Maude Hirst, initially known for her role as Helga in the TV series “Vikings,” discovered the transformative power of meditation during a challenging time in her personal life. This discovery led her to share mindfulness practices, yoga, and energy healing with others.
Currently, Maude runs a virtual club for mental health, organizes corporate wellness events, offers private mentoring, develops a meditation app, and leads wellbeing retreats.
Today, Maude shares her inspirational journey from acting to becoming a meditation facilitator, the challenges and achievements she has encountered as an entrepreneur, and the profound impact these practices can have on our lives. Through her projects, EnergyRise and Home of Connection, Maude aims to bring the benefits of meditation to as many people as possible.
Maude will take the stage at The Inner this year, where she will share her experiences and offer advice on how to make meditation your superpower.
Can you tell us about your journey from being an actor to becoming a meditation facilitator? What inspired this transition?
My journey into meditation began around 6 years ago after going through a traumatic break-up that left me questioning many aspects of my life. I started meditating for my own mental health and found it to be an incredibly powerful tool that brought me a calm, clarity and confidence that I had never experienced before. After experiencing this for myself, I became passionate about sharing these tools with everyone I could reach, as I feel it is needed now more than ever before. I don’t think I ever made a conscious choice to stop acting, it has been a gradual change as my passion for sharing meditation overtook my desire to act.
How has meditation, yoga, and energy healing transformed your life, and what prompted you to share these practices with others?
These practices have brought me so much clarity and confidence because they have taught me to understand myself better. This has transformed the way I make decisions and helped me create a life that I truly love. From starting my own business, to trusting my own instincts and creating more meaningful and deeper connections. Seeing how these practices changed my life, I became really inspired to share them with others. Many of these techniques are simple and easy to learn and I believe can be life changing for everyone.
What motivated you to create EnergyRise, and what does it aim to achieve? How does it feel to be an entrepreneur? What do you find hardest and how do you overcome these moments?
I was motivated to create EnergyRise and my new business Home of Connection because I wanted to make meditation and its life changing benefits accessible to all. At a time where the world is moving faster than ever and our attention spans are getting shorter, I feel it is more important than ever to prioritise moments of stillness and reconnection for our wellbeing. I love being an entrepreneur because it allows me the freedom to create what truly inspires me and I get to share that with as many people as I can reach. The hardest parts for me are the tech and admin side of running my business but having brilliant people around me has helped and also remembering why I wanted to share these necessary practices keeps me motivated and inspired.

In your experience, what are some of the key benefits individuals can gain from incorporating meditation into their daily lives?
I believe a daily practice can help reduce stress, anxiety and sleep problems. On top of that, meditation allows you to get to know yourself on a deeper level and with this awareness you then have a greater choice of how you want to show up day to day and this over time can be life transforming.
As a leader in the field of meditation and wellness, what role do you believe leadership plays in guiding others towards self-discovery and personal growth?
I actually believe that self-discovery and personal growth cannot be lead by someone else but instead has to come from a desire within you to change. Once someone has chosen to change then it is about finding a teacher who inspires you to learn from and I hope to be able to walk side by side with people to inspire the change that they want to make for themselves. So instead of leading personal growth, I wish to guide people on their own journey and fill them with the confidence and tools to do so.
Could you share with us a memorable experience or successful story from your work with individuals or groups in meditation and energy healing?
Yes of course. I have supported many people transition in their careers from a job that didn’t feel aligned with what they truly desired, into discovering what they want and creating a job or finding a position that allowed them to shine.
I have supported a client who had never had a partner find the confidence and self-love to then find the partner they had been longing for.
In my groups I have created safe spaces for us all to feel deeply connected and I am in awe of the transformations that happen when we can all show up openly and honestly and encourage each other to be fully ourselves.
I love nothing more than watching the confidence in my clients and groups grow over time.
What does it mean to you to be a speaker at The Inner, and what message do you hope to convey to attendees through your participation? What excites you most about the opportunity to connect with attendees at The Inner and what would you like them to learn after the conference?
I am thrilled to be a speaker at The Inner after hearing brilliant things about previous events. I hope to convey the importance and urgency that meditation has in the world today and how it can transform individuals, groups and businesses. I am very excited to be surrounded by other practitioners and experts in their fields to discover the future of wellbeing from different perspectives.

I can’t wait to meet and share meditation with the attendees and I hope they will leave taking some meditation and breath techniques into their everyday lives.
Can you share any insights into the theme or topics you’ll be addressing during your presentation at The Inner?
The name of my presentation is Making Meditation your Superpower. It will be a very interactive session where we will explore what meditation is, how to meditate and the importance and relevance of meditation and connection in today’s society. I can’t wait!
In what ways do you think events like The Inner contribute to the broader conversation around holistic wellness and personal development?
I think events like this are so important and brilliant to bring experts from different fields together to share and learn from each other. I really believe holistic wellness is the future, bringing lots of different techniques and ideas together so we can all get a more holistic approach to our wellbeing and healing.
Besides the professional side we talked about in this interview, what else can you tell us about yourself? What would you like to share with The Woman community?
I am passionate about travel and deep connections with people. I am also getting married this year which I am thrilled about because it took me many years of healing and self awareness practices to find and create a relationship that I love. I am also trying for a baby and have had 2 unsuccessful rounds of IVF. I share this because I think the more honest we all are about our struggles in life, the more we can support each other and the more connected we can become.
What advice would you offer to someone who is interested in beginning their meditation journey but may feel overwhelmed or unsure where to start? – Start with short 10 minute practices and find a teacher who inspires you. Also know there are many different types of meditation, so if you try something and it really doesn’t feel right, keep looking as there will be something out there for you.
The first thing you learned as an entrepreneur:To be truly passionate about my message and not let anyone steer me away from what I wanted to create. Plus just START. You never feel fully ready so just begin. You will learn along the way.
Heels or flat shoes? – Depends on the occasion
Favourite dessert? – Tiramsu (I’m a quarter Italian)
Note to self: Trust in yourself
Read the interview in Romanian here.
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Editor: Mara Rusu