How MyPalmLeaf
Came to Be
A personal story of seeking, stillness, and finding a 5,000-year-old tradition that changed everything.
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Seeker, meditator and founder. Born in southern Germany, drawn to India at 18, shaped by years of travel, silence and deep encounter with wisdom traditions across the world.
Hello Dear Ones,
I am Stephan Oesterreicher, the founder of Mypalmleaf, and today I want to tell you a short version of the Mypalmleaf story. The detailed version would probably fill several books — so I’ll try to keep it brief.
In the summer of 1984, I was born near Stuttgart, in the southwest of Germany, and grew up there very protected. I enjoyed being close to nature, but I was also very fond of traveling. As a rebellious teenager, I began to explore Europe myself, and at 18, while still in school, I found my first real inner experiences through meditation and yoga.
When I first came into contact with meditation and yoga, my interest was immediately piqued — I understood that a clear mind can bring the deepest experiences. Although my parents often tried to persuade me to study at a university, fortunately they let me follow my own path.
Because I knew that what I wanted to learn could not be found at any university or in any conventional way, in the summer of 2004, shortly after my high school graduation, the time had come — and I flew to India with a one-way ticket. A whole new world opened up.
The magic of India and encounters with monks in the Himalayas or yogis on the banks of the Ganges awakened in me the wish to fully devote myself to the study of spirituality and the search for the meaning of this life. And that’s what I did. With all my heart.
The Key Chapters
You can see that Mypalmleaf has a long backstory. Here are the key moments that shaped it.
The World as Classroom
A search that took me to the most magical places in the world. I traveled to more than 60 countries and was allowed to learn from masters and scholars of all religions and traditions. Guardians of wisdom and light. Sources of love and consciousness. I am deeply grateful to them.
A deep realization was embodied by many of these masters: it is one — a consciousness, a love that connects us all.To experience and understand this deeper and deeper, I learned from Buddhist monks, Hindu yogis, Christian mystics, Sufi teachers, and indigenous wisdom keepers.
Almost 500 Days in Retreat
All of this ignited my love for meditation. I am especially grateful to my teacher Sahajananda, who embodies meditation with his whole life and has dedicated it entirely to it.
This led to me spending a total of almost 500 days in silence retreats, where I fully devoted myself to meditation to explore consciousness. These experiences made it increasingly clear to me that it is my task to help other people find the spiritual pearls within themselves.
Peru — An Important Chapter
After spending most of my time in Asia from 2004 to 2010, I came to Peru for the first time in 2010, which became an important chapter in my life. It was here that I began to slowly move from being a “student” to teaching and implementing projects.
I found a beautiful large house in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and opened a meditation center — but then I had to close it because I could no longer pay the rent. A painful lesson. I also built another center and organized ceremonies on an island in Lake Titicaca, at 4,000m altitude, near millennia-old temples. A true magical experience.
The Path to My Palm Leaf Reading
For the first time, I visited a palm leaf library in India in 2009. My palm leaf was not found at that time. Nevertheless, the place and the entire process felt so authentic, and strange, and alive that it stayed with me.
I could not fully understand what I had experienced. But something had been planted. And then many years later…
A Crystal-Clear Insight
It was in the autumn of 2020. I was in a difficult phase of my life, like many people during the Covid period. Depressed and aimless, I was visiting my parents when one morning I woke up and had a crystal-clear insight:
"The palm leaves! I must find my palm leaf."The thought was so strong that I googled it while still in bed.
A few weeks later, I was in Belgium, about to attend another 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. Just before the retreat began, the moment of my palm leaf reading arrived. Sitting in my car, I received it.
Mazunte — Where MyPalmLeaf Was Born
After deepening my research in Greece and Turkey, it became increasingly clear that I should travel to Mexico — guided in part by a specific ceremony recommended in my own palm leaf reading. I arrived at the Hridaya Yoga Schoolin the small village of Mazunteon the Pacific coast. In a world marked by fear, it was a small oasis where brave people from all over the world came together.
There I could join the group meditation in the morning before sitting at my desk overlooking the ocean and helping the first people find their palm leaves. My first "employees" were initially friends who were excited about the project — and without them, none of this would exist.
First Visit to the Palm Leaf Libraries
After working with the palm leaf library for a few months, I was able to visit it for the first time in person. It was not easy to get to India, but eventually I got a business visa, and together with my good friend Dhyan, I traveled to Tamil Nadu.
We visited wonderful temples, palm leaf libraries, the graves of old masters, and immersed ourselves in this ancient world. Its leader, Shyam, is today not only a good friend but also a great guide who showed us many magical things. This time deepened my trust in the palm leaves even more — I also had a certain skepticism at first, but it dissolved there on the ground.
Writing from Beautiful Bali
In February 2024, as I write these lines in beautiful Bali, I have just spent 2 intensive months in India — together with some good friends and Mypalmleaf team members, visiting the nine Navagraha temples, each dedicated to one of the 9 planets, deep in Tamil Nadu.
Mypalmleaf has grown into a small but fine, professional global organization over the last few years. My life has changed in many ways, but in essence, it is still the same.And so it is still today — many wonderful chapters later.
Depressed and aimless, I was visiting my parents when one morning I woke up and had a crystal-clear insight: “The palm leaves! I must find my palm leaf.”The thought was so strong that I googled it while still in bed. And that’s why you’re reading these lines right now.
— Stephan Oesterreicher, Founder of MyPalmLeaf
A Consciousness, A Love That Connects Us All
A deep realization has defined these experiences and was embodied by many of the masters I encountered. The realization that:
To experience and understand this deeper and deeper, I learned from Buddhist monks, Hindu yogis, Christian mystics, Sufi teachers, and indigenous wisdom keepers. I could write many books about these encounters. They deeply shaped me and gave me the courage to devote myself to this path.
Conscious Innovation Lab
It was in Peru that I received the inspiration to deal with technology and innovation — the idea that spiritual depth and modern, sustainable structures need not be opposites. That it might be possible to build something professional and genuinely in service of ancient wisdom traditions.
Thus, the Conscious Innovation Lab OÜ— the parent company of Mypalmleaf, registered in Tallinn, Estonia — was created. You can see that Mypalmleaf has a long backstory. I am grateful for every chapter of it.
It Takes a "We"
Sure, it feels good to be the founder of the wonderfully growing Mypalmleaf organization today. However, I am fully aware that I could never have done it alone and that it took the "we" of our wonderful team. Through my many travels, I have a very global network, and so from the beginning, people from all over the world came to us.
And so, to this day, we have already helped more than 3,000+ people from 60+ countries, in 9 different languages. That still moves me. It is a great honor and a great joy to be of service in this way.
What Hasn't Changed
Still, my deep love for life and the awakening of our true nature is my deepest motivation, to which everything else is subordinate. Combining this with professional, sustainable structures and offering a unique service with the palm leaves — that is what Mypalmleaf is about.
I become once more aware of how grateful I am for this life and for all the opportunities that were given to me. I am grateful that I had the inner and outer freedom to devote myself to this path.
And if you ever feel called to find your palm leaf, we at Mypalmleaf would be very happy to accompany you on this journey.
See you soon.
Thank You
I am fully aware that I could never have done it alone. This journey has
always been a “we”— carried by the trust, time, and love of team members, readers, friends, and
collaborators from all over the world.
To each and every person who believed in this work
before there was much to believe in — who contributed their skills, their heart, or simply their presence:
I bow deeply.You know who you are. This would not exist without you.
Curious?
If You Feel Drawn to Your Palm Leaf
Ancient Nadi sages inscribed thousands of individual life records onto palm leaves, preserved for centuries in Tamil Nadu. If something in this story resonates — we’d be glad to help you look.
Still have questions? Write to us — we reply in your language, usually within 48 hours.