engagement with it. Now, I help others map their own internal geography.
Approach
How I work
Curiosity over control
Most meditation advice asks you to quiet the mind or manage your emotions. My approach is different. I invite you to get curious about what's happening — to turn towards difficulty rather than away from it. The lemons don't disappear, but your relationship with them changes.
Emotions as information
Anger, anxiety, shame — these are not malfunctions. They carry meaning. The work is to learn their language, to hear what they're signalling rather than simply suffering through them or pushing them down. ACT principles underpin much of this work.
Practice, not performance
There is no end state to achieve. No version of you that has it all sorted. The practice is showing up, again and again, with honesty. I hold space for the mess of that — the resistance, the wandering mind, the difficult sessions alongside the luminous ones.
Meeting you where you are
Whether you've never meditated or have years of practice, whether you're dealing with burnout or a quietly nagging sense of being stuck — the work is shaped around what you're actually carrying. The programme helps you get started from where you are.
How I Got Here
Meditation Practitioner
Certified meditation teacher under Tergar International. The practice spans mindfulness into the deeper arc of Awareness, Compassion, and Wisdom — with as much attention to living it as to sitting with it.
Psychology-Informed Practice
Drawing on ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and ART (Affect Regulation Training) frameworks — both well-researched approaches to how humans relate to difficult thoughts and emotions.
Organisational Development Practitioner
Twenty years helping people and organisations adapt and perform — now applied through meditation-based training.
Where the Lemons Came From
Giving form and voice to the emotions we spend most of our lives avoiding.