Meet The Mindfulness Works Teachers

All Mindfulness Works teachers have received Mindfulness Works teacher training. They come from a diverse range of backgrounds and all have an in-depth, experiential understanding of mindfulness. All Mindfulness Works teachers emphasise the importance of you learning to trust your own ‘inner teacher’.

Our teachers will never treat you as a problem to be fixed, but rather encourage you to tap into your innate sense of wholeness and self-acceptance. They recognise that you are already a complete and capable human being, and their role is to support you in discovering and cultivating your own mindfulness practices.

ALISON DELPHIN — ALBURY / WODONGA

Alison is a mental health occupational therapist, mother, counselor and founder of Grow Beyond; coaching and consultancy. Born and raised in regional Victoria, Alison is committed to providing best practice and engaging resources to her community. She has 15 years experience working in public mental health settings, and now balances this with her private practice. She loves the outdoors and finds calm in exploring nature. A mum of two, she understands the pressures on working families and navigating the challenges of finding work life balance. Practising mindfulness daily has supported Alison to cope when life is overwhelming or challenging.

Alison is passionate about supporting people to function at their best and brings a practical component to her work in enhancing personal wellbeing; specialising in supporting people to understand and regulate their emotions through the use of sensory-based interventions and mindfulness practice. She has a passion for supporting people to find their direction and life path, sense of identity, build confidence and work through challenging aspects of life, parenting and helping people create balance.

ALISON HUTCHENS — SYDNEY

Alison is a former senior executive. Her career of 27 years includes 24 years holding senior corporate positions, running teams in high pressure sales, consulting and service delivery environments. She has also lived and worked across Australia, Asia and Europe in various Business Consulting roles.

Alison is a fully certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and has been teaching classes for more than 10 years. She is an accredited member of the of Meditation Association of Australia (AMA) and a member of the International Meditation Teachers Association (ITMA). She is a certified Emotional Intelligence Facilitator (GENOS), Master Practitioner of NLP and a Professional Coach (London Coaching Academy).

Alison is passionate about delivering the benefits of Mindfulness and Resilience Coaching along with Emotional Intelligence to corporate life.  For more information on the various programs available visit Mind Body Energy.

ALLISON NAVARRO — TOWNSVILLE

Allison Navarro is 53 years young, with a background of Remedial Massage for 27 years, Aura-Soma Colour Care Consultation for the past 22 years and Occupational Therapy for the past 16 years working in the mental health field. She is a Psychotherapist, and Co-Director of the Inner Light Meditation Centre in Townsville where she sees clients on a 1:1 basis for EMDR, Internal Family Systems, or Aura-Soma, Numerology consultations. At the Inner Light Meditation Centre, she also facilitates groups for Breathwork, Kundalini Yoga, Pranayama Meditation, Kirtan and several workshops.

Allison commenced her journey with meditation and mindfulness approximately 30 years ago and sees mindfulness as the foundational basis for health and healing to occur. Trained in Somatic Trauma Therapies including Polyvagal Theory, Safe and Sound Protocol, Myofascial Release, and Breathwork, Allison has utilised this knowledge to understand her own trauma history, and offer understanding for that of her clients and participants.

www.innerlightmeditationcentre.com

www.facebook.com/innerlightmeditationcentre

AMIT AGARWAL — MELBOURNE

Amit is a dedicated mindfulness and meditation practitioner and teacher. He started his journey with meditation at a young age when he went to a school set up by Maharishi Mahesh yogi at his high school. Maharishi Mahesh yogi is the inventor of Transcendental meditation. Amit realised the benefits of meditation right away and started building on his practice. Over the years he learned and practised different kinds of meditation.

Amit did his teacher training course in 2016. Since then, he has been teaching mindfulness and meditation at different levels. He is very passionate about sharing the benefits he has received from meditation with his students.

In 2019 Amit did his Vipassana 10-day silent retreat which he considers as a turning point in his life. Since the retreat, he has seen immense benefits in all walks of his life. He now has a very strong Vipassana practice for himself and would like to continue to improve on it.

Amit also holds a Master’s Degree in IT and has been working in the corporate environment for the past 15 years. He has a young family and loves spending time with them. Some of his hobbies are motorbike riding, reading and art.

Amit also delivers individual and group med

ANNE RODGERS — ADELAIDE (MBSR QUALIFIED TRAINER)

Formerly Managing Director of Starcom, a global media and communications agency, Anne turned to yoga and mindfulness to support her own mental health and to cope with the rigours of business. Anne was so taken with the benefits of mindfulness with her own wellbeing, she took a great leap of faith and changed her life’s direction to share her passion with others.

Anne now supports people to deal with the pressures of daily life through mindfulness-based practices; guiding her clients to replenish and regenerate the mind-body emotion connection with emphasis on breath awareness and balancing the nervous system.

Anne not only holds a Diploma of Management, she is a registered Hatha Yoga Instructor and has completed a Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing. She is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction facilitator from the Jon Kabat-Zinn lineage.

Anne’s own happiness is supported by her personal practice of yoga, daily mindfulness practice, Argentine tango and Latin dancing.

ANNIE HARVEY — ADELAIDE

Teacher, tutor, speaker and wellbeing coach since 1999, Annie works one-on-one and in workshops to help with stress management and encourage people to live their life with purpose. Trained formally in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), Annie believes that living a life on purpose whilst using mindfulness skills in everyday life, is the only way to experience real joy and success.

Annie was introduced to mindfulness when going through a difficult time in her life. She began studying and practising mindfulness and meditation as well as devouring hundreds of personal development books.  These practices had a profound impact on her life and she wanted to share the skills with others. She hopes that teaching mindfulness within her community will provide an opportunity for people to experience moments of calm, joy and connection in this busy digital world that we all live.

Annie attends silent retreats in Thailand and Australia. Both lifelong learners and travellers, Annie lives with her husband Mark and their labradoodle, Meg, near the beach in Glenelg. They are also both trained Laughter Yoga Leaders which always provides a good conversation starter. Visit Annie’s website The Still Effect.

CARROLL BYRNE — BALLARAT

Carroll is a career Educator with extensive experience providing teaching excellence for P-12 students, as well as in tertiary and fitness environments.

Carroll is pursuing a PhD in project-based learning and contemplative education. Her minor thesis focused on Mindfulness in Primary Schools. She has had a long journey with mindfulness after a life-threatening illness saw her turn to alternative therapies to assist her in her recovery.

Carroll also has qualifications in Creative Vinyasa Flow Level 2 Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga, Asana, Pranayama and Meditation. She is very much looking forward to sharing mindfulness with you.

CATHERINE OGILVY —

Catherine is a dedicated practitioner and teacher of mindfulness and meditation. She began practising in 2000 and meditation has inspired profound growth and positive change within her life. Catherine completed a meditation course early on in her practice and has expanded this practice through many silent retreats. Catherine began a study of mindfulness and specifically the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. She has completed the 8-week MBSR course herself twice and went on to train as an MBSR teacher with the Mindfulness Training Institute Australia and New Zealand in 2017.

She is extremely passionate about teaching meditation and loves to create a safe and welcoming space for people to connect with themselves and others to learn the wonderful practice of meditation. She has taught the MBSR course for a couple of years now as well as an ongoing Meditation/Mindful Movement classes.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and continues to work in a corporate environment, understanding the day-to-day challenges of these roles. Supplementing her studies, she completed a Graduate Diploma of Applied Psychology and currently volunteers in this capacity. Catherine has a wealth of life experience to draw from, informing her empathetic approach to teaching and being with people.

When Catherine is not working, she likes to hang out with her family and friends, do yoga, meditation, sing and play music and exercise.

Catherine has a strong interest in research-based approaches that bring together the strength of modern science and ancient wisdom to help empower people and familiarise themselves with their own mind and body.

She is deeply grateful to developers and teachers of MBSR/MBCT, and her other precious teachers and friends from various walks of life. Catherine believes everyone has a story and there is an opportunity to learn from every interaction.

Visit Catherine’s website: themeditationpractice.com.au

CATHERINE SHERLOCK — BAULKHAM HILLS, SYDNEY

Catherine is a certified iRest® meditation teacher, a member of Meditation Australia and a Level 2 Yoga Australia registered yoga teacher. She specialises in applying yoga and meditation for mental health and wellbeing. She owns and operates a centre for yoga, meditation and wellbeing in Richmond NSW known as Yoga from the Inside. She also loves to take these teachings into the community to reach marginalised populations.

Catherine has studied iRest with Richard Miller since 2014. iRest (Integrative Restoration) is an evidence-based transformative practice that is based on the ancient teachings of meditation.

She has had a 30-year career in administration, management and leadership roles in public, private and community settings. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Analysis, a Master of Policy and Applied Social Research and a Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management.

Catherine lives in Bilpin in the Blue Mountains of NSW with her husband John. She loves long walks, anywhere, but especially in nature.

CHERISE VALLET — ADELAIDE

Cherise is a qualified senior-level yoga teacher with Yoga Australia, as well as a yoga therapist and mindfulness practitioner. She has taught yoga classes and mindfulness courses/workshops in the Adelaide and McLaren Vale region for over a dozen years, as well as in many corporate settings in Adelaide and interstate.

Cherise also has a long background in management roles within the corporate world of print, media and newspaper production.

Her further development as a Yoga Therapist has allowed Cherise to bring her knowledge of yoga and mindfulness together to work one-on-one with individuals, providing coaching, mentoring, and assisting with developing personal practices for healing, strengthening and deepening on all levels – mental, emotional and physical.

Cherise has completed training with the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australia to develop her skills in bringing the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to life through her own embodied practice and intensive study of this life-enhancing approach.

CLAIRE GUILD — PERTH

Claire is founder of The Well-Being Creative, a lifestyle and wellness-based service for women. She has a Masters of Mental Health and is a trained Art Psychotherapist, Nurse and Wellness Coach with over 15 years clinical experience working in both Australia and the UK.

Claire is a qualified yoga teacher. She has practised yoga for 20 years including sitting meditation practices. In the last couple of years she has moved more towards mindfulness training and establishing her own mindfulness practice.

In her work as a psychotherapist, she has worked predominately with complex trauma and has incorporated mindfulness into her individual and group therapy work with children, adolescents and families. She is passionate about working from a relational, transpersonal and positive psychology frame, integrating eastern philosophies into western practice.

In her own life, Claire is passionate about living authentically and from a place of personal growth. She loves travel, the arts, the beach and all things health and wellness!

DEBORAH LACEY — BRISBANE

Debbie is an Occupational Therapist with 20 years experience working in mental health and cancer care. She has expertise in the areas of stress and anxiety management with a particular interest in mindfulness and has been trained in mindfulness based cognitive therapy and ACT. Debbie believes strongly in empowering people to get in touch with their own inner strengths.

Debbie has been practising meditation for almost 20 years with a focus on mindfulness for the last five years. She is passionate about mindfulness as she has seen how it has changed the lives of people she works with as well as her own. In particular, Debbie has witnessed how people experience more joy in their lives and develop a more resilient approach to difficulties. She attends regular mindful retreats and has her own mindfulness teacher.

Debbie lives in Brisbane with her adult daughter (in-training!) and extremely spoiled and delightful cat, Truffles. What Debbie enjoys most about life is walking by the beach, expressive dance and yoga.

DENISE CREW — CAIRNS

Denise is an experienced mindfulness practitioner and regularly uses meditation and yoga to maintain and improve her mind and body health. She has used the training she received from a Buddhist teacher in Canberra to lead mindfulness classes for children and meditation sessions for small groups of adults. She has been using mindfulness and meditation in her daily life for more than a decade and accepts that it is a lifelong practice from which we can learn how to cope with the stresses and strains of modern life, but at the same time, grow spiritually. She is a qualified and experienced teacher with a background in science who has been tutoring and mentoring young people for many years. She has used this experience to bring a mutually respectful, supportive, and positive environment to her teaching so that each individual can feel comfortable and relaxed enough to focus on their own practice.

Denise has lived and worked in Australia, England and Germany. She has explored mindfulness through both religious and secular teachings and with many cultures and traditions through her travels to every continent. She strongly believes that mindfulness goes beyond all our differences of faith or custom and helps us to become more connected to our human family, and that of the living planet.

Denise is happy to work with individuals, small groups or classes, in private, and in workshop or class settings. She is particularly interested in working with children and young adults; to teach them how to use mindfulness as a tool to help cope with the challenges facing young people in this modern world.

Denise has a successful business based In Cairns, FNQ, where she offers mindfulness training, student coaching and mentoring across the Northern Beaches of Cairns. See Denise’s Facebook Page here: m.facebook.com/findsomepeace

GAIL POWER — DARWIN

Gail Power is a researcher, writer, consultant and Founder of Mindful Territory with the mission of bringing mindfulness to remote regions of Northern Australia. She is passionate and curious about what helps us become well functioning individuals, businesses and communities — as well as what trips us up in life.

She is an internationally certified mindfulness teacher, one of 700 trainers of a program born at Google for organisations and communities. Some of her lecturers have included Jon Kabat-Zinn (considered the godfather of mindfulness), Dan Siegel, Director UCLA Mindsight Insitute and Daniel Goldman, NY Times Bestseller of the book, Emotional Intelligence — and why it may matter more than IQ. Gail has been an internationally certified Kundalini Yoga/Meditation teacher for over 15 years and has trained in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

Known for her petite size but big laugh and fun sense of humour, Gail was born in the USA, but has resided in Australia for the past 20 years; living in Sydney as well as remote Australia. She currently lives in Darwin, Northern Territory but travels the world to share her passion and frankness about her failures and successes when dealing with anxiety and emotional regulation through mindfulness and meditation, in hopes of helping others to feel less alone in their own challenges and provide hope and a path forward.

GAVIN EICHHOLZ — SYDNEY AND NORTHERN BEACHES

Gavin is a mindfulness-based coach and psychotherapist with a Masters in counselling and psychotherapy.

He is also a Chartered Accountant who has worked in corporates and accounting practices where he has held numerous roles at a manager and senior manager level.

In the last 15 years Gavin has embarked on a personal self-development journey that was sparked by an interest in meditation, mindfulness and how the mind works. He has done numerous meditation and mindfulness-based retreats and workshops all over the world including three 10-day insight meditation retreats.

Gavin’s practice and understanding of mindfulness has allowed him to get an experiential understanding of how it positively impacts his moment to moment experience of life.

Gavin is also passionate about nature and uses his own extensive experience of mindfully being in nature to facilitate experiential Connect Mindfully with Nature sessions.

Gavin operates his coaching and psychotherapy business Empower to Shine to assist people with gaining more clarity and confidence with various life issues and to facilitate mindfulness and meditation sessions. He also does financial coaching for individuals on cash management/budgets and using mindfulness to effectively manage anxiety over money-related issues and decisions.

HANNAH PERKINS — NEWCASTLE

A long-term student of Buddhist and Yogic inner methods, Hannah has been teaching since 2013 and is a Senior Level 3 Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Australia. She attended her first yoga class at age 10 and practised meditation in her 20’s as an antidote to working for various environmental campaigns. But it wasn’t until, when faced with a cancer diagnosis at age 29 that the practice became a non-negotiable part of daily life.

Hannah brings warmth, practicality and her own life experiences to her teaching and one-to-one consultation as a trauma-informed Yoga Therapist, helping those facing the uncertainty of anxiety/depression, chronic illness and chronic pain. Having personally experienced these conditions, she is ‘fascia-nated’ with the way the body holds onto past experiences and how consciousness communicates with us through the language of sensation. Combining yoga, somatic psychotherapy, myofascial release and meditation, her classes and sessions take you on a journey through the bodyscape to uncover your own conscious awareness.
 
She completed 500hr Hatha Yoga and 650hr Yoga Therapy training locally through Yogic Wisdom and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training through Mindfulness Training Institute Australasia. She has also trained extensively internationally in Somatic Trauma Therapies including Polyvagal Theory, Myofascial Release, Yin Yoga and Trauma Sensitive Yoga. In 2015, Hannah was selected to be part of the world’s largest Mindfulness summit, a free online event with 31 of the world’s leading teachers, researchers and experts from around the globe.

HELENE ORR — SYDNEY (MBSR QUALIFIED TEACHER)

Wellbeing and leadership specialist, mindfulness and yoga teacher and founder of consultancy, Insight Governance, Helene teaches and coaches groups and individuals how to manage the demands of contemporary life for greater ease, resilience and life purpose.

Her teachings are informed by her own experiential practice in a variety of yoga and meditation styles as well as formal teacher training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness and Compassion and Yoga as well as academic studies – Master of Health and Social Wellbeing (Nan Tien Institute) and Bachelor of Applied Biology (UTS) and a career in senior leadership roles in the public and NFP sector.

With an interest in mind body science and wellbeing since her teenage years, Helene has been prompted to explore challenging situations throughout her life, usually after unpleasant emotional and physical symptoms, through the use of embodied yoga, mindfulness, compassion and boundless heart practices with profound impact. Her desire is to impart her knowledge and understanding to her students and clients and assist them in using their inner resources to achieve balance and perspective in their health and mental wellbeing for greater ease, connection and joy in their lives and communities.

Visit Helene’s website is Insight Governance

JO BLISS — SHEPPARTON

A yoga and breathwork teacher and mindful life-coach, Jo is passionate about supporting people to continually bloom into their happiest and healthiest selves through the exploration, understanding and integration of wellness practices.

She believes in using the power of the present moment to reduce stress, anxiety and depression to find greater inner peace. Through this practice, Jo supports individuals to discover and align with their personal inner values to feel more deeply happy and satisfied with their lives.

Jo has leaned into mindfulness, meditation and yoga practices to heal challenges and adversities in her own life, as well as the lives of her students. This has grown a depth of understanding which allows her the presence to receive and respond to your questions, experiences and even challenges as they unfold through your own mindfulness journey.

Living with her family in the country, Jo enjoys a broad, blooming garden offering space and inspiration for connection with nature. You will no doubt notice the local bird life in the background of the meditation recordings you receive with these sessions.

JON UNAL —

Jon is a qualified therapist and mindfulness educator. He is the founder of Conscious Beginnings. Over the years, Jon has supported hundreds of people to achieve their aspirations by becoming more mindful, self-aware, resilient, confident and courageous. As well as working with people one on one, Jon has extensive experience teaching mindfulness in the workplace. Some of his clients include Australian Counselling Association, BHP, Credit Union Australia, Sanofi and Queensland Police.

Jon has graduate qualifications in applied psychotherapy and counselling, training in various modalities such as ACT, mindfulness and neuroscience. He also holds a Master’s Degree in economics.

JONATHAN WOOD — BRISBANE

Jonathan is an experienced mindfulness teacher who began his meditation journey over thirty years ago. He trained as a psychologist but his mindfulness teaching and practice also draws on secular Buddhist teachings about the nature of the mind and human experience – which is where the Western mindfulness movement began. This provides a practical and philosophical context for mindfulness practice that helps us find a path towards reduced stress, greater contentment and a more genuine relationship with the world.
 
Jonathan has taught meditation and mindfulness in Australia and New Zealand for over a decade.  He currently lives with his wife and two children in Brisbane, where he works for Children’s Health Queensland. 

JOSE RODRIGUEZ — BENDIGO

I spent several years in the mountains as a fire spotter, spending long periods of time isolated in the wilderness. Many events of life have shaped me and pushed me deeper into my inner work. A very profound near-death experience in 2014 changed my perception about reality and life forever.

The journey allowed me to experience the power of living present in every moment, further empowering me to lead a life worth living, including many endeavours as a rock climber, skiing instructor, physical education and primary teacher, adventurer, cold water swimmer, and above all, Holistic Counsellor, Meditation Therapist, and Mindfulness teacher.

Some of the teachers and teaching that has influenced me and my practice are: Lao-Tzu, Ram Dass, Dr Wayne Dyer, Eckart Tolle, Dr Joe Dispenza, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Thich Nhat Hanh, the teachings of Buddha, Alan Watts, Dr David R Hawkins, and Dr Bruce Lipton and of course, events of Life.

My website is Inner Wisdom Counselling.

JUDE BADERLE — COFFS HARBOUR

Jude is an experienced Mindfulness practitioner and teacher. She started practising over twenty years ago and attended retreats regularly. It was when she first went to India to meditate and practise Mindfulness that it became a foundational practice in her life.

For the past ten years she has been sharing her understanding of the mindfulness and meditation through online mentoring, groups and teaching on retreats in the Insight tradition.

Jude’s approach is non-traditional and creative. She likes to use nature and the arts to help people find their unique way of bringing meditation into their lives. She is an advocate of what is called taking the practice off the cushion.

Jude is mindfulness-based somatic psychotherapist, life coach, artist and small business owner.

Along with the courses at Mindfulness Works, she runs mindfulness courses, day retreats, workshops and one-on-one mindfulness coaching.

Her calm manner invites relaxation and slowing down and she is passionate about teaching people to live with deeper awareness.

KAREN BRADFORD — BRISBANE

Karen Bradford is a Mindfulness Educator and Clinical Hypnotherapist who specialises in stress management and chronic pain Management. Karen is also a Registered Nurse and has over 8 years’ experience as a corporate trainer creating, developing and delivering education and facilitating workshops to professionals.

Topics including mindfulness and stress management build strong relationships in team and health-related topics, for example, sleep, downtime, enhancing energy levels naturally. Also teaching coaching skills, advanced communication skills, behavioural change and assisting people to identify their inspiration, values, purpose and passion, change management, goal setting and working on making committed action and overcoming barriers.

Karen is qualified in self-compassion mindfulness through the Centre for Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and has studied extensively ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy, a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy). She is also a qualified mentor/coach with HeartMath Institute specialising in building resilience. She has a keen interest in neuroscience and has studied with Dr Sarah McKay from the Neuroscience Academy, Applied Neuroscience and Brain Health course. She also has a Certificate, Diploma and Master Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy.

Karen works with people individually or in groups using mindfulness education and therapy as well as clinical hypnotherapy. And she offers a free half–hour discovery session which is totally without obligation; it is an opportunity to discuss and explore people’s aspirations and needs are then how we might work together.

Karen is passionate about empowering people to acquire the skills needed to reduce stress and suffering, improve life experience and find joy in all that they do.

Karen”s website is Perfectly Balanced Life and email: info@perfectlybalancedlife.com.au

KAREN BINNING — PERTH

Karen is a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction facilitator with the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australia and studied at the Oxford University Mindfulness Centre in the UK to become a certified Mindfulness in the workplace facilitator and facilitator of Mindfulness: Peace in a Frantic World.

Karen presents at conferences and facilitates mindfulness in workplaces and the general community. She guest lectures on mindfulness at the University of Notre Dame. Her clients include the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian Medical Students Association, City Councils of South Perth and Stirling and the Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development.

Karen discovered mindfulness ten years ago as a participant in a mindfulness research project while working at Curtin University. With directly experiencing the myriad of benefits of mindfulness in her own life, Karen was inspired to share this with others. She includes mindfulness in all aspects of life, ranging from work, to being a parent, leisure and everything in between.

Karen is honoured and deeply grateful to share and facilitate people’s journeys with mindfulness.

KATE HUBERT — BRISBANE

Karen is a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction facilitator with the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australia and studied at the Oxford University Mindfulness Centre in the UK to become a certified Mindfulness in the workplace facilitator and facilitator of Mindfulness: Peace in a Frantic World.

Karen presents at conferences and facilitates mindfulness in workplaces and the general community. She guest lectures on mindfulness at the University of Notre Dame. Her clients include the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian Medical Students Association, City Councils of South Perth and Stirling and the Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development.

Karen discovered mindfulness ten years ago as a participant in a mindfulness research project while working at Curtin University. With directly experiencing the myriad of benefits of mindfulness in her own life, Karen was inspired to share this with others. She includes mindfulness in all aspects of life, ranging from work, to being a parent, leisure and everything in between.

Karen is honoured and deeply grateful to share and facilitate people’s journeys with mindfulness.

KATHY JERIN — MELBOURNE

Kathy is a registered Senior Meditation Teacher, HeartMath Trainer and best-selling author. Each day provides Kathy with an opportunity to do what she loves most — advocate the benefits of meditation as an integral part of life.

The pace of life is not slowing down; in fact it is only getting faster and our current strategies for coping with stress are inefficient. Understanding the mechanics of stress gives you the advantage of being more aware of and sensitive to your own level of stress, and knowing when and how to take proactive steps. Meditation helps us to stop and consider how our body system is being depleted and helps us to more intelligently manage our energy in order to thrive in a world of flux, change, challenge and opportunity.

Kathy’s website is The Mindful Heart.

KATRIN HOWES — WAGGA WAGGA

Katrin wholeheartedly believes that your wellbeing matters and that everyone is inherently worthy of a life of vibrant health and happiness. It is her mission to inspire, empower and educate to spread this message.

Her background in Customer Service, Workplace Training and Early Childhood Education has seen her working within her local community for over 30 years (most recently with young children and families). She has worked within the metropolitan water industry, local council and in various early childhood education settings around Australia.

Always seeking to deeply nurture her own wellbeing throughout the different stages of her life, Katrin has experienced anxiety, depression and overwhelm and for many years pushed through stress/exhaustion trying to do it ‘all’ and hoping to achieve life balance.

Katrin found mindfulness over 20 years ago as she began practising yoga and found it to be a life changing practice. She was able to deeply reconnect with herself. This had a profound impact on her quality of life on many levels and greatly improved her wellbeing. The benefits of greater calm, joy and ease had a flow-on effect to all aspects of her life. This has been reiterated in recent years as she has navigated a career-ending knee injury which took her on a further journey of deep healing that continues to this day.

She now enjoys a joyful, slow-living lifestyle and loves to share her experience with others.

Katrin is happily settled in the Riverina region of NSW, Australia where she lives with her family. She now works from home, running her own coaching service, where she supports others as they seek to improve their health and wellbeing.

For more information, see Katrin’s website.

KIRTI DUBE — GEELONG AND SEABROOK

Kirti is a devoted Vipassana and MBSR practitioner. She was introduced to meditation at the age of 10 by her grandfather who was a dedicated yoga practitioner in India. Since then, she’s had a strong inclination towards working on self through various techniques of meditation. Her fondness for meditation took the form of regular committed practice. It became a way of living for her a few years ago when she used alternative therapy and meditation to avoid surgery and cure her chronic medical condition. She has firsthand experience of what can be achieved in personal health and in life with meditation and mindfulness.

Kirti is a certified trainer for students with intellectual disabilities and regularly uses mindfulness at work. She has worked with youth and their parents, helping them achieve academic goals through her coaching and mentoring skills. She has designed and facilitated half-day to full-day professional development workshops for job seekers at work and in small to medium businesses in her community, using meditation and mindfulness to improve their productivity. Some of her techniques also come from her mother who is a psychotherapist and has mentored her over the years.

Participants from her workshops say that Kirti brings great energy and vibe into her workshops and that she has a powerful way of reaching the attendees through her own stories and experiences. Tools and techniques given by her, when practised regularly, transform the way participants cope with stress and anxiety and bring about positive change in their mindset.

Kirti practises Vipassana with her husband with whom she has been happily married to for 23 years. She is also the proud mother of one son.

LEANNE CAMILLERI — ADELAIDE

Leanne is an organisational wellbeing specialist and coach. She is passionate about helping people to bring out the best in themselves and others.

Drawing on the foundations of positive psychology and wellbeing science, she educates workplaces and individuals with evidence-based tools and strategies to mindfully manage stress, improve mental fitness and build resilience.

As an agent for positive change in the Defence Industry, Leanne introduced mindfulness to the Shipbuilding Industry to help people navigate a time of high stress and uncertainty. She is passionate about promoting positive redundancy.

Leanne is the host of the Work Well, Live Well Podcast. Her passion is inspired by using meditation as a tool to manage her own adversities throughout life.

Leanne’s website is Reset to Thrive

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LISA CARSE — GOLD COAST

Lisa is a committed Holistic Health practitioner since 2013, specialising in Mindfulness practices, Integrative Bodywork/Massage, Reiki Teacher, Coach and Mentor. She first discovered Mindfulness over 15 years ago while employed as a public servant to help manage stress levels. The practice of mindfulness and meditation has set the foundation for her personal growth and transformation journey. She understands the importance of being present, living a mindful and meaningful life, full of gratitude to create inner peace and calm.

Born and raised in the St Clair Beach community of Dunedin, NZ, Lisa identifies as being both an Australian and New Zealand citizen. She recently moved to Australia in 2021 and now resides on the Gold Coast with her daughters.

She is self-employed and contracts her services to Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, Tallebudgera, Gold Coast.

Lisa is passionate about facilitating and promoting mindfulness practices alongside others in the Gold Coast community. She enjoys sharing her knowledge, experiences and stories to help others on their mindfulness pathway. Her positive approach empowers and supports people to help connect with their body-mind and promote transformative change on all levels.

Lisa has an array of both lived and professional experience in the field of mindfulness: She developed and facilitated the Manawa Mindfulness Program for women on community-based sentences (Department of Corrections and Psychological Services, NZ), is Founder of Ojas Holistic Health, 2013 (NZ), setting up of community Yin Yoga and Mindfulness classes and attending the Bali Silent Retreat, Meditation/Yoga/Breathwork workshops/trainings (India and Bali) and Mindfulness Hatha Dharma Training (NZ).

MAURICE HARVEY-HALL — TOWNSVILLE

Maurice is a Mindfulness Practitioner and a practising Mental Health Nurse with a Masters in Mental Health Nursing and certificates in various psychotherapies. He has studied Eastern philosophy, in particular Buddhism and Taoism, and has integrated these principles into western psychological therapies. He has a passion for mindfulness-based therapies and is an experienced teacher in this field.

Maurice has been practising mindfulness for the past 20 years in different forms and mediums. He is also an avid triathlete who uses mindfulness in his training and racing. He is an authority in the field of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and utilises the ACT framework and meditation in his daily practice.

MELISSA HOWDEN — HOBART (LENAH VALLEY)

Melissa is an experienced Yoga and Meditation teacher with a particular interest in the use of Mindfulness Meditation as a cornerstone for healing. After a serious illness in 2013 – the kind that shakes the foundations and wakes you up! – she found herself living in a yoga ashram in NSW where she completed a two-year Diploma in Yogic Studies.

Alongside her yoga practice, she studied meditation with Ian Gawler and undertook Mindfulness Teacher Training at the Gawler Cancer Foundation in Victoria over three consecutive years.

At the heart of her practice is the knowledge that Mindfulness Meditation positively impacts health on every level – mind, body and soul – and leads to a more meaningful and joyful life.

Melissa founded Mountain Mindfulness in 2020 and currently teaches in the Hobart area.

Melissa’s website is Mountain Mindfulness.

MELISSA MOYGANNON — WOLLONGONG (CORRIMAL)

Melissa is an experienced practitioner and facilitator who has worked as an accredited trainer and assessor in the community services sector for nearly 20 years. Her studies include Neuro Linguistic Programming, Communication, Leadership and Management.

She ran her own training centre for over 5 years which was focussed on supporting disengaged young people, and then spent several years managing a federal government program assisting people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create their own self-employment. In all her training delivery she has incorporated teaching mindfulness practices.

Founder of Submerge XR, a registered NDIS provider using virtual reality technologies, she was one of the first to deliver mindfulness and meditation training in the ‘metaverse’ with a program she designed specifically for people with disabilities called Extend yourself and your reality.

She brings her own lived experience to everything she does, choosing to work within fields where she can offer a strong sense of understanding and empathy. In recent years she was diagnosed with MS which has refocussed her energies to the work she values most deeply. She credits her practice of mindfulness and meditation for her strength in handling symptoms of chronic pain and nervous system dysfunction.

Her recent shift in direction includes returning to TAFE to complete the Certificate IV in Leisure and Health. Melissa is passionate about living with purpose and personal growth while supporting others to do the same.

MICHELLE ECKLES — SUNSHINE COAST

Michelle Eckles is a qualified and accredited Mindfulness Meditation teacher and owner of Meditation Sunshine Coast. She has been teaching mindfulness meditation programs and workshops to kids, teens and adults since 2018. She has completed qualifications in Guiding and Teaching Meditation (Australian Centre for Mindfulness and Meditation), Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training (Gawler Foundation) and Mindfulness for Peak Performance (Monash), as well as various courses for working with kids and teens. She is a member of the Australian Meditation Association and Mindful.org and author of Cultivating a Calm Mind.

Like most people, Michelle began meditating during a particularly challenging time in her life — completely overwhelmed and about to hit rock bottom. Meditation helped her bounce back to lead a far more peaceful and balanced life, as well as find clarity, focus and direction. As a single parent of two teens, carer to her grandmother, and an events manager pre COVID, she understands high pressure roles, work and family related stress and the impact it can have on our health and relationships.

She is now dedicated to educating others on the benefits of mindfulness and meditation to not only reduce and prevent stress and anxiety, but to also create empathy and compassion, so we can be kinder to ourselves and others. She enjoys bringing the practical applications of mindfulness to the workplace and home, to demonstrate the profound mental, emotional and physical benefits it can have in our day to day life.

MICHELLE RYAN — ROCKHAMPTON

Michelle believes that we, as humans, truly need to return to ourselves to find inner peace and clarity. When in a mindful state, she considers that we naturally and positively influence the World around us.

In the 90’s Michelle commenced her path of self-discovery out of curiosity and the need to manage the anxiety she often felt about the future. Her medium of discovery at the time was reading books, journaling and intermittent Yoga.

Since this time, and particularly in the past five years, she’s participated in various meditation and yoga retreats. These experiences have assisted to alleviate the stress that came with the responsibilities of running a family and a business.

During her career, you’d find Michelle often listening intently to customers, friends, neighbours and family and learning of their stories. Talking with others about their lives has been her happy place.

Having had 25+ years in Human Resource Development and Management, she’s returned to her authentic creative self and love for the esoteric.

She meditates most days to remain present, preferring to live in the ‘now’ instead of being on autopilot and missing the life in front of her – an on-going learning journey.  Her favourite possessions are her singing bowls, which she often plays to find inner calm.

Michelle is currently focused on her family of five (includes a fur baby) with a lovely husband, a son working in Real Estate and a daughter in her second year of university. She loves painting, nature and snorkelling.

In addition to qualifications held in Business related areas, Michelle has a Diploma in Integral Sound Healing (Group work) and is a qualified Laughter Yoga facilitator.

Her intention as a Mindfulness Works Australia facilitator is to help her participants find personal peace and calm during what is an interesting time to be living.

NAT MALLIA — GOSFORD

Nat Mallia is a certified Mindfulness and Metaphysics Coach who empowers busy professionals to bring a sense of balance and calm to the overwhelm and pressures of their day.

In 2015 Nat faced the devastating prospect of going blind – the catalyst that ignited a personal journey to explore techniques to help manage her anxiety around this life-changing situation.

Whilst her hope was to live a fulfilling life despite her disability, mindfulness proved so powerful that after spending three months in a Buddhist meditation retreat, her vision was miraculously restored with  the help of surgery.

It was at this moment Nat realised the real power of mindfulness, so she left her busy Executive role in the Australian Government to follow her dream of moving to the beach and becoming a mindfulness coach.

Nat attends several Buddhist meditation retreats each year and is continually learning about mindfulness. She has also traveled the Buddhist pilgrimage trail through India and Nepal and met His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

Nat believes it’s her personal experiences that make her more relatable and compassionate to those who are trying to heal and transform their own lives.

Nat runs Wellness with Nat located in Umina Beach.

NEIL SHEPHERD — CANBERRA

Neil is a very experienced and qualified mindfulness educator who loves making a difference and helping people thrive!

He is an internationally certified HeartMath™ resilience and stress management coach and mentor and helps build awareness, personal resilience and stress management skills using advanced resilience building and science-backed techniques with biofeedback.

Neil trained with Dr. Joe Dispenza and studied the neuroscience behind mindfulness and meditation, and trained with Dr. Russ Harris in mindfulness-based ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). He completed Google’s Search Inside Yourself Leadership program and is a Peaceful Kids and Peaceful Parents facilitator.

The various mindfulness practices learnt over the past 20 years are an integral part of Neil’s life. He loves learning and growing and helping people develop invaluable life skills especially in times where self-awareness, self-regulation, stress management and resilience are so important. He believes that life is to experience, not to struggle with!

Visit Neil’s company website, Inner Synergy. Instagram: innersynergy_canberra

NICKY SMITH —

Nicky, of True Equanimity Yoga, is a qualified Dru Yoga and Dru Meditation teacher. She is a registered Level 1 teacher with Yoga Australia, a member of Meditation Australia and has completed Mental Health Aware Yoga training with Dr Lauren Tober to align her yoga and meditation teaching with her experience working in the area of mental health prevention and promotion.

Nicky’s yoga classes are focused on “innercise”, mental health and wellbeing, rather than exercise or fitness-based yoga. She resonates with the equanimity that mindful movement and mindfulness practices give her as it balances all the layers of her being — physical, emotional and mental.

PASHA LYNDI — BRISBANE

Pasha is a Brisbane-based mindfulness trainer with Mindfulness Works Australia and international charity Mind With Heart and is a qualified mindfulness meditation teacher (BSY). She has trained in both secular and traditional mindfulness.

She started practising near burnout ten years ago and has racked up over 3,000 hours of mindfulness practice since then. Pasha now enjoys a happier, more balanced quality of life.

She has led over thirty mindfulness-and-compassion-based programmes in the last five years.

Pasha has designed and implemented mindfulness-and-compassion-based wellbeing programmes for the Queensland Dept. of Education and Training, Excite Media and Teachers Health Fund.

She loves nature, especially the ocean… the sound of waves crashing… the salty breeze… relaxing onto warm sand… She also enjoys a good laugh and notes that a sense of humour can sometimes offer a new perspective when she gets stuck.

Learning mindfulness is an opportunity for us to find moments of calm and insight – even at the desk! Visit Pasha’s website.

PAUL BIBBY — ONLINE INTRO COURSE

Paul is a qualified and experienced Mindfulness Educator and Coach based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.

He has completed multiple Mindfulness teacher training programs, including Mindful Self-Compassion, Mindfulness for Health, and iRest Yoga Nidra, and is currently completing a Masters in Counselling at the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors.

Paul has helped hundreds of people across the country find a deep and abiding sense of inner peace and awareness through the online Intro course, his work with organisations, and his one-on-one coaching.

He has personally experienced the profound benefits of Mindfulness over the course of a 15 year practice, and is continuing to learn and expand his knowledge in the field.

“It is the desire to share what I have learnt, and the benefits I’ve received that motivates me to do this work,” Paul says.

“I’m passionate about helping people to live rich, meaningful, fulfilling lives from a place of inner peace, insight and self-compassion.”

PRABHA SRINIVASAN —

Prabha was first introduced to mindfulness and meditation through a meditation group run at the local library. Her early experiences of meditation were filled with a desperation for feeling calm but not finding it and struggling with meditation overall. However, after persisting and supporting it with other inner work for over three years, Prabha began to settle into meditation. A few years later, she undertook a 100-day meditation challenge and has embraced meditation as a daily practice since then.

Prabha has been teaching meditation for over nine years now. She is also a registered counsellor, yoga teacher and author of two books, Moon’s Quest and Guidance in Your Handbag.

Prabha’s passion is bridging the gap between psychology and spirituality.

In her free time Prabha enjoys getting out into nature with her family, cooking and getting lost in a thought-provoking book.

RACHEL THERESE — BRISBANE AND REDCLIFFE

Rachel is an Integrative Health Coach and accredited Meditation Teacher. She holds membership with the International Institute for Complimentary Therapists and Meditation Association of Australia.

She has practised meditation for almost 20 years, developing practices using various techniques. It has become an integral part of her daily life. Noticeably it has assisted her in cultivating a more compassionate and accepting way of being, lowering reactivity and managing anxiety.

After completing Meditation Teacher training in 2018 with Yoga & Integrated Medicine Institute, Rachel then went on to do an 8-week course as a participant in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. She knew this was the style of meditation she wanted to teach. She has completed intensive training in MBSR with the Mindfulness Training Institute of Australasia.

She enjoys completely immersing herself in ongoing personal and professional development with regular workshops, retreats and further training.

Rachel is extremely passionate about sharing her knowledge and holding space for others to learn and implement the life changing skills Mindfulness Meditation has to offer.

For more information on courses, workshops, retreats and coaching please visit Rachel’s website, https://livingmindfully.au/

RAMONA LANE — BUNDABERG

Ramona is a qualified Mindfulness and Meditation teacher and owner of Tara Labyrinth & Meditation in Bundaberg. She holds a Diploma in Guiding and Teaching Meditation and Mindfulness from the Australian Centre for Mindfulness and Meditation and is currently studying a Masters of Meditation and Mindfulness. She has also done training in Mindfulness Meditation with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield through their Power of Awareness course and their two-year course “Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Programme”.

Ramona holds regular meditation classes from her traditional Mongolian yurt on her small acreage property near Bundaberg, in beautiful subtropical Queensland that she shares with her husband, their pooch, Bert and countless other wildlife. Ramona is also a Certified Veriditas Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator and has introduced many people to the benefits of walking meditation through her regular New Moon Labyrinth walks utilising the Labyrinth on her property. Before retiring almost two years ago, she was a midwife working within the public hospital system.

Ramona is passionate about living a mindful life and helping others to find their own sense of inner peace through the practice of meditation and mindfulness. She is also a member of the Meditation Association of Australia.

SHARON JOHNSON —

Sharon has been teaching yoga classes and organising yoga and meditation retreats since 2002.

Having been trained in the South Indian yoga tradition of renowned guru T Krishnamacharya and his son TKV Desikachar, Sharon furthered her yoga knowledge by completing a Diploma of Yoga Studies in the North Indian yoga tradition of Swami Satyananda. Her teaching method utilises Hatha yoga practices of mindful movement, breath awareness and meditation to further develop a sense of presence, insight, and ease.

Sharon continues to enhance and expand her own yoga practice by regularly attending silent retreats and residential courses in Australia and India.

SOPHIE JAYAMAHA —

Sophie is a dedicated Mindfulness practitioner and a facilitator. With her firsthand experience in applying mindfulness to her own life situations, her passion is to empower people to live fulfilled lives.

She is also a medical doctor and combines her medical knowledge and mindfulness skills in her teaching of how to apply mindfulness to improve people’s physical and mental wellbeing and quality of life.

In her experience seeing thousands of patients, Sophie has observed that lack of resilience in coping with life’s stresses leads to anxiety and depression as well as diseases in the body. Unmanaged stress also forces people to adopt unhealthy lifestyles causing weight gain and other chronic diseases. Inadequate recovery from stress causes biochemical and physiological changes in the body collectively known as stress response.

As an anaesthesiologist, Sophie is familiar with the body’s response to stress, and she explains the scientific basis of the body becoming diseased when the mind is stressed. We do not pay attention to early warning signals that appear as discomforts in the mind and the body or even weight gain until a life-threatening disease such as cancer, diabetes, heart attack or stroke cripples us. Early warning signals are often suppressed by drugs and alcohol, as well as by the many distractions of busy lifestyles. She teaches mindfulness practices to enhance mind and body awareness and to reduce stress response in the body before a person becomes a victim of chronic illness.

Her mission is to empower people with mindfulness skills to self-manage their own health to recover and reverse chronic diseases and live a better quality of life with fulfilment. 

TANYA BARRY —MAITLAND AND NEWCASTLE

Tanya is a registered nurse who specialises in end of life and palliative care. Parallel to her professional vocation, she has explored the healing powers of meditation and various types of yoga for managing her own challenges.

Following the tragic death of her son and husband, Tanya was forced to put everything she had learned into practice. Each day she aims to “live her second best life” and part of that includes a deep dedication to offering the knowledge and wisdom she has gained from her life experience to others.

She considers herself a “guide” not a guru in this learning. She delivers the content through a medical lens with a side of ironic humour and always looking for any opportunity to have a good life.

When not teaching, practising and working, Tanya now enjoys living her “second best life” with Suzy the dog, camping in her T Van, spending quality time with loved ones, and taking personal retreat on her kayak down the Darling river whenever possible.

VICKI PARKES — PENRITH

Vicki has an undergraduate degree in Social Science and post graduate qualifications in group work and Counselling and worked in the areas of mental health, children, and psycho education.

Her love for health led Vicki to train as a mindfulness and iRest meditation teacher and yoga teacher. She loves djembe drumming, line dancing, her family and friends, and of course her dog Basil!

Mindfulness changed Vicki’s life. She learnt to be compassionate with herself including her vulnerabilities and tendencies. Vicki has learnt with mindful compassion we can recover from anything and be happier to really see ourselves.

TRACIE STORY —

“Developing a stable state of Mindfulness changed my life, and I have been privileged to witness this change in the lives of many other people.”

Tracie began meditating at age 14 (40+ years ago) to help with what she now understands as Social Anxiety. She began practising Mindfulness Based Meditation in 1999 at the Chenrezig Institute on the Sunshine coast. Over the years, she has worked in a range of Health, Fitness and Educational agencies, including Qld Health, Griffith and Queensland Universities, as well as gyms, yoga centres and in private practice. She has trained in, practiced and taught mindfulness techniques since 2001, utilising a range of models including ACT, MBCT, MBSR, MSC and Hakomi.

Tracie has a Bachelor of Social Work and a Masters of Mental Health. She is also a certified Mindfulness-Based Mentor from Cloud Sangha and has completed a two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification program; the main teachers of this program are Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield.

Tracie has lived on the Gold Coast since 1984, and travels regularly to Wollongong to be with family. Feedback from people usually mentions Tracie’s depth of knowledge and experience, as well as her warmth, ability to hold a safe space and her sense of humour.

KARL BAKER — FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR MINDFULNESS WORKS

Karl founded Mindfulness Works New Zealand in 2013. He has been practising mindfulness and meditation for over 10 years. During that time, Karl has worked one-on-one as a key mindfulness and meditation teacher and has attended numerous multi-day silent insight meditation retreats. Karl was involved in assisting establishing the Wellington Insight Meditation group. His principle teachers have been Stephen (Nyanaviro) Archer, Shard Rogell and Jeremy Logan.

Mindfulness Works New Zealand runs 30 introductory courses every month, with over 600 people attending on a monthly basis.  Mindfulness Works New Zealand has over 30 facilitators involved in delivering mindfulness courses throughout the country.

Karl founded Mindfulness Works Australia in 2015, with the intention of bringing low-cost, practical, non-religious and effective introductory mindfulness and meditation courses to the whole of Australia.

Karl has an honours degree from Victoria University and has helped found three successful businesses. He lives on the Sunshine Coast in Australia with partner Claro and two cats, Nico and Shanti. He has a sweet tooth, a sweet personality (yes, he did write this) and likes craft beer.

View Karl Baker's LinkedIn profileView Karl Baker’s profile

What people say about the trainers and the courses…

“The course was very relaxed and friendly, and full of useful practical advice that recognised the limits to time that everyone faces. Also I liked the mix of people attending, with a range of different reasons for being there.”
— Rosie Cree

“Since doing this course, I have been sleeping much better, I feel much more in control of my emotions, I have enjoyed ‘noticing’ my own state, but also it has transferred to everything around. This means I am re-enjoying many things that I had been taking for granted.”
— Sandy Good

“The course guidebook was a useful guide and very informative. I also enjoyed the formal practice and the way different strategies were explained.”
— Linda Daniell