I came across Falun Gong on the Internet in March 1996. I downloaded the materials and started reading them with my wife. We were both very impressed by the philosophy, and the exercises made an immediate impact. Everything made sense to us and there was nothing that we could not accept. We both had an immense feeling of happiness because we had finally found what we had been looking for.

At that time there were no classes in the UK, but one week later I went to Sweden to attend a Falun Gong conference. I spent six days in Sweden and met many practitioners. I was very impressed by the friendliness and kindness of the practitioners and enjoyed my time there enormously. At the end of the six days, I knew that Falun Gong was something that was very good and also that it was something that I could practice well.

Since that time I have completely changed in every way. In the next few minutes I will explain some of the changes that I have noticed.

The changes that I have noticed are in several areas:

At work my performance has increased enormously. I am a management consultant and my job involves advising companies on how to manage their employees. Before practicing Falun Gong I was determined to reach the top of my company as quickly as possible. When I did not receive the promotion that I was expecting I would become very upset. Since practicing Falun Gong I have not thought about promotions at all. I try to do the best for my clients and really listen to what they want to achieve without worrying about the profit that I will make on the project. If someone else can help the client more than I can, I will tell the client to work with that person rather than try to get the project for myself. In fact I price my projects very reasonably now because I do not want to treat any client unfairly. In the last two years I have been promoted twice and I am selling four times as much business for my company than I did before. I am sure that this would not have happened if I had not practiced Falun Gong.

Also at work, Falun Gong has helped me to cope with the stress in my job. In my work, a mistake can cost my company many hundreds of thousands of pounds. Before I began practicing Falun Gong there were several occasions when I would not be able to sleep at night because I would worry about my work. Since I have been practicing Falun Gong I have slept very soundly even though the pressure in my job has increased. This is because I am not attached to my job or my position in the company. I always try to do the best that I can. If I make a mistake I correct it as quickly as possible and carry on. I never try to hide my mistakes.

In my home life I have also changed. Before practicing Falun Gong I was attached to having the best of everything. I was very materialistic and very competitive. I was attached to having the latest electronic gadget, the best car, house, holiday, clothes, food, etc. Today I am different. I only buy things that are essential and I have given away many of the things that I had bought before. I have paid off all of the money that I owed. I have tried to simplify my life as much as I can.

Since practicing Falun Gong, I have noticed that I have much more energy. Before, I would need to sleep at least 8 hours every night. Now I sleep between 4 and 5 hours every night and do not feel tired at all. I use the extra time to do other things now.

My personality has also changed. Before practicing Falun Gong I was always seeking the best way to achieve my personal goals in every situation. Now I always try to think of how to best help the people around me. For example, I often spend my spare time running Falun Gong classes so that others can benefit from this, too. Before practicing Falun Gong I could never have imagined that I would spend much time on an activity without any financial reward.

One test that I have at the moment is to treat all the people that I meet the same. At work and in my private life there are some people that I meet who I instantly like and others that I have a negative view of. I do not say this to them but I think it in my mind. I realize that this is the result of my attachments. I tend to like the people who think in the same way that I do and dislike people who do not think in the way that I do. This means that I think that my way of thinking is the best, which, of course, is an attachment. For example, a new person came to a Falun Gong class in London. She did not speak very nicely and was rude to the people around her and to me. I had the view that only "nice" people would become serious Falun Gong practitioners. I thought that this lady would not be able to do the exercises and would give up Falun Gong very quickly. I was surprised to see that she could do the exercises very well and for over one and a half hours on her first day and that she later bought the book China Falun Gong. This shows how incorrect it is for me to judge people based on my own conceptions.

In conclusion, I think that Falun Dafa is the most wonderful thing in my life. It has made me into a much better person and made my life so much simpler and happier. In the future I will try my hardest to improve further.