Sovereign Teacher Series
There’s no shortage of advice in the wellness world. What’s rarer is finding teachers whose practice is lived—not performed. People who embody the work they share.
Today, we’re back with the Sovereign Teacher Series, a recurring collection of conversations and guided practices with meditation teachers, therapists, movement practitioners, coaches, and sound healers whose perspectives have shaped our own relationship to presence.
Each week we’ll share a new teacher, a guided meditation from their practice, and reflections on what it means to live with greater awareness in a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves.
This week we’re chatting with Esteban Roa, a meditation teacher and clinically trained music therapist who guides people through sound and meditation experiences that support steadiness, clarity, and connection. Drawing from his training at Berklee College of Music and over 300 hours of meditation training, he offers practical tools for befriending the mind and living with greater confidence and ease. He works with individuals and groups across wellness studios, healthcare, education, and organizations including Spotify, The Associated Press, and NBC.
Practice with Esteban on Spotify
Tell us about you! Who are you beyond your practice?
I’m someone who’s always been drawn to sound, connection, and how people experience the world internally. I grew up between cultures, which shaped how I listen and relate to others. Outside of my work as music therapist and sound practitioner, I spend my time building a life that feels stable, meaningful, and fun with my partner and our dogs. I love a long morning walk, music that compels you to dance, and being somewhere new with no real plan.
Can you take us through your daily practice?
My practice is always on - or at least always very close by. At a certain point you realize it has to live both on and off the cushion.
It’s easy to turn towards a practice hoping it will solve all your problems, but it’s not really about that. Any contemplative practice should bring you back to yourself - meaning that it’s your responsibility and within your capacity to learn how to show up for yourself, and for others, in the best way you can. No one else can do that for you. One of my teachers once said not to burden anyone else with your own happiness, and that really stayed with me.
Through all of this learning I’ve come to understand that everyone is always practicing something - whether they realize or not, whether they like it or not, the mind is always focused on something. So, when you understand that the mind is a habit-making machine, it becomes a little more interesting. You start to ask, what do I actually want to habituate and how do I actually habituate the things that are important to me?
Practices like meditation and movement help me remember that - befriend the mind, train it, so you don’t get pulled into every story so easily or better yet, decide the story that it tells. AND all of this takes time and patience, it’s also extremely important to meet yourself where you currently are and to celebrate all the small wins.
What tradition or approach shaped you most, and why does it resonate?
In Buddhism, there’s a practice called Tonglen. It’s a visualization that invites you to face suffering as you perceive it and change how you relate to it. I love it because it can feel counterintuitive. We usually try to protect ourselves from discomfort by avoiding it, and this practice flips that. It trains you to stay open without getting overwhelmed or reactive. I’ve felt it really strengthen my ability to show up when things are difficult.
Another is the meditation I’ll be guiding you through. It’s about sitting with a version of yourself that has your back, that embodies the qualities you want to live by, and then recognizing that you’re already doing that in many ways. That part always lands for me. It’s less about becoming someone else and more about reinforcing something that’s already there, showing the mind how to return to that again and again.
What does “presence over performance” mean to you in your own life?
It means not trying to get it right all the time! Presence is different. It’s about being honest about what’s actually happening, even if it’s messy or uncertain.
In my work, it looks like checking my motivation, taking responsibility for my practice, and loosening up a bit, not taking myself so seriously. Sometimes things are hard and it’s important to recognize that. Other times things are easy, and that matters too. Gotta take both the “good” and the “bad.”
What has your practice given you that you didn’t expect?
A different relationship to discomfort. I used to think the goal was to resolve or get past difficult experiences. Practice has shown me how to stay with them without getting overwhelmed or shutting down. That’s changed how I relate to work, relationships, and uncertainty. AND it has also shown me how to embrace the beauty of it all. We also need to learn how to expand our capacity for goodness. And you know - it's a process!!
What do you hope people feel after they sit with your meditation in this collection?
That it’s within your capacity to be okay. To be more than okay. Don’t outsource your power to anyone or anything. That although there are many many people rooting for your joy, it is fortunately completely up to you. Have fun.
Don’t outsource your power to anyone or anything.
It is up to us!! Thanks Esteban <3
Practice Goals Meditation with Esteban through Sovereign Studios.