Ten years ago today, on 26 Oct 2007, we piloted the first Search Inside Yourself (SIY) class in Google with 50 attendees.  Today, the full two-day Search Inside Yourself class reaches more than 10,000 people a year in five continents.  People continue to tell me the class changed their lives or touched them in some deeply meaningful way.  We have also trained 100 certified SIY teachers worldwide and we’re currently training 100+ more. The SIY book has sold 250,000+ copies in 20+ languages. Our goal is to reach one billion people in my lifetime, and I think we are on the right trajectory to achieve that.

It has been a fascinating journey with many surprises.  For example, I expected SIY to be featured on Oprah (didn’t happen), but didn’t expect it to be on the front page of the Business section of the New York Times (happened). I also didn’t expect to write a book (wrote two).  And, no, I definitely did not expect endorsements from the Dalai Lama and Jimmy Carter (they both gave me endorsements, and hugs).

I have so many people to thank for the success of SIY, but on this occasion, I want to give thanks especially to the members of the original team that launched Search Inside Yourself on 26 Oct 2007, most of whom were volunteers.  They are: Mirabai Bush, Zen Master Norman Fischer, Dr Paul Russell, Dr Peter Allen, Dr Hongjun Zhu, Joel Finkelstein, David Lapedis, Rachel Kay and Dr Daniel Goleman.  (Marc Lesser and Dr Philippe Goldin would both join the team shortly after.)

Thank you, my dear friends.  SIY could never have been started without you.  You created history.

Image from: http://www.hollyniemela.com/siy/