Darius Bashar

Darius Bashar is a meditation teacher, creativity coach and portrait photographer based in Toronto. He is the founder of Artist Morning, an online community that offers space, support and structure for anyone who wants to meditate and journal together. It includes a free weekly meditation group built for creative people, an accountability group for a daily writing practice, and a community of creators who support and celebrate each other.

On Insight Timer, the world's largest meditation app, Darius has guided hundreds of meditations for tens of thousands of people around the world. His teaching blends grounded creative tools with spiritual depth. It helps people move through perfectionism, self-doubt and fear of being seen, so they can share their voice with more truth and ease. On his YouTube channel he shares guided meditations made for creators and artists.

His path to this work was not a straight line. After years in the Toronto start-up world and in advertising, he served as Director of Programming and Co-chair of TEDxToronto. At almost 30 he went back to film school in Vancouver, which led him to cinematography and then to fashion photography in 2015, portrait photography in 2016, and writing in 2017. He has since photographed authors and thought leaders, and his work has appeared in publications including TIME, USA TODAY and Oprah.com.

His photography carries the same spirit as his teaching. HEARTshots™ uses photography as a channel for inner exploration and self-love, and NoStrangers.Art documents short, honest conversations with strangers on the street as he photographs them. Darius writes openly about the years he spent hiding his struggles, and about how sharing hard truths can make room for others to do the same.