Mindfulness Coaching

 

I weave my training in Clinical Psychology, Buddhist mindfulness, yoga & embodiment work, and contemplative nature practice to support others in accessing greater capacities for insight, joy, and compassion. I support individuals and groups in exploring a variety of practices, deeply connecting with those that resonate, and creatively bringing these tools into their daily lives. My offerings draw on various trainings and personal explorations:

  • M.A. in Clinical Psychology, concentration on Spirituality & Mind-Body Practice (Columbia University)

  • B.A. in Public Health (Duke University)

  • Certified Nature Meditation Teacher (Awake in the Wild Teacher Training with Mark Coleman)

  • Certified Mindfulness Coach (Unified Mindfulness, Shinzen Young)

  • Certified in Trauma-Conscious Mindfulness (The Lineage Project )

  • 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher (Laughing Lotus, NYC)

  • Resident student at Green Gulch Zen Center & Farm, in the Soto Zen Lineage of Buddhism

  • Completion of Ngöndro Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana preliminary practices in the lineage of Yuthok Nyingthig, empowered by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang (Pure Land Farms)

  • Trained Herbalist (School of the Sacred Wild with Marysia Miernowska)

 
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Mindfulness Skills

Mindfulness: Mindfulness is an invitation to bring an open-hearted attention and curiosity to present-moment experience without judgment, avoidance, or attachment. I teach mindfulness skills focused on relating to our struggles and our joys with fresh eyes, clarity, and equanimity.

Insight Meditation Practice: Contemplation of our sense of self through the lenses of impermanence and interconnectedness can deeply inform how we move through our daily lives. Sensing our connection to other people, other living beings, and the natural world can empower us to live with more open hearts and minds. I offer tools for exploring, internalizing, and integrating these insights through mindfulness.

Nature Practice: Nature is living dharma: in the wild, we can experience states of love and awe, teachings of impermanence and death, and tangible displays of our interconnection with the rest of the living world. I share practices to cultivate greater sensory awareness and connection to nature that help us wake up to the beauty and mystery surrounding us.

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Meditation Practice

Guided Mindfulness Meditation: The practices I share draw on my years of meditation training and practice, in both traditional Buddhist traditions as well as contemporary secular mindfulness. Mindfulness practice focuses on cultivating mental skills in concentration, clarity, and equanimity as well as establishing more compassionate and skillful ways of relating to one’s mind, body, and emotions. We explore how to shift and heighten our attention, attuning to any aspect of our present moment experience with clarity and compassion.

Guided Imagery / Visualization: This style draws on the rich preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhist psychotherapist Miles Neale describes the practices as “a comprehensive meditation system for psychological development… to decondition negative mental habits, rewire positive tendencies, prime a compassionate motivation, establish a realistic view of reality, and internalize the inspiring qualities of a spiritual mentor.” Rather than quieting the mind, these practices provide a strong support through visualization and reflection designed to “purify” and direct the mind towards more compassionate and clarifying motivations for spiritual practice.

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Psychological Tools

My training in Clinical Psychology focused on spirituality and mind-body practice. In my studies and research, I investigated the neurophysiology and transformative potential of contemplative practices (meditation, yoga, devotional practices), as well as self-transcendent experiences (awe, interconnectedness, non-dual awareness), and pro-social emotions (compassion, empathy, altruism), and ultimately how strengthening our connection with ourselves, others, and the natural world broadens our capacity for living a meaningful and fulfilling life.

More beautiful states of mind can be cultivated and trained. I draw on the field of Positive Psychology to offer evidence-based practices and exercises to develop: mindfulness, emotional resilience, gratitude, self-compassion, connection, empathy, and authentic wellbeing.

Somatic Mindfulness & Embodied Movement

The mind can live in the future or the past, but the body is always present. Our physical bodies and senses are always here. Embodied awareness helps us ground ourselves in the present moment through attuning more deeply to physical sensations and sensory experiences. Embodied mindfulness practice and mindful movement give us the space to be with our emotions, stories, and habitual thought patterns in a more freeing way.

I share practices that support feeling safe in coming back into our bodies. In the body, free of stories and mental analysis, is where we find the spaciousness for real relief and healing. I share from my personal experience of working with tools to find freedom within chronic pain and overwhelming emotions. I also share restorative yoga practice and mindful movement from my training as a registered yoga teacher.