Bridgeen Rea-Kaya of Immeasurable Minds and Immeasurable Hearts

Friday 18 October 2024

My name is Bridgeen Rea-Kaya, and I’m a mindfulness teacher with my own mindfulness teaching business, Immeasurable Minds. I offer classes, courses, and retreats in mindfulness and mindful living. I also teach courses on Mindful Self-Compassion and Positive Neuroplasticity. A popular offering over the past few years has been my online ‘Buddhist book clubs’. People love exploring books that they would find hard to read by themselves. I have a dedicated following for these courses, with the likes of Mary from Fermanagh and Eleanor from Dublin never missing a book!

In 2017, Muhutin and I were married in an interfaith ceremony. Muhutin is from Turkey, and we wanted a ceremony which would reflect our respective heritage and cultures. The ceremony was conducted by Marie Claire Contino, an Interfaith Minister who has become a friend. Inspired by this experience, I have now trained as an Interfaith Minister myself. As a gift at my ordination, Marie Claire passed on her stole, which contains symbols of all the major world religions.

As a result of this training, I’ve started a sister business to Immeasurable Minds, focusing on offering mindful ceremonies: Immeasurable Hearts. Immeasurable Hearts is for those who want alternative and inclusive ceremonies. I merged my social media for both businesses because it’s hard enough to keep up with one set of socials without creating more!

Most people aren’t sure what exactly an Interfaith Minister is or does. The most frequent response I get is, “So, like a humanist?” And I say, “Yes, like a humanist and then some!” Like a Humanist Celebrant, Interfaith Ministers can perform non-religious ceremonies, but we can also include aspects of religion, such as prayers, readings, and blessings that are meaningful to you. I suppose you could say it’s for those who are spiritual but not religious in the traditional sense.

I know there are many people like me who appreciate the religion they were brought up with but don’t practice it anymore. Or others who have a strong religious faith but marry someone from another faith or feel rejected by their original religion due to divorce, sexual orientation, or other reasons. Interfaith Ministers are there to hold inclusive and non-discriminating ceremonies for those seeking that alternative. I love that I can support people in bringing their dream ceremonies to life! Through my new Immeasurable Hearts business, I also offer spiritual counselling, something I trained in during my two-year Ministry course.

As a qualified and ordained Interfaith Minister, I can perform legal weddings, funerals, baby blessings, vow renewals, coming of age ceremonies, conscious uncouplings—you name it! If you think of a ceremony, I can do it for you. I believe pet funerals are an underserved area. We treat our pets like family members, and I think they deserve a proper funeral service too. I especially love conducting child and family blessings. The picture above is of me with Baby Danny—he was my first ceremony!

Friday 18 October 2024