Dr. Richard Davidson

William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc.

Davidson received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Psychology in 1976. Davidson’s research is broadly focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style and methods to promote human flourishing including meditation and related contemplative practices. He has published over 440 articles, numerous chapters and reviews and edited 14 books. He is the author (with Sharon Begley) of “The Emotional Life of Your Brain” published in 2012 and co-author with Daniel Goleman of “Altered Traits” published in 2017. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2006. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017 and appointed to the Governing Board of UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) in 2018. In 2014, Davidson founded the non-profit, Healthy Minds Innovations, which translates science into tools to cultivate and measure well-being.

Ven. Geshe Dorji Damdul

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗿𝗷𝗶 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗱𝘂𝗹’s passion is to help people gain a deep understanding of the Nalanda tradition of Buddhist philosophy and imbue that knowledge with the heart of Bodhichitta, so that practitioners can transform their own continuum into the path of enlightenment. Geshe la’s knowledge of science and interactions with world renowned physicist give him the unique ability to teach Buddhist philosophy with a modern twist which is highly appreciated by contemporary audiences.

Since 2011, Geshe La has served as Director of Tibet House, Cultural Centre, New Delhi. He has also lectured at Delhi University,presented several papers for National and International Conferences and has been translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama since 2005. Geshi La has co-authored & edited scientific, philosophical, Buddhist and secular books with prominent international professors, as well as with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

For more information please visit Geshe la’s website - http://bodhiwisdom.org

Mingyur Rinpoche

In his approach to teaching meditation, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche integrates traditional Buddhist practice and philosophy with the current scientific understanding of the mind and mental health – making the practice of mediation relevant and accessible to students around the world.

Born in Nepal in 1975, Mingyur Rinpoche began to study meditation as a young boy with his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, himself a well-respected Buddhist teacher. He spent many years of his childhood in strict retreat and completed the traditional Buddhist training in philosophy and psychology. In addition to extensive training in the meditative and philosophical traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Mingyur Rinpoche has also had a lifelong interest in Western science and psychology, which has led to many fruitful collaborations with neuroscientists and psychologists. Mingyur Rinpoche is the author of the best-selling book The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness, as well as Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom, Turning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism, and In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying.

Lene Handberg

Lene Handberg, Semrig Thablam Rabjam (accomplishment in eastern inner-science of body-mind-reality interrelationships); studied Psychology and Tibetology at Copenhagen University and for 25 years with highly accomplished master Tarab Rinpoche, Lharampa-Geshe, whom she assisted developing a study from Indo-Tibetan Buddhism – Unity in Duality (UD) – designed specifically to people of modern cultures by laying bare its universalities, making these valuable teaching available beyond cultural and religious boundaries. He entrusted her with the teachings when he died, 2004. Handberg taught internationally for over 30 years and is Educational Director for the UD Education, running in 6 countries in Europe and available in Tarab Ling, Dehradun, India, instructing students in a complete four-year program.

http://www.tarab-institute.org/

Dr. Raja Selvam

Dr. Raja Selvam, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist, is the developer of Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), a therapeutic approach based on affective neuroscience and emerging scientific paradigms of embodied cognition, emotion, and behavior in cognitive psychology to improve cognitive, emotional, behavioral, relational, and spiritual outcomes in all therapy modalities. Dr. Selvam is also a senior trainer in Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing (SE) Professional Trauma Training Program.

He has taught for twenty- five years in nearly as many countries in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and the Far East . His work is informed by older body psychotherapy systems of Reichian Therapy and Bioenergetic Analysis, newer body psychotherapy systems of Bodynamic Analysis and Somatic Experiencing, and bodywork systems of Postural Integration and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. His work is also inspired by Jungian and archetypal psychologies, Kleinian and intersubjective schools of psychoanalysis, affective neuroscience, quantum physics, yoga, Polarity Therapy, and Advaita Vedanta (a spiritual psychology from India). His book ‘Embodying Emotions: A Method for Improving Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes’; is scheduled for publication on March 22, 2022.

Fiona Parr

Fiona Parr is a Focusing-oriented therapist and Certifying Coordinator for The International Focusing Institute (TIFI). She teaches the 5 levels basic course, and professional trainings to Trainer level in the UK and online; and she offers individual Focusing sessions.

Fiona has facilitated personal development in others and herself since 1978, and practised Focusing since 1991. Her spiritual life is most important to her, and Focusing supports her spiritual practice. Fiona works with people who are working with others, such as practitioners and health professionals, to deepen their work; and people who want Focusing for their personal healing journey.

https://fionaparr-focusing.co.uk/

Zia Nath

Zia is a paramedical therapist specializing in Craniosacral Therapy (BCST RCST), Somatic Intelligence™, Trauma Support, Mother-Infant Birth Trauma & Mindful Nutrition. She founded her clinic Quanta Health Care Solutions in 2001 and has been supporting individuals & families with a healthcare system that is natural, holistic and non-invasive.

As a dancer Zia has been in the study and performance of Sacred Dances for more than two decades. Zia has always been intrigued by the body as a form of art and an instrument of healing and this led her to develop Realms of Dance™ & Whirling Mandala™ presenting Sacred Dances of ancient esoteric cultures as a therapeutic model and for deeper explorations of our consciousness.

“Our body is an instrument of evolving consciousness. In our body, science meets spirituality”- Zia Nath

www.zianath.com

Dr. Nivedita Chalil

Nivedita is a Mental Health Practitioner with over two decades of experience across a range of organizations and areas including suicide prevention, disaster relief work, promotive and preventive programs in Mental Health, and rehabilitation/recovery programs for people living with mental illnesses. She currently runs ARTH, which offers counselling and Arts Based Therapy for individuals who are dealing with Mental Health issues and offers courses on Applied Buddhist Psychology.

She recognizes a huge gap between ‘intellectual insight’ and ‘embodied wisdom’ and continues to work towards bridging that gap through her own study and practice, in direct interventions with clients and in teaching spaces. She sees herself as a work-in-progress, who is immensely grateful to the kindness of her teachers and the teachings she has received.

Nicky Roland

Nicky Roland has been integrating art therapy and mindfulness since 2014. She qualified as an art therapist in 2008 and a mindfulness teacher 2014, and her passion is bringing the two modalities together. During the COVID-19 pandemic Nicky moved her private practice online and now offers a weekly online art therapy and mindfulness group. She is a supervisor and trainer, and offers CPD training through the London Art Therapy Centre and British Association of Art Therapists. She has previously worked within the NHS and the voluntary sector.

Brinda Jacob-Janvrin

Brinda Jacob-Janvrin a movement-based expressive arts therapist and a contemporary dancer/choreographer with more than 25 years of performing experience. A qualified counsellor, she has been working extensively with movement and arts therapies since 2003. A practitioner and facilitator for Authentic Movement and Natural Dreamwork, Brinda is passionate about the arts, the mysterious workings of the Psyche-Soma and connections between the Body and Earth.

Brinda is the founder and managing trustee of the Studio for Movement Arts and Therapies Trust, a registered charitable Trust, created in January 2011 with the following vision and mission:-

Vision: With resilient and empowered individuals, a healed world emerges. Mission: We craft creatively alive spaces to nurture & catalyse self-inquiry, expression & its integration.

Dr Lata Narayan

Dr. Lata Narayan is a social worker by training and retired professor (1984-2017) from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, India . Post retirement , her areas of interest and work include, training and facilitating sessions of well-being and self-care, training methodology, therapeutic aspects of the arts especially dance movement therapy. She has completed a two year diploma in, ‘Presence Oriented Psychotherapy: Integrating Mindfulness, Compassion and Wisdom’, from the Just Being Center for Mindfulness and Presence, Pune. She is also trained in conducting Peace Circles, a programme of Creators of Peace Circles (CoP), and the international movement of Initiatives for Change (IFC). Dr. Narayan also serves on the board of other NGOs - YUI (YUVA Urban Initiatives) Laya ( Vishakapatnam) and MelJol.

Sandy Dias Andrade

Sandy is the Founder-Director at Just Being and is a Mindfulness & Presence Oriented Psychotherapist. With over nineteen years of experience in the field, she is internationally certified in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) from the Center of Mindfulness, University of San Diego, California, USA. She has trained extensively in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), Cognitive Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, Trauma Resolution work through Somatic approaches and EMDR. Her work is also informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment work.

She established a helpline service for the Pune based NGO- Connecting, which is involved in mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She is invited as visiting faculty on many other courses where she teaches the applications of mindfulness. She has vast experience in designing and executing training for mental health professionals, educationists and others.

Avantika Malhautra

Avantika Malhautra is a Psychologist, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist and Board Member of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association & the Founder of Soul Canvas - Art for Wellness with 9 years of work experience in the field of mental health in India. Her work is focused on bringing awareness to the mind-body connection, deep listening, creative engagement and insight.

She offers psychotherapy to youth and adults through an integrative expressive arts therapy approach that includes presence-oriented, person-centered therapy with a systems, multicultural, queer-affirmative and trauma-sensitive lens through her private practice.

She also partners with organisations to facilitate expressive arts therapy groups in training, for self-development, health promotion and well-being; and is a faculty member at the Dance Movement Therapy Diploma course at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and the Self Development course at the Global Institute of Sports Business, Mumbai. She is also a volunteer with Just Being Center holding space for mindfulness practice circles.

Prof Mahendra Sharma

Dr Sharma is the Professor and Head of Behavioural Medicine Unit at the Department of Clinical Psychology at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru. He is the former Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology. He is an expert in cognitive behaviour therapy, mindfulness based/ integrated cognitive behavioural interventions, psycho-oncology, metacognitive therapy, and stress management.

He has conducted large number of workshops for mental health for professionals from different sectors till date. He has published more than 80 scientific papers, books and presented more than 200 papers in national and international conferences, workshops, and symposia. He has received several awards for his unique contribution of introducing Mindfulness or Vipassana Mediation in the treatment of psychological and medical disorders in India. He is known for the publication of first scientific study on Mindfulness or Vipassana Meditation in the area of mental health in India and integration of the same in the routine clinical practice at NIMHANS.

Dr. Sandip Shobha Ravindra

Sandip Shobha Ravindra is an assistant professor of Psychology. His principal research interests are in Clinical and Cognitive Psychology, with a focus on eastern psychotherapies and applied cognition in the context of human-computer interaction. Sandip is interested in the development and validation of protocols for eastern psychotherapies, as well as the study of applied embodied cognition. He is trained in psychotherapist in REBT, CBT, Yoga, ACT.

Sandy Dias Andrade

Sandy is the Founder-Director at Just Being and is a Mindfulness & Presence Oriented Psychotherapist. With over nineteen years of experience in the field, she is internationally certified in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) from the Center of Mindfulness, University of San Diego, California, USA. She has trained extensively in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), Cognitive Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, Trauma Resolution work through Somatic approaches and EMDR. Her work is also informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment work.

She established a helpline service for the Pune based NGO- Connecting, which is involved in mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She is invited as visiting faculty on many other courses where she teaches the applications of mindfulness. She has vast experience in designing and executing training for mental health professionals, educationists and others.

Aarathi Selvan

Aarathi Selvan (she/they) is the founder at Pause for Perspective. They are a psychotherapist, supervisor and mindfulness teacher. They leads and train people in MBSM (Mindfulness Based Symptom Management) since 2015, in India. They are trained by their mentor and the developer of the program Dr.Lynette Monteiro at the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic, Canada. They integrates mindfulness with post modern modalities and centers the work within Intersectionality and social justice. Aarathi leads the teacher training and mindfulness informed psychotherapy program in India called the IntegrativeMindfulness Based Practices Training Program. For more information go to www.pauseforperspective.com

Sadia Saeed

Sadia is the founder and chief psychologist of Inner Space, a platform for counseling, mindfulness and mental health.

In her 21 years of practice as a psychologist, she has extensively worked with people, organizations and non-profits, helping them incorporate mindfulness practices in order to aid emotional resilience, personal growth and mental health.

Self-awareness, meditation and mindfulness are the cornerstones of her own personal journey, her therapeutic orientation and her trainings. In order to share this in a structured way, she has developed an 8 week Mindfulness Program to help people through their personal and emotional journeys, which she has been facilitating for almost a decade.

She has spoken about the relevance of mindfulness at several conferences including TEDx (Tedx Jaihind 2015 and Tedx Vashi 2019) and the Mindful Leadership Summit in 2016 and 2017. She is the author of a soon to be published book which is a mindfulness and self-awareness guidebook for Tweens and Teens.</small>

Sindhu BS

Sindhu BS is a psychotherapist and an acceptance and commitment therapy practitioner (ACT) working in Bangalore. Sindhu is hugely passionate about mindfulness work, and founded the India ACT chapter in 2019. In her private practice, working majorly from the ACT approach, she strongly believes that mindfulness-based approaches are remarkably effective for the Indian cultural context. Her recent written work includes contributing a chapter called “Mindfulness-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” for the comprehensive 2022 publication named “Handbook of research on clinical applications of meditation and mindfulness-based interventions in mental health”.

Rucha Sarwate, Ph.D., M.Phil.

Cherionna Menzam-Sills, PhD

Cherionna Menzam-Sills, PhD has been a therapist since 1978. She studied intensively with Emilie Conrad, founder of Continuum, who authorized her as a Continuum teacher in 2007. Informed by her experience as dance/movement psychotherapist, Occupational therapist, massage therapist/bodyworker, prenatal and birth therapist, and Biodynamic Craniosacral therapist, plus years of bodywork, yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness meditation practices, she has taught across Europe, the USA and Canada, often with her husband, Biodynamics pioneer Franklyn Sills.

She has authored two books, The Breath of Life: An Introduction to Craniosacral Biodynamics, and Spirit into Form: Exploring Embryological Potential and Prenatal Psychology, drawing on Continuum and other somatic practices to explore and communicate from a feminine perspective.

Currently living in the UK, Cherionna offers online and in-person mentoring and supervision in Continuum, Biodynamics and prenatal and birth trauma/therapy. She is committed in her life and work to embodied presence.

https://www.resourcingyourlife.org/

Sharing our Reflections

Shruthi Veena Vishwanath

Shruthi Veena Vishwanath is a singer, songcatcher, composer, curator and educator whose practice celebrates mystic music traditions from South Asia and beyond. Her work strives to bring lesser-known voices, especially of women poets to the fore, celebrating the multiplicity of language, form and thought of the region. Rooted in a folk-classical idiom, Shruthi has sung at festivals and venues across the world, spoken and taught at leading universities, and is currently leading an inclusive, online community for song and song-learning called Music in the Machan. www.shruthivishwanath.com

Judith Blackstone, PhD

Judith Blackstone, PhD, developed the Realization Process, a method of embodied psychological and relational healing and nondual spiritual awakening. She teaches throughout the United States and online, in workshops and teacher certification trainings. She was in private practice as a psychotherapist for thirty-five years. Before that, she was a professional dancer. She is a long-time student of both Buddhist and Hindu wisdom traditions. She is the author of Trauma and the Unbound Body: the Healing Power of Fundamental Consciousness; Belonging Here; The Enlightenment Process; The Intimate Life; The Subtle Self; and The Empathic Ground. An audio series of the Realization Process practices is available from Sounds True.

www.realizationprocess.org

Lisa Clark

Lisa Clark, is a Senior Teacher of Body-Mind Centering®, an Infant Developmental Movement Educator, and Registered International Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist, with over 40 years of teaching experience.

Lisa is Program Director for the School For Body-Mind Centering® Yoga Immersion Series, and Educational Director for the Body-Mind Centering® Somatic Movement Educator Program in Taiwan. As well, she has been faculty for the SME Program in Brazil, Uruguay, and USA. Her Workshops have been presented in China, Taiwan, India, South America, Europe and the USA.

You can read more about Lisa Clark at www.lisaclarkyoga.com

Sandy Dias Andrade

Rucha Sarwate, Ph.D., M.Phil.

Ghazala Ansari

Sarah Mehdi

Meghna Hariyani

Dr. Robyn D. Walser

Robyn D. Walser, Ph.D. is Director of TL Consultation Services, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and works at the National Center for PTSD. As a licensed psychologist, she maintains an international training, consulting and therapy practice. Dr. Walser is an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has co-authored 6 books on ACT including a book on learning ACT. She has most recently written a book entitled: The Heart of ACT.

Dr. Walser has expertise in traumatic stress, depression and substance abuse and has authored a number of articles, chapters and books on these topics. She has been doing ACT workshops since 1998; training in multiple formats and for multiple client problems. Dr. Walser has been described as a “passionate, creative, and bold ACT trainer and therapist” and she is best known for her dynamic, warm and challenging ACT training. She is often referred to as a clinician’s clinician. Her workshops feature a combination of lecture and experiential exercises designed to provide a unique learning opportunity in this state-of-the-art intervention.

http://www.tlconsultationservices.com/

Dr. Laury Rappaport

Laury Rappaport, Ph.D., MFT, ATR-BC, REAT is the Founder/Director of the Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute, and a Certifying Coordinator, Focusing-Oriented Therapist and Trainer with The International Focusing Institute. She is the author of Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy: Accessing the Body’s Wisdom and Creative Intelligence; editor/author of Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies: Theory and Practice; and numerous book chapters and journal articles.

Laury has been on the faculty of the Expressive Therapies Division at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA for 40 years, where she was the Academic Coordinator of their International Expressive Arts Therapies program. Laury has also served as Associate Professor at Notre Dame de Namur University and has been on the faculties at other universities.

In addition, Laury is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA), Board Certified Art Therapist with the American Art Therapy Association (ATR-BC), Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) with the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and Certifying Coordinator and Trainer of The Focusing International Institute. Laury has extensive clinical experience in wide variety of settings and currently has a private practice in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Zia Nath

Zia is a paramedical therapist specializing in Craniosacral Therapy (BCST RCST), Somatic Intelligence™, Trauma Support, Mother-Infant Birth Trauma & Mindful Nutrition. She founded her clinic Quanta Health Care Solutions in 2001 and has been supporting individuals & families with a healthcare system that is natural, holistic and non-invasive.

As a dancer Zia has been in the study and performance of Sacred Dances for more than two decades. Zia has always been intrigued by the body as a form of art and an instrument of healing and this led her to develop Realms of Dance™ & Whirling Mandala™ presenting Sacred Dances of ancient esoteric cultures as a therapeutic model and for deeper explorations of our consciousness.

“Our body is an instrument of evolving consciousness. In our body, science meets spirituality”- Zia Nath

www.zianath.com

Dhammachari Jinarakshita

Dh. Jinarakshita, (Dr. Jayaram N. Chengalur) is a Buddhist practitioner and a Distinguished Professor at National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He has been writing and lecturing about the intersection between Buddhism and Science for some years, including as part of the programme on Socially Engaged Buddhism at the Department of Pali, Savitrabhai Phule University. In addition, he has many years of experience in introducing Buddhist meditation to, as well as leading meditation retreats for, a wide cross section of people.

Sujata Nerurkar

Educated in Engineering and Management, Sujata found her calling in the field of Yog. She has dedicated more than 2 decades to this field. Her 12-year experience in the corporate sector gives her the unique capability to be logical and process-oriented in running the organisation while her passion for Yog combined with a flair for teaching has taken her students beyond the limits of asana technique.

As a student of Yog since 1998, Sujata learnt that there can be no single approach to teaching Yoga. Her learning has been diverse and deep because of the many teachers she has learnt from. Therefore, as a teacher too she continues to learn from various schools to broaden and deepen her own understanding. Since 2006, Sujata has trained about 600+ teachers. She has keen interest in understanding and sharing Yog sutra wisdom, as she believes it’s the art of harmonious living.

Sujata is also a trained psychological counsellor. In that capacity, she conducts one-on-one counselling sessions. She has also worked with suicide prevention programme through Connecting, a Pune-based NGO. and helps people in emotional distress. In doing so, she utilises her expertise in Mind management aspect of yoga, REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy) , EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), Non-violent communication and Interplay (movement as therapy). Sujata’s passion for Yoga is apparent through her students’ progress both in asanas and in their personality. Indeed, she derives satisfying smiles from her students’ eureka moments – physical, mental, and emotional.

Nithya Shanti

Nithya Shanti is an internationally acclaimed teacher of joyful and conscious living. He completed an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur and worked in the corporate world. He then went on to live as a forest meditation monk for six years. He now shares his learnings through retreats and talks with organizations and audiences worldwide.

He has been invited to share his insights around the world by leading universities, corporate and non-governmental organizations, he coaches CEOs, senior government officials and school teachers, and taught these principles at international conferences, forums such as TEDx and also in prisons. He is on the Advisory Board of Axialent, an international consulting firm specializing in enabling a more conscious culture in business.

www.nithyashanti.com
www.facebook.com/spreadinghappines
www.youtube.com/nithyashanti

Mimansa Popat

Amir H. Imani

Amir holds a Master’s degree in Counseling and Adult Education from University of Toronto, Canada. He worked in mental health research at the Department of Psychiatry of University of Toronto, and studies and practices the effect of mind-body integration in mental health and balanced living since year 2000.

He has undergone MBSR Teacher Training Program at the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and has been teaching MBSR to different groups including Mindfulness trainers, corporate staff and executives since 2005.

Through his personal and professional interest in body-mind medicine, Amir has trained with Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn, founder of MBSR program and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

He is the co-founder of the Indian based Omega Wellbeing, founding director of the only hospital based MBSR program in the Middle East region, certified mindfulness teacher at UMASS Medical School, and a faculty member at the Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (IMA) in Germany. Amir holds workshops and retreats internationally for public, healthcare professionals and organisations.

https://amirimani.com/

Alessandro Giannandrea, Ph.D

Alessandro Giannandrea, Ph.D., is a psychologist and psychotherapist trained in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and existential anthropology. He is a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) by The University of California, San Diego Center for Mindfulness, and he is a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher-in-training.

He is one of the lead educators/facilitators of the Master of Mindfulness and Neurosciences at Sapienza University in Rome. Through Sapienza University, Dr.Giannandrea has taught MBSR, MBCT and MSC to hundreds of individuals and is currently involved in numerous research studies investigating the effects of mindfulness practices on health, behavior and brain functioning.

Today, Dr. Giannandrea teaches MBIs in a variety of settings, including hospitals, prisons, and schools.

He is the founder and director of the Abruzzo Center for Mindfulness, where he currently facilitates several mindfulness-based courses. Dr. Giannandrea is also an aikido teacher and has developed a program that integrates mindfulness meditation and aikido practices, aiming to enhance interpersonal mindfulness through aikido’s art of harmony. He provides consultation and mentorship in MBIs, integrating notions and skills that come from his various experiences. He sees the path of teaching mindfulness as a continuous journey of learning and deepening the exploration of consciousness and existence.

Sandy Dias Andrade

Sandy is the Founder-Director at Just Being and is a Mindfulness & Presence Oriented Psychotherapist. With over nineteen years of experience in the field, she is internationally certified in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) from the Center of Mindfulness, University of San Diego, California, USA. She has trained extensively in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), Cognitive Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, Trauma Resolution work through Somatic approaches and EMDR. Her work is also informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment work.

She established a helpline service for the Pune based NGO- Connecting, which is involved in mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She is invited as visiting faculty on many other courses where she teaches the applications of mindfulness. She has vast experience in designing and executing training for mental health professionals, educationists and others.

Brinda Jacob-Janvrin

Brinda Jacob-Janvrin a movement-based expressive arts therapist and a contemporary dancer/choreographer with more than 25 years of performing experience. A qualified counsellor, she has been working extensively with movement and arts therapies since 2003. A practitioner and facilitator for Authentic Movement and Natural Dreamwork, Brinda is passionate about the arts, the mysterious workings of the Psyche-Soma and connections between the Body and Earth.

Brinda is the founder and managing trustee of the Studio for Movement Arts and Therapies Trust, a registered charitable Trust, created in January 2011 with the following vision and mission:-

Vision: With resilient and empowered individuals, a healed world emerges. Mission: We craft creatively alive spaces to nurture & catalyse self-inquiry, expression & its integration.

Maura Sills

Maura Sills is the Founder of Core Process Psychotherapy which offers an innovative psycho-spiritual approach to therapy. The Karuna Institute integrates western psychotherapeutic models with Buddhist psychology and mindfulness practices. Drawing on over 30 years of experience, Core Process Psychotherapy offers a deep understanding of what helps and hinders healing insight and transformation.

Maura is an Honorary Fellow of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and Director of Training at the Karuna Institute which offers Master Degree Programmes in Buddhist Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy along with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Retreat.

Bruce Stevenson

Bruce Stevenson studied Anthropology and has trained in Integrative psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems (2006). He was a Buddhist monk in Japan, England and USA for a number of years. Bruce says, “My first Zen teacher emphasised that the ‘passions are the Buddha nature’. I had no idea how unusual this approach was at the time but as a student of A.H.Almaas for decades, I have found ways to recover the qualities of the Buddha from the passions - strength from anger, true will from trying, and love from need.

Amona Buechler

Amona Buechler is a Certified Focusing Trainer, as well as a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner & Assistant Trainer. She also shared her daily meditation practice with the public in Chicago for over 15 years. Amona has been offering on- and offline courses, workshops, and sessions since 1998, in German, English, and other languages when translated.

Amona currently offers Basic Focusing Skills Courses Level 1-5 online in English as well as in Chinese. She also offers a variety of courses that are inspired by Focusing and Feldenkrais, with themes such as finding ease and clarity in one’s professional life. In co-facilitation with her sister, she offers retreats that combine Focusing with Authentic Movement, and finally assists professional Feldenkrais Training. Amona has been mainly in Leipzig, Germany, since the onset of coronavirus.

With great fascination, Amona observes how insights from various awareness practices find their way into our lives, leading to a self-responsible, wholehearted and empathic way of living.

move-with-life.org

Avantika Malhautra

Avantika Malhautra is a Psychologist, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist and Board Member of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association & the Founder of Soul Canvas - Art for Wellness with 9 years of work experience in the field of mental health in India. Her work is focused on bringing awareness to the mind-body connection, deep listening, creative engagement and insight.

She offers psychotherapy to youth and adults through an integrative expressive arts therapy approach that includes presence-oriented, person-centered therapy with a systems, multicultural, queer-affirmative and trauma-sensitive lens through her private practice.

She also partners with organisations to facilitate expressive arts therapy groups in training, for self-development, health promotion and well-being; and is a faculty member at the Dance Movement Therapy Diploma course at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and the Self Development course at the Global Institute of Sports Business, Mumbai. She is also a volunteer with Just Being Center holding space for mindfulness practice circles.

Megha Chhallani

Megha Chhallani, is a certified Behavioral Facilitator with over 14 years of comprehensive experience in the corporate sector, in Behavioural Learning & Organizational Development, Experiential Learning & Emotional Well-being supporting Self-Awareness & Mental Health. She is also the founder-director of Dribbling Panda, a creative development initiative for children and teens, along with co-founding Orange Arc Studio, promoting safe community spaces for creative arts, wellness & relational therapeutic offerings for all age groups.

She is trained & specializes in an inclusive inter-modal approach integrating concepts of psychology, mindfulness & presence, movement therapy, expressive arts, game-based theories, cognitive behaviour, NLP, nature based resources, and spirituality, offering therapeutic support for individuals and groups. Her essence is creativity with play, deep listening for healing, body-mind integrated communication for alignment & well-being. She continues to partner with various organizations and institutions as a consultant, also is a volunteer with Just Being Center holding spaces for mindfulness practice circles and part of the team supporting the grief listening circles.

Sharing our Reflections

Ananda Sangha, Mumbai

Patricia Meadows

Patricia Meadows, MS, RN, SEP is a holistic nurse counselor and trauma therapist with Master’s Degrees in Community Health Nursing, as well as in Community Mental Health/Clinical Counseling. Also, she completed six years of doctoral studies in East/West Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, with a specialization in Adult Psycho-spiritual Development.

She has over 45 years experience in healthcare, education and mental health, with the last 20 years in private practice. She facilitates a psycho-spiritual inquiry-based, and process-oriented approach to healing, transforming and being/living authentically in the world. She is trained in and integrates multiple approaches to working with diverse forms of trauma, including: developmental trauma (neglect and abuse); prenatal, birth and perinatal trauma; attachment/relational trauma; family and intergenerational trauma; medical/surgical trauma; and shock trauma.

Also, her work is informed by long-term spiritual practice and participation in the Diamond Approach, a path of realization. She is a teacher of the Diamond Approach.

Sandy Dias Andrade

Rucha Sarwate, Ph.D., M.Phil.

Ghazala Ansari

Sarah Mehdi

Meghna Hariyani

John J. Prendergast, PhD

John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence (2019) and In Touch: How to Tune in to Your Inner Guidance and Trust Yourself (2015). He is also the senior editor of The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy (2003) and Listening from the Heart of Silence: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, Vol. 2 (2007). He is the co-founder of the Conference on Nondual Wisdom and Psychology (2000-2018) and founder and editor of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology (_2012-2018). He is a retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where he taught and supervised masters level counseling students for 23 years. He has also recently retired from being a psychotherapist in private practice since 1986. He studied for many years with the European sage Jean Klein as well as with Adyashanti, and now offers teachings and retreats in the U.S. and Europe, as well as online.

Website
YouTube Channel

Mandar Karanjkar

Mandar is a trained Hindustani vocalist, a self taught flutist and co-founder of Baithak Foundation, a not for profit organisation started to promote Indian Classical Music. Mandar is a practitioner of Naad Yoga and has taught Naad Yoga at various prestigious organisations like Sri. Aurobindo Society, Samskritam Auroville, Pune International Yoga Mahotsav etc.

Mandar is also a published author of three books including his second book - The Kabir Way: Actionable Insights for Organizations and Individuals which applies wisdom of Saint Kabir to business management. Mandar is also a director of Akshar Maifal, a fast growing Marathi Publishing House and works in the field of strategic communication solutions.

Sensei Sandeep Desai

Sensei Sandeep Desai is a lifelong warrior and a yogi. He is a Master of T’ai Chi, Yoga and Martial Arts having several international Accolades to his name. He is credited with introducing the original Chen style T’ai Chi Chuan in India. He has trained arduously and extensively in Chenjiagou village, the birthplace of T’ai Chi in China. He enjoys the unique distinction of acquiring 5th Dan Black Belt in Okinawa, Japan and also becoming the only Indian to successfully finish the advanced ‘The Full Time Training’ in China under the strict supervision Chen Zhonghua, the Standard-bearer of the Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan Practical Method . His journey began with karate in the 1970s, when he was in his teens. In his pursuit of perfection and purity in the martial arts, the Sensei has travelled to Japan, Germany and China to learn directly from grandmasters. His teachers were known not only for their exacting standards but were also part of a lineage – keepers of the highest traditions in their respective arts. His name has spread to the far and wide corners of the world. He has been featured in all the major television networks and the leading publications. He has taught some of the poorest of poor and some of the the richest of rich people across the country. He has been felicitated by Shri Narendra Modi for his stellar accomplishments and for introducing T’ai Chi to the people of Gujarat in 2011.

Zia Nath

Zia is a paramedical therapist specializing in Craniosacral Therapy (BCST RCST), Somatic Intelligence™, Trauma Support, Mother-Infant Birth Trauma & Mindful Nutrition. She founded her clinic Quanta Health Care Solutions in 2001 and has been supporting individuals & families with a healthcare system that is natural, holistic and non-invasive.

As a dancer Zia has been in the study and performance of Sacred Dances for more than two decades. Zia has always been intrigued by the body as a form of art and an instrument of healing and this led her to develop Realms of Dance™ & Whirling Mandala™ presenting Sacred Dances of ancient esoteric cultures as a therapeutic model and for deeper explorations of our consciousness.

“Our body is an instrument of evolving consciousness. In our body, science meets spirituality”- Zia Nath

www.zianath.com

Sandy Dias Andrade

Sandy is the Founder-Director at Just Being and is a Mindfulness & Presence Oriented Psychotherapist. With over nineteen years of experience in the field, she is internationally certified in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) from the Center of Mindfulness, University of San Diego, California, USA. She has trained extensively in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), Cognitive Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, Trauma Resolution work through Somatic approaches and EMDR. Her work is also informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment work.

She established a helpline service for the Pune based NGO- Connecting, which is involved in mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She is invited as visiting faculty on many other courses where she teaches the applications of mindfulness. She has vast experience in designing and executing training for mental health professionals, educationists and others.

Lene Handberg

Lene Handberg, Semrig Thablam Rabjam (accomplishment in eastern inner-science of body-mind-reality interrelationships); studied Psychology and Tibetology at Copenhagen University and for 25 years with highly accomplished master Tarab Rinpoche, Lharampa-Geshe, whom she assisted developing a study from Indo-Tibetan Buddhism – Unity in Duality (UD) – designed specifically to people of modern cultures by laying bare its universalities, making these valuable teaching available beyond cultural and religious boundaries. He entrusted her with the teachings when he died, 2004. Handberg taught internationally for over 30 years and is Educational Director for the UD Education, running in 6 countries in Europe and available in Tarab Ling, Dehradun, India, instructing students in a complete four-year program.

http://www.tarab-institute.org/

Caroline Braham

Caroline Braham is a practitioner and teacher of somatic-psychotherapy and has over 20 years experience studying embodiment. Based in UK, she runs a London Hakomi training as well as teaching the method internationally. Caroline is inspired by the art, science and spiritual connection of body-mind-movement therapies. In her work with individuals she combines a variety of methods such as Hakomi, Feldenkrais, Hellerwork Structural Integration, and Internal Family Systems. Compassionate relational mindfulness is at the heart of her work that incorporates touch, the moving body, and awareness of states of mind that develop attunement to the inner unspoken communications in each of us that long to be known. www.carolinebraham.com

Trish Watts

Trish’s life is anchored in the bedrock of play and improvisation. She is a singer, songwriter and educator with extensive experience as a performing artist and community choir director, including the Sydney Threshold Choir. Co-founder of InterPlay Australia, Trish enjoys facilitating InterPlay moments in her home territory or overseas. Her workshops and retreats in voice, creativity soul and body wisdom have taken her around Australia, to the USA, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Europe, Cambodia and New Zealand. Trish is a registered Voice Movement Therapy practitioner and has published many recorded works including “Deep Waters” & “Invokation” CDs. ‘Let YOUR life sing!’

Tripura Kashyap

Tripura Kashyap pioneered Movement Therapy in India in 1990 and co-founded the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India (CMTAI) in 2014. She trained at the Hancock Centre for Dance/movement therapy (USA) and obtained an M.A. in Psychology.  She has worked as a Movement therapist at Half-way homes, Special schools, Treatment and Rehabilitation centres as well as with individual clients.

Tripura received fellowships from the Ashoka International Foundation and Indian Ministry of Culture for her innovations in Movement therapy. She teaches on the Creative Movement Therapy and Therapeutic Dance in Education courses run by CMTAI. Tripura has been an ardent follower of Buddhism and has practised the discipline since 2014. She has authored ‘Creative dance therapy’ and ‘Contemporary Dance: Practices, Paradigms and Practitioners’ published by Penguin and Aayu publications respectively.

Anubha Doshi

A Psychologist, Mindfulness-based Practitioner, and Arts based Therapist, Anubha has completed her advanced PG diploma in Mindfulness & Presence Oriented Psychotherapy from Just Being. She has studied Chakra Healing as well as Reiki.

Her interest in Buddhism was first fuelled by the Certificate Course in Mahayana Buddhist Psychology and Ethics by the WCCL Foundation and the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies at the Pune University. Her practice is unique as she explores the connection between Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), Mindfulness, Buddhist as well as Eastern philosophies.

She is the founder-director of Artsphere and Soulsphere, a unique arts and healing centre in Pune where performing arts and therapy co-exist under the same roof. She has been regularly conducting online workshops in mindfulness, dance therapy, positive psychology, resilience and mindfulness. She is the Editor of CMTAI’s & Artsphere’s online Indian Magazine of Dance/Movement therapy and faculty on the Dance Therapy course. She is on the Board of Studies of the Psychology department at the St. Mira’s College for Girls, Pune. She is a parenting expert on the panel of the ‘Keep Learning’ initiative by the Times of India.

Karishma Harlalka

Karishma Harlalka is the co-founder of Artsphere and Soulsphere, a unique arts and healing center in Pune, where performing arts and therapy co-exist under the same roof. She is a psychologist, dancer, choreographer and therapeutic movement practitioner.

She has been learning and performing dance since the age of 4 and has received training in various dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Ballet, Contemporary, Folk and Belly Dance. She has attended workshops in Latin American Dance Forms, Belly Dance, Kalaripayattu and Physical Theater. She first became interested in Dance Movement Therapy at the age of 16, when she attended a workshop under Tripura Kashyap. Since then, she has assisted and co-facilitated workshops in Dance Therapy and Arts-based Therapies with her sister Anubha Doshi, eventually going on to study Dance Therapy.

​​She incorporates her practice of Yoga and body awareness and knowledge of anatomy in her own practices as well as the classes that she conducts. She has also studied Chakra Healing and Reiki. Alongside this, she is interested in Mindful Movement practices and is working on developing a cohesive movement program that combines the knowledge of Anatomy, Fascia, Chakra and Dance Therapy.

Parimal Pandit

Parimal Pandit is a Clinical Psychologist and Internationally Certified Anthroposophic Psychotherapist & Biography Consultant by IFAPA (International Federation of Anthroposophic Associations, Dornach). She is the Director of Anthroposophic Psychology and Research Association (APARA) and practices psychotherapy in Chennai.

Parimal has been practicing as a psychotherapist since two decades in various settings like multidisciplinary hospitals , schools, private clinic and special schools. Parimal was a Program-Director at V-Excel Educational Trust (An NGO Working in the field of Developmental Disabilities), in Chennai for 14 years.

Through APARA along with her colleague Suchitra Inamdar, she has been conducting the Anthroposophic Psychology and Counseling Courses since 2018. Parimal has authored papers on Play Therapy, Understanding ADHD and Anthroposophic Psychotherapy. Has written an article in the book ‘Slow Counseling’ titled ‘Counseling- Indian way’.

Suchitra Inamdar

Suchitra has been a practising psychotherapist for 21 years. Over the years she has worked with clients across age groups and mental health conditions. She has been a consultant and Anthroposophic Psychotherapy practitioner for a few schools where she has taken a lead role in guiding the set up in creating holistic and therapeutic educational systems that cater to the true developmental stages of the children.

She is also the Director of Anthroposophic Psychology And Research Association (APARA) and Board member of the International Federation of Anthroposophic Psychotherapy Associations (IFAPA, Switzerland)

Ajay Rajani

Ajay Rajani is an accredited teacher of the 5Rhythms who trained with Jonathan Horan, son of Gabrielle Roth, in 2014. Ajay was born in Africa with Indian roots and grew up in London, England where he thrives in a diverse, multicultural community speaking five international languages. His spiritual journey began over a decade ago with a strong practice of seated meditation and this continues to inform his 5Rhythms teaching where he inspires embodying the moment and allowing your body to be your greatest teacher.

Rucha Sarwate, Ph.D., M.Phil.

Sharing our Reflections

Gratitude & Taking it forward

Meghna Hariyani

Sarah Mehdi

Ghazala Ansari

Rucha Sarwate, Ph.D., M.Phil.

Sandy Dias Andrade