Community Highlights: Meet Cera Reine Meintzer of Cera Reine and Life Works Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cera Reine Meintzer.  

Cera, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in Elizabeth, Colorado as an only child with 2-3 cats. My childhood was fun because I usually had a friend around and my parents took me traveling around the world due to my dad’s work as a deep-sea diver. We visited Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nepal and lived in Peru, the Marshall Islands, and the Philippines. I believe these experiences as a child helped hone my perspectives as an adult. 

I have always been interested in more pursuits than I have time to focus on. As a youth, this looked like dancing, cheerleading, theater, girl scouts, and keeping a full social calendar. Nothing much has changed except now I have three kids and a husband to prioritize and workaround- if I can! Being an avid learner has shaped the path I follow now. Adding new skills and interests to the mix every year keeps me excited and engaged with life! Some of those skills I have gathered through life have served me well. I began meditating in my undergraduate, a tool and skill I currently use in my businesses. I also learned in my early 20’s that I am a highly sensitive person, a trait discovered by researcher Elaine Aron in the 1990s. HSPs have highly sensitive nervous systems. They can be easily overwhelmed and prone to above-average stress. They also notice things most people do not and are natural at sensing others’ feelings and needs- a superpower for sure! 

I received my Masters in Gerontology from USC in 2014 to support my love for older adults. I spent four years working in senior living before I switch to a company that supports wellness for older adults. Spending my time creating content, supporting communities, and speaking at conferences on healthy longevity and the power of coaching skills for caregivers. 

I have always known I had the heart of an Entrepreneur, the longing has always been present but the willingness to be vulnerable and take what felt like a big leap did not come until my early 40s (thanks to a co-worker and Covid-19 giving me a gentle nudge). 

Life coaching was an easy way for me to dip my foot into working for myself given I was already coaching through my job. I decided to combine my love for mediatization with the skills and tools I developed to support my HSP traits in order to support other HSPs struggling with anxiety and overwhelm. I started my Cera Reine LLC business with a handful of customers. 

At the same time, I was building my coaching business, my aunt, a life coach of 30 years invited me to start a business with her supporting people to live as if it was their last year of life. A journey she and my mom took together the year before. Of course, I said yes. After 15 months of prep, we started with our first group of 10 on a journey to live like we are dying. It’s been a lot of fun and many friendships have been forged and lives changed. 

With so many different interests, my life is full and I love it. I also enjoy playing Ukulele through Swallow Hill, throwing pottery at the Apex Center in Arvada where I live, and watching my kids and husband pursue all their passions. Being a Colorado native getting to some of my favorite places is always a must- Grand Lake, Eldorado Springs, and the San Luis Valley to name a few. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh wow, no. It’s been a road filled with overwhelm and self-doubt. In the past 2-years, I have learned so much about what I am capable of handling and how able I am. The road is never straight. I started off in one direction only to shift mid-way and change to a new direction and this pattern repeated itself over and over. But I don’t regret any of it, the shifting and changing lead me to where I am now and I am growing and learning and living with a full heart every day. 

The past two years have been a personal challenge raising a teen daughter through social media, peer pressure, the sexualized portrayal of women in our society, and big mental health struggles. I share that so others know you are not alone if you are struggling with a teen too. It’s very prevalent these days. Having third-party support from professionals has been a literal lifesaver for our family of 5. 

As you know, we’re big fans of Cera Reine LLC and Life Works Academy (I have two). For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Cera Reine LLC was created to support individuals who struggle with being an HSP through meditation and mindfulness tools. It’s such a joy to see the life-changing effects meditation can have on people’s stress levels. I currently teach for several groups- a private group at Vita Retirement Community in Littleton, Colorado, and a public group through Thrive Creative Community (thrivecreativecommunity.com), an online community group based in Bailey, Colorado. I also share my meditation on Insight Timer (insighttimer.com), an app and community with over 1 million members worldwide. 

Meditation became the primary tool I use and teach to individuals who identify as Highly Sensitive. This is a self-identifiable nervous system trait that author and researcher Elaine Aron discovered in the early 1990s. People who are Highly Sensitive or HSPs have finely tuned nervous systems that allow them to notice, feel and process more than non-HSPs. About 20% of the population has these traits and most of them do not know it. 

I created an 18-day course with lectures and tools addressing all the primary traits HSPs both struggle with and celebrate including- the traits categorized in the acronym does which stands for Depth of Processing; Overwhelm; Empathy and Emotions; Sensing the subtle. As an HSP, meditation helps me ground myself when I feel like I am floating around outside of my body, or too stuck in my mind. It also helps me deal with overwhelm from too much sensory information or internal stress. This is what I hope my course provides for others. The course also lives on the Thrive Create Communities website. 

Alongside my discovery and passion for meditation and mindfulness is a passion for older adults. I received a Master of Science in Gerontology in 2014 from the Leonard David School of Gerontology at USC. I have been using that degree for the past eight years to educate and support old adults about ageism and healthy longevity. Ageism is one of the last hidden forms of prejudice and it’s prevalent in US society. Ageism affects every one of us and how we are and will age and grow older. Ageism assumes that all older adults are the same in many ways but primarily its negative effects limit older adults themselves from pursuing dreams, starting a new business, and generally believing in themselves. Healthy longevity starts by examining our beliefs around aging and taking control of how we want to age through not only our beliefs but our lifestyle choices. 80% of how we age is related to our choices, not our genetics and although the science proving that has been around since the 1980s, our society still believes genes are the primary determinant of how we age’s 

I also educate individuals and groups on this topic through a company my aunt, Master Life Coach Chris Lucerne and I created in 2021 called LifeWorks Academy. We promote aging belief shifts through our Inspired Aging Course. We also encourage individuals to live life like they are dying by taking groups through their would-be last year of life. This gives them the opportunity to focus on everything that is important to them in life relationships, bucket lists, facing death and dying fears, and primarily discovering how they want to live, now, while they are still alive. It’s a very gratifying experience. We plan to continue expanding our courses as the years continue. We start new Year to Live groups about every six months and plan to make our course self-directed in the future. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Hmmm, I do believe in random chance because I do not think we are in control of everything, but being a believer in the principles of manifestation and the energy you put out is the energy you attract, I don’t think much in terms of luck. 

When I think about success, I think it comes down to living and visualizing what it is you really want and then working hard to move toward those visions. When the energy you are sending out into the world matches with your beliefs, you usually bring amazing success your own way, with the help of the universe! 

Contact Info:

• Email: cera@cerareine.com
• Website: cerareine.com and lifeworksacademyllc.com
• Facebook: @cerareine