About Melli

Educator, entrepreneur and coach in the mental health space
Co founder of mindfulness.com
Creator of the deep resilience method

On a mission to make the world mentally stronger

Melli OBrien

Sometimes the weight of it all is too much. 

When life hits hard, negative thoughts and turbulent emotions tend to fill your head and cloud your focus. Pushing you into a state of anxiety, exhaustion and reactivity— all while life keeps coming at you. And it can all be overwhelming. 

Perhaps you’re navigating some big challenges in your life and not dealing with them as well as you’d like. 

Or maybe your struggle is more of an internal one. Stress, anxiety, low self worth or hopelessness — I get it because I’ve been there. 

Through my own experience, research, and over a decade of working with thousands of people, I’ve discovered the blueprint for unshakable inner strength in hard times.

I call it the deep resilience method. 

If you want to find your centre again and learn how to develop unshakable resilience — you’re in the right place.

Hi, I’m Melli

I’m Melli, an educator, entrepreneur and coach in the mental health space. I specialise in helping people stay mentally-emotionally-spritually strong in the hardest times of their life.

I’m also the co-founder of Mindfulnes.com and the Mindfulness Summit — the world’s largest mindfulness conference. The summit is a not-for-profit project that has raised over $750,000 for mental health charities around the world.

After almost two decades of teaching and coaching people about mindfulness and mental strength, and having my work touch the lives of over one million people globally, I distilled and synthesised my unique blend of knowledge on resilience, stress management, peak performance psychology, positive neuroplasticity training and mindfulness into The Deep Resilience Method.

The deep resilience method is the best of everything I’ve learned in my career and is specifically designed to be a robust, reliable and transformative process to carry you through your darkest days and back into a state of empowerment, purpose, calm and strength.

My Story

I grew up in some ways, very blessed. 

In the small town of Mullumbimby, Australia, I grew up riding horses with my brothers, running around barefoot in the forests and fields, eating oranges and berries from trees, and swimming in the creek with friends. It was idyllic. But there was also darkness — a shadow over my life that I couldn’t shake. 

By the age of seventeen, trauma from my childhood had pulled me down into depression. I developed an eating disorder and was full of hurt, confusion, and self-hate. I was unable to concentrate at school and unhappy at home.

Eventually, I hit a crisis point. I was in so much pain that I had to make a decision. Either I take my own life or find out if it’s possible to be free of this pain.

I chose life.


The Journey To A New Life

I had no idea where to start, so I went to the school library and started reading everything I could find on how to be happy. I read books saying you could train your mind to let go of suffering and stress. What I realised was that inner strength was a skill. Something I could learn

It was game-changing

So I went and found a meditation course where I started to train my mind in new ways. I learned how to step back from my negative thoughts and transform my relationship with them. What followed was a series of breakthroughs that totally changed my mind, healed me in profound ways, and ultimately changed the course of my entire life. 

Within just a couple of months, my eating disorder and depression had dissolved and I could focus better at school. I began to like the person in the mirror again. And I started to love life again.


Uncovering Deeper Peace

Over time, as I continued my journey, I started learning all kinds of mental strength skills. I also started to understand that not only could I ease my suffering and stress but I could also access inner peace, a profound sense of wellbeing, resilience, and mental clarity.

Over time, feelings of wholeness, oneness and deep love for life emerged. I felt reconnected to the spiritual dimension of myself and all of life. I realised there was a whole other way we could live. 

After years of my own inner work, this fueled my passion for helping others. I went on to teach mindfulness and mental resilience skills to thousands of people worldwide.


The Rise of Hard Times

Over the years of teaching the world changed. Things got harder and harder as challenges in the world began to rise, test, and confront us in new ways — from pandemics, to war to climate change and technological disruption—And then went through a chapter two of my own personal story that hit me like a ton of bricks.

Several years ago, after years of teaching mindfulness and mental resilience for many years, I went through a dark and painful period of life that brought me to my knees and revolutionised my perspective on what it means and what it takes to have inner strength. Three deaths, a divorce, a chronic illness, a heart wrenching conflict, and breakdown.

It was a deeply humbling time for me. It was also very insightful. 

And it was during this time I realised there was something BIG missing from the way resilience was being taught in the mainstream. Something critical. 

It was only after much research, experimentation, interviewing and practise that the missing piece clicked into place for me. I tapped into a state I call ‘deep resilience’. And created a framework to unlock it that is practical, robust and simple to use.

And so, I developed The Deep Resilience Method. A psycho-spiritual framework to help people like you to find an unshakable source of strength no matter what life is throwing your way.

The most rewarding part of my life has been watching others experience the same kind of breakthroughs I did when I applied this method in my own life.

What is Deep Resilience?

When most people think of mental strength, they think of grit, pumped-up self-talk, toughness, pushing through, or positive thinking. While these strategies might lift you in the moment, they don’t create lasting and stable change.  

Deep resilience is different. 

Deep resilience acknowledges that human beings are a system of parts. A body, a mind, and an awareness

Deep resilience involves using cutting edge, evidence based resilience tools AND mindfulness based practices to access the wisdom innate to our core nature. Allowing us to become integrated, authentic, and whole — no matter what we’re going through.

Deep resilience a state of mental-emotional and spiritual integration and strength

In deep resilience you are able to 

  • Manage you thoughts in skillfully (psychologically flexible)
  • Regulate emotions in healthy and helpful ways (emotionally intelligent)
  • Act with awareness and in ways that align with your values – even when it’s really difficult to do so. (wise)

My big vision

My vision for this work extends beyond helping us navigate our individual difficulties. My big vision is to unlock the best in human potential so we can all work together to solve the world's most meaningful problems and create a more peaceful, equal, sustainable, and harmonious world.

I’d love to support you in becoming deeply resilient as we walk the path together, towards making that vision a reality.

How can I support you

Deep Resilience Coaching

Bespoke one-on-one coaching with me to navigate your challenges with empowerment, strength and wisdom. Receive your own personalised mental strength plan.

Secure your Sessions

Deep Resilience Experience

Learn the deep resilience method in this eight week online course. Deep resilience blends evidence based, cutting edge mental strength skills with core wisdom teachings and mindfulness practices.

Access the Course

FREE Deep Resilience Care Package

Get access to a suite of five free resources to help you stay mentally strong no matter what you’re going through: Guided meditations and cutting edge tools.

Find relief now

What people are saying

"Melli is a leading authority on the topic of mental strength. Her methods have been forged in the heat of life experience along with decades of contemplative practice. I highly recommend her, both as a person and as a leader and innovator."

Vidyamala Burch
Author of ‘You are not your pain” and Founder of Breathworks

"Melli is the world's leading expert in the field of mental strength. Her groundbreaking work is changing lives and has the power to change how we think about mental health."

Matt Dickinson
Founder and CEO of mindfulness.com

"I am enthralled when I listen to Mellissa speak because there is a delightful mixture of gentleness and incredible power that comes through her message. She has intelligent ideas, a strength of experience, and a driving passion to help the world in an area that is most neglected - the mind. If we tuned in to her message, we would make profound changes in our lives. She is a speaker that must be heard."

Charmaine Burke
Training Director, Art of Communicating

"I want to thank Melli for her drive to share her understanding of human nature and how to step into a fulfilled life. The unshakeable lessons she has distilled her lifelong experiences and researches are pure gold when adapted to your own life. My heart is full of gratitude."

Erika Proust

"Melli’s course is filled with wisdom and extremely practical tools. But it’s much more than that. She invites you into a new way of being, one that is about knowing yourself. A new way of life. Loved it! You are such a warm and giving soul! Thank you Melli."

Natalie Jones

You buy one I give one. We’re unlocking human potential together

My life’s work centres around unlocking human potential. But not everyone has the opportunity to do that. Nearly 3 in 4 children in Australia’s remote areas lack access to education up to the 10th grade. This lack of opportunity means that, through no fault of their own, these children will most often be unqualified for many modern jobs – and may miss out on the opportunities that we all take for granted.

If anyone needs their potential unlocked, it’s these kids. That’s why with every Headstrong purchase I immediately give a child in remote Australia one month of access to online educational resources.

This project by Dot Com Mob (through B1G1) sets up technological education centres in Australia’s most remote regions with the fewest scholastic opportunities. These innovative centers give children access to online and electronic educational resources, helping close the gap in their education. I believe everyone deserves a chance to elevate their potential.

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