From Burnout to Bliss: My Journey Bridging Corporate Life and Ancient Wisdom

My extraordinary path from privilege and peril to purpose — and why the retreats I create are changing lives.

This is a story of resilience and transformation: Burnout → Monkhood → HR → Retreats.

Some lives read like novels. Mine is one of them.

I was born in Mexico City and raised in Cancún by the beach. From an early age, I grew up surrounded by privilege and power. My family lived in mansions, owned large properties, and moved in circles of politics and influence that defined Mexico’s elite. But privilege came at a cost: danger was never far away. I survived a kidnapping, the terror of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, and eventually exile for my own safety.

By the time I was 24, I had achieved what most people spend a lifetime chasing. I founded a construction company, built entire housing complexes, and gained the kind of financial freedom most only dream of. Yet at the height of my success, I collapsed under the crushing weight of burnout.

“I had done everything the Western world tells us will make us happy,” I often reflect. “And I was not happy.”

That truth became the catalyst for a journey that carried me across worlds most people never touch: from Mexico’s estates to ashrams and temples, from the high-stakes corporate towers of Canada to the quiet corners of yoga studios and retreats by the ocean. Along the way, I transformed not only my own life but also the lives of countless others.

Walking Away From Power

Most people stumble into wellness after a corporate burnout. I started the other way around.

At the peak of my career, I walked away from wealth and expectations to become a Vedic monk in 2004. For two years I lived in stillness, hosting retreats in Cozumel and Cancún, teaching meditation, and appearing on television and radio to speak about awareness.

I found real happiness in those years. But I also realized I wasn’t meant to stay hidden away. My purpose wasn’t to renounce the world, but to bring this wisdom back into it.

Into the Corporate Heart

When I later moved to Canada, I made a surprising choice: Human Resources.

I specialized in HR Operations and Systems, working for some of Canada’s top employers (which I still do today in 2025). From that vantage point, I had access to the raw data of corporate life — performance, turnover, disengagement, investigations. Behind the numbers, I saw what I already knew: stress and burnout were quietly eroding lives.

I often describe myself as an “infiltrated yogi.” I was inside the system, watching exactly where people were suffering, while carrying within me the tools to help them heal.

Today, in 2025, beyond my HR career, I’ve chosen to live a life of integration. I teach yoga, volunteer as co-chair of the Pride Network and the Health and Safety Committee, and serve on the Board of Directors at the Images Festival. I also manage an Airbnb business and teach post-graduate classes. And still, I never miss my personal yoga and gym practice, while making plenty of space for friends, art, and joy. People often ask me how I manage to balance it all. The answer is simple: I live what I teach. Mindfitness is not just a practice for me — it’s a way of life.

A Bridge Between Two Worlds

In 2007, I created Mindfitness International, blending the ancient wisdom of meditation with modern human development. My approach emphasizes effortless awareness, built around positive emotions like praise, gratitude, and love. It combines ancient teachings and human development methodologies. It is easy, simple, and extremely effective in reversing the effects of stress.

Soon, retreats became the natural extension. A retreat is not an escape. It’s a return — a space where people remember who they are beneath the noise of daily life.

Later in 2020, together with my life partner Brett, I co-founded Wellness Travel. I design and lead the retreats, while Brett curates the journeys — ensuring that each destination becomes part of the healing.

Transformation in Real Time

The retreats I create are not just holidays. They are spaces of profound transformation.

I’ve seen people arrive weighed down by their lives and leave as if a light has turned back on inside them.

I remember a woman so exhausted she could barely lift her head from her phone. By the end of the retreat, she laughed with the ease of a child. I recall a man devastated by divorce who rediscovered the courage to love again. And I’ll never forget a participant who, after years in the corporate grind, admitted he no longer knew who he was outside of his job. In the stillness of the retreat, he found himself again — not as a role, but as a whole human being.

These moments move me the most. Transformation isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering who you’ve always been.

From Burnout to Bliss

Today, I continue to host retreats across Canada, Europe, Mexico and beyond, drawing on more than five years of leading programs and two decades of lived extremes. My story — from privilege to peril, from monkhood to HR leadership — has given me a perspective and authority few can claim.

True freedom is not the absence of challenges. It’s the presence of inner strength.

And for those who join me on retreat, the invitation is timeless: to step away from the noise of life, to reconnect with yourself, and to remember that happiness is never something to chase. It’s something to return to.

About Me

“My journey has allowed me to stand at the crossroads of corporate systems and ancient wisdom — giving me a unique lens into both the struggles and the solutions for modern life.”

I am the co-founder of Wellness Travel and the creator of Mindfitness International. A former Vedic monk, HR leader, professor, and lifelong practitioner of yoga and meditation, I blend ancient wisdom with modern corporate insight to help people reclaim balance, clarity, and joy. Having led retreats for more than five years across Canada, Europe, Mexico and beyond, I continue to guide participants through transformational journeys that reconnect them with their truest selves.

This is just a glimpse of my journey from burnout to bliss. If you’re on your own path and looking for ways to reconnect with yourself, I’d be honored to connect. You can message me here, or learn more about the spaces I hold for transformation at www.wellness-travel.net

I’d also love to hear from you: what does bliss mean to you in your own life? Or perhaps — have you ever experienced burnout that changed the way you see success? I will read and respond to all your comments and questions. Om peace. Moris