Global Mindfulness in Education Summit 2020 Speaker Info
Dr. Helen Maffini • https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindBE/
Host
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Helen is the Director of MindBE Education and the creator of the MindBE Curriculum and the Thriving Kids Program, She is the host of the 2018 Preschool Mindfulness Summit and Co-Author of Developing Children´s Emotional Intelligence and Sammy´s Next Move.
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Books: Developing Children’s Emotional Intelligence (Bloomsbury Education) |
Sammy’s Next Move: Sammy the snail is a travelling snail who lives in different countries  |
Dr. Christopher Willard • http://drchristopherwillard.com/
Dr. Christopher Willard is a co-host of the 2020 Global Mindfulness in Education Summit, he is a psychologist and educational consultant based in Boston specializing in mindfulness. He has been practicing meditation for 20 years and has led hundreds of workshops around the world, with invitations to more than two dozen countries. He has presented at TEDx conferences and his thoughts have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, and elsewhere. He is the author of Alphabreaths, Growing Up Mindful (2016) Raising Resilience (2017), and eight other books for parents, professionals, and children, available in more than ten languages. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.
Freebie: Animated Gifs and Videos
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Alphabreaths: The ABCs of Mindful Breathing
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Raising Resilience: The Wisdom and Science of Happy Families and Thriving Children
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Nicola Wakeling • www.nicolawakeling.co.uk
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Nicola is a British qualified teacher with a background in Special Educational Needs. She moved to Abu Dhabi with her family 5 years ago and has worked in several British schools since.
After her daughter was identified as autistic with a diagnosis of anxiety back in 2017, Nicola became aware of her own neurodivergence and gained a deeper understanding of the reasons she had battled with anxiety throughout her life.
Mindfulness not only became a vital tool to support her own well-being but one that she felt passionately about sharing with her family as well as with children in the community.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Nicola will talk about the importance of mindfulness for neurodiversity and how it has supported her on her personal journey with understanding and accepting her neurodivergent brain. Highlighting the benefits of a mindful approach to students and learning in the classroom that goes beyond a quick ‘mindfulness session’ and provides connection, acceptance, and trust.
Freebie: Mindful Magic Parent toolkit
Session Title: Mindfulness & Neurodiversity
Book: Currently working on my first book idea. Dear Teacher, it’s not me, it’s you.
Janet Etty-Leal • www.meditationcapsules.com
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Janet Etty-Leal is an author, speaker, and pioneer of mindful education for children. Her creative programs, combining a fusion of creative mindfulness and tenets of positive education, have enhanced curriculum for thousands of students for over 20 years. Janet provides staff training and classes for students in all school sectors. Studies based on her programs have been undertaken by Masters and Ph.D. students in Universities in Australia and internationally.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Big challenges, like a pandemic, call for agile, creative minds. A range of ways to mindfully support children exists: to reset the nervous system, review mindsets and perspectives … and renew a positive outlook. Creative ways to equip children with a palette of inner resources to cultivate kind, compassionate choices for the self, others and the world.
Free Learning Resources: Pivoting in the Pandemic: Ways to reset young minds
Link to Resource: (will supply this soon)
Session Title: Pivoting in the Pandemic: Cultivating New Perspectives for Young Minds
Book: A Head-Heart Start to Life: Creative Mindful Discoveries for Young Children
Lorraine E Murray • www.connected-kids.com
Lorraine Murray is an international speaker and founder of the Connected Kids Programme – an online training programme to upskill adults to teach kids and teens meditation (of all abilities including SEN and trauma) – teaching since 2003.
She is the author of 2 best-selling books about child and teen mindfulness training.
She has worked with educators and other professionals for nearly 18 years to help bring mindful skills into the classroom.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
The world is waking up to how important meditation skills are for kids, but for stressed out
educators, it is your hidden superpower to help you in a class where kids and teens struggle
with stressed behaviour.
Expert Lorraine Murray will offer you some practical, simple ideas to help all educators cope
with the stress of being in education!
Company: Connected Kids
Freebie: https://teachchildrenmeditation.com/education-mindful-meditation-kids-tips-ideas-factsheet/
Session Title: Activate your Mindful Superpower to Soothe Challenging Behaviour in Class
Book: Connected Kids – Help Kids with Special Needs and Autism Shine with Mindful Activities
KarKheng Yeoh • KarKheng Yeoh
Dr. KarKheng Yeoh obtained his doctorate degree in Organic Chemistry from Oxford University and is currently a senior lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is a Certified Teacher of Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program, a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence curriculum originally developed at Google. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Malaysia Mindfulness Association.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Why Emotional Intelligence is Important for Students?
How to develop Emotional Intelligence using Mindfulness?
Session Title: Developing Emotional Intelligence Using Mindfulness
Free Learning Resources: MINDFULNESS For Finding Peace in a Frantic World (2-hour talk)
Salla-Maarit Volanen • www.terveoppivamieli.fi
I am a mindfulness researcher (Ph.D.) and the leader of the pioneering Healthy Learning Mind (HLM) research and implementation project in Finland. In the research project, we explore the effectiveness of a mindfulness intervention program compared to a standard relaxation program among 12-15-year-old students (N=3519) in the school context for the first time in Finland.
Additionally, we implement mindfulness and SEL skills into Finnish schools mainly by training teachers, educators, and leaders. I have been socially active during these years, and e.g. given numerous lectures for laypersons, teachers, educators, and authorities in the education, academic audience, and e.g. the members of the Finnish parliament regarding HLM research project and beneficial outcomes of mindfulness and SEL skills in the school context. Additionally, I have given several TV, radio, and newspaper interviews in order to increase the knowledge among Finnish people regarding this “new” approach of promoting well-being and happiness among
children and adolescents in the school context.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Finland is a Nordic country with a world-famous education system and every Finnish teacher must have a master’s degree to qualify. Surprisingly, our teacher education at universities neglect subjects such as well-being and SEL skills, even though these skills are included in our national curriculum and recognized as crucial for learning. The NPO Healthy Learning Mind offers teachers a continuing education by training them mindfulness and SEL skills since 2016. The following topics will be discussed in the interview: The process of implementation of mindfulness and SEL skills in Finland and the importance of teacher training (over student training); The self-reported outcomes of mindfulness for Finnish teacher’s own well-being and whether teacher’s own mindfulness and SEL training affect and benefit their students in Finland; The rationale for tailoring an own mindfulness-based training for Finnish leaders in the field of education. Finally, the first results of Healthy Learning Mind Research (N=3519) conducted among 3519 Finnish students aged 12-15 years will be discussed.
Session Title: Healthy Learning Mind- Mindfulness Research and Teacher Training Project in Finnish Schools
Free Learning Resources: Social Cognitions and Mental Health as Predictors of Adolescents’ Mindfulness Practice. Mindfulness
Orla O’Sullivan • Orla O’Sullivan
Orla has been practicing mindfulness for over 20 years in the tradition of Plum Village / Thich Nhat Hanh and is a leader in Mindfulness & Strengths practice. She works directly with schools, teachers, and families to help them take care of themselves and build happier communities.
She is the founder of four mindfulness community groups for children, youth, and adults.
She co-organized Ireland’s first mindfulness retreat for educators.
Orla is the international coordinator for Plum Village’s Wake Up Schools. and co-produced the first International Family Retreat in Summer 2020. She is a founder member of Mind & Life Europe’s Community of Contemplative Education and is an Advisor & Host for the World Happiness Festival.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
In this session we’ll explore how children’s imaginations can help them to recognize and accept themselves fully, using Orla’s mindfulness-based practice The Land of You. Allowing creative space to explore their sense of themselves, children can map out a landscape that includes anxiety, anger, and other challenging emotions, and frames these within a wider perspective of their whole being. This is a pathway of our imagination that can lead to a sense of integration, acceptance, and self-care.
This year has highlighted diviseness and inequality throughout societies. As human beings, we need to know that we belong. The first step is to allow all the parts of us to belong, just as we are. As we deepen our understanding and care, we can allow our family and class to belong, just as they are.
Session Title: Imagination as a Portal to Belonging and Acceptance
Free Learning Resources: The Land of You: a fun practice to nourish your belonging
(please note that this page is not
live yet but it will be!):
Nimrod Sheinman • https://www.mindbody.co.il • http://soul-of-education.org
Nimrod Sheinman B.Sc., N.D., is one of Israel's leading mind-body experts and an international spokesperson advocating holistic and integrative education and mindfulness-based pedagogies. He is the founder and director of Israel's Centre for Mindfulness in Education, co-founder of Israel’s Centre for Mind-Body Medicine, and initiator and director of the International Soul of Education Initiative. He is on the International Advisory Panel of Sejahtera Leadership Initiative, a Malaysia-based organization supporting humanistic and wellbeing programs, locally and globally. He can be reached at nimush123@gmail.com
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Education’s future paradigm will emphasize the teaching and cultivation of awareness, emotional intelligence, curiosity, creativity, collaboration, communication, resilience, and wellbeing. In this regard, mindfulness might be the best pedagogy we have for accomplishing that! However, there’s an urgent need for cross-fertilization between the numerous models around the world, and better integrations of long-term, whole-school approaches.
Session Title: Mindfulness-based Pedagogies and Integrative Education
Free Resources: Mindfulness in Education as a whole school approach: principles, insights, and outcomes.
Vienna University Conference, January 2019 Rediscovering the Soul of Education: Mindfulness-based perspectives and education future paradigm
Bangkok Conference, December 2019 Transformative Learning – Education’s New Paradigm
Jana York •
Ms. York has been a children’s mindfulness educator and a mindfulness practitioner for more than a decade. She has conducted research and written on mindfulness. Her main passion is teaching children how to reduce anxiety and self-regulate while being in the present moment. Ms. York currently resides in Thailand, where she teaches mindfulness in the International schools for students in diverse cultures. She has recently written a children’s chapter book called U Is for Understanding – Claire's Journey toward Mindfulness.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
In this session, you will learn how different cultures respond to a pandemic and how mindfulness can help promote positive mental health. Ms. York will share some simple and practical applications of teaching mindfulness to students and for parents wanting to try it with their children at home. The session includes essential tools and playful activities for social-emotional learning, compassion, kindness, and more. You can also sign up via email (janayork.mindful@gmail.com) to receive more free activities and guidance on how to start a mindfulness program at your school or home.
Session Title: Responding to a Pandemic – Practical Applications for Introducing Mindfulness to Children, Teachers, and Parents
Free Learning Resources: how to order the book U Is for Understanding – Claire’s Journey toward Mindfulness. Here is the link if you could kindly add. Thank you, Jana https://books2read.com/u/bQKYwE
Marina Lisenberg • www.attentia.com.ar
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Psychologist University of Buenos Aires UBA. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program MBSR Instructor / Center for Mindfulness. Postgraduate in Systemic Family Therapy (AAMFT) and Certified Coach (LLC-UB). Specialization Courses at Harvard Medical School and others abroad. I am dedicated to counseling, supervision, and training in psychoeducational mindfulness-based contents in care, educational, and corporate fields. I am the founder and director of Attentia Mindfulness, Atencion Plena para la Comunidad. Academic Director of Diploma in Mindfulness and Program for Mindfulness Executives in UB. National and international university professor. Member and facilitator of Presencia, an Education Program, Fundación Vivir Agradecidos. Author of Atención Plena, Practices in parenting, health, and education, 2018. Author of El Secreto de Emilia. Mindfulness for boys and girls, 2017.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Being mindful makes such a difference moment by moment…as parents, health professionals, teachers, or simply citizens. Practice can help us to remind what really matters when our world is turning upside down. How can we hold attention and presence in an always changing setting?
Free Resources: Calma, confianza y cuidado ( a short practice in Spanish attached in the mail)
Session Title: What´s Now and What´s Next? Being Present Makes a Difference (Facing COVID-19)
Book: “Atención Plena , prácticas de mindfulness en la crianza, la salud y la educación” Ed Grijalbo PRH (book and ebook)
Sue Langley • www.suelangley.com • www.langleygroup.com.au
Keynote Speaker, Global Consultant, Positive Leadership Expert
Sue Langley is a keynote speaker, global consultant, and positive leadership expert. Sue specializes in the practical applications of neuroscience, emotional intelligence, and positive psychology,
synthesizing the science and research into simple, practical tools that anyone can use.
As the CEO and Founder of the Langley Group, Sue has taught thousands of business leaders, coaches, and consultants on how to create positive work cultures and harness the brain’s potential. She created the first Australian nationally-recognized Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing and has a Masters in Neuroscience of Leadership from Middlesex University. Sue was also a featured expert in the hit ABC TV series Redesign My Brain and in the award-winning documentary Make Me a Leader.
Free Resources: http://suelangley.com/category/video/
Session Title:
Alexandra Koster • www.rootsandwings.pub
My name is Alex Koster, I am a mum, teacher, mindfulness practitioner, and generally “wholesome life” enthusiast with qualifications in Integrative Nutrition, herbalism, and other alternative health modalities. Due to my own experiences and struggles with poor mental and physical health, and limited experience of a more holistic approach by many mainstream practitioners at the time (Thankfully there seems to be a bit of a shift in recent years), I had to take matters into my own hands and thankfully was introduced to mindfulness about 15 years ago. I can honestly say that mindfulness and an integration of mindfulness into everyday life have made a huge difference to my wellbeing. I trained as a primary school teacher in Germany and thankfully the approach we were taught was very much a hands-on, experiential methodology with an emphasis on nature connection, which really is a “mindful” way of teaching.
“Mindfulness” has become very “fashionable” in recent years and many people still seem to be under the impression that it is a fad, a new age spiritual practice, a hippie movement… Others have so much going on in their lives already, that they believe they can’t possibly add another “thing” to their bursting schedules. I personally think that mindfulness is, or should be, an integral part of everyday life, as it can be applied to everything: really tasting that first sip of coffee, really listening to our children when they tell us about their plans, really feeling the weather in our faces when we are going for a walk, basically, mindfulness to me is paying attention to our surrounds, our fellow humans and ourselves more consciously. When we apply mindful attitudes such as kindness, gratitude, non-judgment, self-compassion, patience, and acceptance to our behaviours and beliefs and become more aware of the ripple effect every small action, word, and decision have, we can make conscious changes for the better. Becoming more aware often means slowing things down as well and even just that small change can have a big impact on our well-being. Sometimes it’s all we need, slowing down, taking in this moment, and recalibrating from there. This outlook can be easily transferred to education and teaching. Giving children an interactive, multi-sensory, and motivating learning experience, preferably outside in nature, not only teaches them new information, it promotes co-operation, communication, motor-skills, friendship, problem-solving, and most importantly in our current times, supports positive mental health. When children feel accepted in their individual learning styles and get a chance to contribute in their own way, positively supported by their teacher and classmates, anxiety and stress levels reduce, which in turn enables learning. More specific and formal mindfulness activities, such as breathing exercises, meditations, or body-based activities, for example, are invaluable life skills for dealing with life’s challenges with a little more ease and peace.
Free Learning Resources: Meditation Wheel use code wheel2020
Session Title: Everyday Mindfulness – Mindfulness as a way of educating, parenting and living rather than an add-on
Book: Roots and Wings – Childhood needs a Revolution
Michael Sanderson • www.akademiamindfulness.pl
Michael hails from London UK, went to business school in the US, and has been living in Poland for 30 years – the last 8 of which spent working as a mindfulness teacher (MBSR, MBCT). He has also qualified to teach the Mindfulness in Schools Project curricula .b, paws b, .b foundations. Michael recently co-authored “Developing Mindful Awareness”, a teaching program aimed at 11-15-year-olds.
Session Title: “Drawing out” – exploring the scope for mindfulness practice within youth education
Free Learning Resources: Making the practice of stopping accessible to schoolchildren (aged 5-12)
Rahim Essabhai • http://www.rotmanithink.ca/rahim-essabhai
Rahim Essabhai has been an educator for fifteen years now. In addition to facilitating the Business and Cooperative Education curriculum, he has completed a Masters of Education in Applied Psychology & Human Development. While traveling, teaching, and volunteering in more than 25 countries, Rahim often spends his time gazing at maps searching for the next eye-opening experience; this led him to East Africa to volunteer within a secondary school located in one of the world’s largest refugee camps, and also has helped to lead groups of students to build schools in Nicaragua and Ecuador. Rahim teaches at John Polanyi Collegiate Institute within the Toronto District School Board and is a 2016-2017 recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Authentic growth occurs within the individual first and ultimately throughout the entire community. During this conversation, I will share the amazing efforts of my students, co-educators, families, and remarkable community partners. While connecting with the PACT Urban Peace Program for over a decade, we have showered experiential specialized programs such as Urban Farming and the Culinary Arts to students and residents from Toronto’s priority neighborhoods and are currently working to develop an equitable and social plan to rebuild positive holistic community infrastructure. Also, I have had the blessed opportunity to further links to the I-Think (Integrative Thinking) Initiative based out of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management where our work has assisted teachers to deepen their teaching practice for students to solve real challenges and consult to diverse non-profit and for-profit organizations. I would also like to share the amazing story ‘THE CITY’ (Change Impacting Toronto’s Youth); a school-based initiative which has raised over $120, 000 with a team of dedicated students, teachers, and donors who address local and global issues in order to strengthen communities through Social Entrepreneurship. In 2013, the team volunteered to build a school in Nicaragua and in 2019, within the Amazon region of Ecuador. In 2014 and 2015, this team won National Social Entrepreneurship Competitions and represented Canada at the International SAGE competitions in Russia and South Korea. The ultimate aim of sharing these beautiful stories is to promote the endless brilliance and dedication our children have to offer the world. And more importantly, I would like to add that as educators and caring adults, it is our responsibility to help our children find and amplify their own voices to empower them to gracefully navigate our world in an empathetic and kind manner.
Free Learning Resources: Impact Statement of the PACT Urban Peace Program
Websites of key educational partnerships/initiatives:
1. PACT Urban Peace Program
2. I-Think Initiative
3. Video introducing Integrative Thinking
4. I-Think Resources which shares teachers and leaders discuss the work
Additional online personal profiles:
1. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/pmate-ppmee.nsf/eng/wz02246.html
2. https://pactprogram.ca/pact-grow-to-learn/the-ripple-effect-of-kindness/
3. http://www.rotmanithink.ca/rahim-essabhai
Session Title: The Essence of Experiential Learning and Community Building
Book: 1. The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin
2. Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking by Jennifer Riel And Roger L. Martin
Michael Bready • www.youthmindfulness.org
Michael Bready is the founder and director of Youth Mindfulness, a charity based in Scotland dedicated to developing mindfulness-based wellbeing programs for children and young people. He has taught mindfulness to thousands of children and young people as well as trained hundreds of educators from more than 25 countries to teach mindfulness.
He’s particularly passionate about what new understandings in diverse scientific fields are revealing about human nature and how this can lead us to a brighter, wiser, and more compassionate future.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
In this conversation, learn why positive relationships are so vital to teaching mindfulness to children and young people and find out why it’s so important to be responsive and flexible when working with teenagers. Also discover, where the future of the mindfulness field lies, and why need to explore deep existential questions in our pursuit of cultivating a wiser, compassionate, and more humane society.
Free Learning Resources: Free webinar on how to teach mindfulness to children
Session Title:
Dzung X. Vo, MD • http://mindfulnessforteens.com/
Dzung X. Vo, MD, FAAP, is a pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine at British Columbia Children’s Hospital, and clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, Canada. He co-developed (with Dr. Jake Locke at BC Children’s Hospital) a mindfulness training program called MARS-A, or Mindful Awareness and Resilience Skills for Adolescents. Dr. Vo is the author of The Mindful Teen: Powerful Skills to Help You Handle Stress One Moment at a Time (New Harbinger, 2015). Dr. Vo also serves on the Board of Directors of the Mindfulness in Education Network (MiEN) and is also the founding Director for the BC Children’s Hospital Centre for Mindfulness.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Mindfulness is a powerful way of life that can help teens cope with stress, and thrive to live their lives to the fullest in the face of adversity. Right now during the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and increasing racism in our society, mindfulness is more important than ever. Mindfulness, self-compassion, and mindful action can help teens cope with the stress of the twin pandemics, and help lead the way to a better world.
Session Title: The Mindful Teen: Coping with the Twin Pandemics of COVID-19 and Racism
Book: The Mindful Teen: Powerful Skills to Help You Handle Stress One Moment at a Time Cover:
Candice Elisabeth Marro • www.mindful-education.fr • https://elearning.peace-mindful-education.com • www.meditation-enseignement.com
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Candice is a trained psychotherapist, cranial osteopath, mindfulness teacher, company director, author. Committed to better education to help young generations gain self-knowledge and contribute to collective transition, she is the founder and director of the P.E.A.C.E ® mindfulness for schools program in France. President of the not-for-profit A.M.E, also a chair of “Initiative Mindfulness France” a think tank of experts to investigate the benefits, limitations, opportunities, and challenges in accessing or implementing mindfulness training and, based on these findings, educate leaders, service-commissioners and the general public.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
“ Learn a 5 steps guideline to start attention-based short practices in a school or education-based environment”
“Practice how to help kids and youth to establish a sense of grounding, safe inner space, and centeredness to better deal with stress and emotions
“Share tips to adapt breathing mindfulness techniques in schools or workplace during covid 19”
Session Title: Grounding, Safe Space and Interpersonal Skills
Free Learning Resources: Trousseau de ressources pour l’école (in French only for now), Video of the P.E.A.C.E Program +PDF included
Book: “La meditation avec les enfants, ça marche” Candice Marro – Courrier du livre “Mon enfant médite en pleine conscience” – Candice Marro & Ilios Kotsou- Jouvences
Anh-Le Ho-Gia • https://happiness-based-education.com/
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Anh-Le Ho-Gia is currently a Mindfulness Trainer and Consultant for the Yale- NUS College, Singapore. She is also a Co-founder, Curriculum Developer, and Teachers Trainer for Happiness- Based Education Schools in Vietnam. She has been active in building communities of mindful living in Singapore and Vietnam, co-organizing monthly days of mindfulness, biannual mindfulness retreats as well as facilitating weekly practice sessions for people from all walks of life, including children, young adults, teachers, parents, and also the general public. She has been passionate about cultivating happiness and well-being in education.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
In this interview, Anh-Le Ho-Gia will share about her experiences of sharing Mindfulness and Compassion practices to cultivate calm, develop concentration, strengthen community connection in the contexts of higher education in Singapore, and pre-school & primary school education in rural Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Session Title: Cultivating Calm, Concentration, Community Connection and Compassion in the Classrooms during the Coronavirus Crisis and Beyond
Angela Chaousis • www.beyouliving.com.au
Angela is a Mindfulness Meditation, Mindfulness-Based Art Educator, and Holistic Counsellor. Angela combines her passion for people, mindfulness, wellbeing, and the arts to support all sectors of the community especially youth by sharing the skills and tools learned over her lifetime. For 15 years Angela has facilitated workshops and programs for children and adults throughout local schools and the local community complementing her Holistic Counselling private practice.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Making art and mindfulness go hand (heart) in hand. Mindful creative expression eases us into the process of focus and flow as we experience when meditating…… Mindfulness-Based Art is a meditation in motion. Mindfulness-Based Art blends mindfulness with artistic expression allowing us to freely explore the creative process of making art rather than focussing on the outcome or product. Mindful art making allows us to befriend and change the habits of negative self-talk, the inner critic, self-doubt, and perfectionism. We can learn to create an awareness of these patterns rather than from them. Bringing awareness and a kind and gentle curiosity to what we are creating can help us focus and express emotions which may be too confronting, elusive, and complex to verbalize. Through the language of art, we can learn to relate to ourselves and our creative expression helping us make healthy and more authentic choices as we navigate our inner and outer worlds.
Participants will be introduced to creative ways to incorporate art-making into their mindfulness practices. Angela will discuss Mindfulness-Based Art particularly using the Intuitive painting process and mindful art-making of mindfulness tools from the Be You Living Mindfulness Toolbox which was created in response to the challenges children are facing due to Covid.
Mindfulness-based art offers:
Mindfulness and meditation practices
Ways to improve attention
Development of self-acceptance and self-love
Ways to cultivate gratitude
Ways to handle stress and anxiety
Creative Freedom
Creativity as play and adventure
Spontaneous self-expression
Removal of pressure to perform
Connection of mind-body-heart
Free Learning Resources: Be you Living Mindfulness Resources
Session Title: Mindfulness-Based Art-Exploring Creative approaches to Mindfulness
Book: Be You living Mindfulness Toolbox -Instruction Booklet. Mindfulness & Meditation Art Activities, Tools & Practices for Children.
Amira Valle • www.amiravalle.com • www.elephantwise.org • www.elregalodelelefante.com • https://www.mindfulnesswithoutborders.org/
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An experienced educator, scientist, researcher, and author, Amira is the founder and director of Elephant Wise Institute and Lead Associate for Mindfulness Without Borders (MWB) in Mexico. Amira oversees program strategy, stakeholder relationships, and leads MWB’s professional development programs in healthcare, education, and corporate settings in Mexico. Trained in chemistry, psychobiology, and contemplative neuroscience, she holds a degree in Chemistry from the Faculty of Chemistry, UNAM, a degree in Education from the Montessori Teacher Training Institute, and several certifications in Mindfulness in Education. Fluent in Spanish and English, she is a talented speaker, a passionate advocate for mindfulness in society, and a mother of two.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Online Education, to which all students have been forced during the Pandemic, has constituted an extraordinary challenge in Mexico due to the fact that most homes do not have access to the internet or devices to connect to any platform. Amira will tell us about the program developed to bring education to all children in her country and her participation in this program bringing Social-Emotional education to children. She will also talk to us about her active work in different forums and events in order to bring socio-emotional tools to all sectors of society during the pandemic and also about the modifications to her Mindfulness and Socio-Emotional Education programs to adapt them to this new reality.
Session Title: Social Emotional Education during the Pandemics
Free Learning Resources: Mindfulness activities “The Gift of the Elephant”
https://mindfulnesswithoutborders.org/pages/mindfulness-practices
Book: El Regalo del Elefante, Mindfulness para Niños The Gift of the Elephant; Mindfulness for Children Cuaderno de Trabajo “El regalo del elefante”
Karina Alejandra María Bustamante Wendorff • http://www.disciplinapositiva-ecuador.com/
Karina Bustamante holds a Clinical Psychology degree with a specialization in children and youth, trained as a Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral psychotherapist. She is certified as a level 1 Trauma Clinical Practitioner by Starr Commonwealth and a trainer by the Positive Discipline Association, for which she currently works. Karina is a mother of one-year old twins and a four-year old son.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
In this interview, parents will learn Positive Discipline principles and helpful tools that will teach children life skills at the same time that will offer them a sense of belonging and significance, especially during these uncertain times in which families have encountered themselves with new stressors along with parenting challenges.
Session Title: Parenting with Positive Discipline
Abigail Somma • www.themindfulgoods.com
LinkedIn •
Abigail Somma (Abbie) offers coaching and training in mindfulness and emotional intelligence. She works with individuals on increasing well-being and inner calm while meeting personal goals. In companies and organizations, she optimizes results by creating more connected, engaged, and creative workplaces. Ms. Somma has facilitated groups in Vienna, New York, London, and Bratislava, and has teacher-training certificates from the Nalanda Institute of Contemplative Science (NYC) and Search Inside Yourself (San Francisco), the renown Google-born course taught in companies around the world. She has also worked with parents on “mindful parenting.”
She is also a writer with experience in speechwriting, playwriting, and journalism. Past employers/clients have included the UN, the World Bank, UNICEF, think tanks, NGOs, and others. Her plays have been performed in NYC, LA, and abroad; and she has been published in the Globe and Mail, Thrive Global, Foreign Policy, Ethics in International Affairs, and others. Please find more information at www.themindfulgoods.com
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Being at home with children can be very challenging, and Covid has made it all the more so. In this session, we will discuss some tools and techniques for cultivating mindfulness and resilience for personal well-being, as well as maintaining a (mostly) peaceful home environment while staying home with children. We will also discuss the climate for mindfulness here in Austria as opposed to my home country, the US.
Free Learning Resources: How To Be More Present During Quarantine
Session Title: Bringing Mindfulness Home During Covid
Nara Andrade • www.linhalab.org
I’m Dr. Nara Andrade, Professor, Clinical Neuropsychologist, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Human Neurodevelopment. As a professor, I have been publishing books, coordinating professional training, and projects with international cooperation to foster resilience and promote mental health through mindfulness and social and emotional learning. I am especially interested in building bridges between science and public policies to reduce the impact of poverty on children and young people.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
In our talk, we will address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and toxic stress related to poverty on mental health and learning. We will discuss how mindfulness can be a fundamental tool for cognitive stimulation and for the promotion, prevention, and rehabilitation of mental health in children and young people. We will present intervention programs carried out in collaboration with international organizations, such as UNICEF.
Session Title: Mindfulness and Youth: The Art of Raising Resilience
Eline Snel • www.elinesnel.com
Eline Snel is a therapist and certified MBSR / Compassion trainer and runs the International Academy for Mindful Teaching. She has been developing and teaching mindfulness-based courses for over thirty years. With her international team, she teaches teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and child professionals to deliver the Mindfulness “Frog method” ( Method Eline Snel) to children from 5-19 in schools and private practice all over the world for the last 12 years. She also developed a specialized eight-week Mindfulness train trainer program ( in English) to become a full Certified Mindfulness Trainer for teachers, psychologists, caregivers and parents. For more info : www.elinesnl.com
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Mindful education in schools and at home is not a luxury anymore. It has become a need in this complex world to be able to learn how to pay attention, how to focus and concentrate, and how to be in a warm relationship with ourselves and others. It starts with curiosity and with a genuine and deep interest in the effect of our thoughts and feelings on our (often automatic) behavior.
Free Learning Resource: Sitting Still Like a Frog Documentary, Willibrord Mindful School, A Safe Place
Session Title: The Magic of Mindfulness in Education
Book: Sitting Still Like a Frog, Sitting Still Like a Frog Activity Book, Breath Through This, Awaking of the Little Frog ( is published soon by Shambhala publications )
Florencia Brandino • www.proyectomindfulness.com
Hello! My name is Florencia from América Latina, Uruguay. I am part of a team called Proyecto Mindfulness, we offer different international programs, and other workshops and courses focused on Mindfulness and Compassion. I currently work in the kids, family, and education department, directed by Fátima Pérez; and also in the Mindfulness and Arts area. I wrote and illustrated a Mindfulness book for kids, that is very playful and is actually being used in education.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
I will share with you a glimpse of what is going on in Uruguay around Mindfulness and education in Covid times, including how and why to include compassion practices, CFT emotional regulation model, sensory-motor therapy, and art mediums.
Free Learning Resources: Bringing awareness and releasing emotions with art.
Session Title: Uruguay Around Mindfulness and Education in Covid Times
Book: La Linterna Mágica – Mindfulness Para Niños
Kevin Hawkins • https://www.mindwell-education.com/
Kevin Hawkins has worked with adolescents and young people in various contexts for over 30 years – as a teacher, school head, and social worker in the UK, Africa, and Europe. He has taught mindfulness to children, teenagers, teachers, and parents since 2008 and is a Senior Trainer for the Mindfulness in Schools Project (UK), a facilitator for the evidence-based CARE program (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Educators), and an independent educational consultant. In 2012 he co-founded MindWell, which supports educational communities in developing wellbeing through mindfulness and social-emotional learning (SEL). Kevin is a regular speaker, writer, and presenter on the topics of mindfulness, wellbeing, and social-emotional learning in education.
Session Title: Mindful Teacher Mindful School
Book: Mindful Teacher Mindful School
Matthew Green • www.5th.place
Matthew is one half of 5th Place, an organization whose mission is to make the world a better place by enabling the how. Matthew is a coach and therapist specializing in emotion regulation, in particular stress and anxiety. He loves to connect with people and inspire them to become more engaged with their feelings. He’s been meditating since he was 10 years old, a qualified aromatherapist, EFT practitioner, and coach. He’s studied Waldorf education, NLP, and has been researching and working with human development potential for the last 30 years. Matthew speaks, writes, facilitates, and coaches on all things emotion-related.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
5th Place developed a mindfulness-based tool directly in response to working in under-resourced schools and witnessing the trauma prevalent in the learners, educators, and community. This trauma directly inhibits the capacity to learn. This tool is called the Shape of Emotion and is also a model and process of how we structure, store, represent, and regulate inner feeling states. With it, stuck emotions can be gently and easily released allowing for a return to a centered, resourceful state.
The talk explores how Shape of Emotion was used during COVID-19 lockdown to educate and support parents, teachers, and in particular, students to deal with the mental and emotional challenges brought on by the onset of COVID-19.
Free Learning Resources: Online Emotional Fitness Class An Emotional Fitness Class is a one-hour space for you to look after and nourish your emotions and feeling state as much as you look after your body and physical state. We clear at least one difficult emotion and expand one positive or supportive emotion.
Session Title: Shape of Emotion
Ayaka Mawary • https://daijoubu.colores.life/
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Japan-based advanced EQ facilitator, founder at DAIJOUBU (means “you’re safe; we’re alright in Japanese”), a mother of two children, and singer-songwriter. Ayaka gives some courses for children and adults who would like to become a professional of themselves and to feel more comfortable and motivated to enjoy their life stories. Ayaka loves to collaborate beyond the countries to create something to make this world a better place.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
What’s happening in Japan?
What class do Japanese public schools have instead of SEL or mindfulness classes?
Disciplines to imaginations.
What does DAIJOUBU do in Japanese education?
Free Learning Resources: 8 Emotions and Messages(*in Japanese) 8つの感情と感情のメッセージ
Session Title: The Sense of DAIJOUBU to Heal This World
Priyanka Handa Ram • www.learntoplay.org
Priyanka Handa Ram is a social entrepreneur and author on a mission to transform how the world sees, cares for, educates, and protects young children. She does this through consulting work, programme innovation, and community initiatives, which encourage collaboration and responsibility – focusing on the most sustainable and scalable methods of Early Childhood Care and Education.
Free Learning Resources: Rainbow Play Approach
Session Title:
Book: A Tiger’s Tale
Safina Hirji • www.mindfulmeatball.com
Safina Hirji (B.A, B.Ed, M.Ed.) is the founder of Stillness Hub (www.stillnesshub.com) which offers Mindfulness Support to different segments of the population with a particular focus on teachers and schools. She is also the author of Mindful Meatball, a book of 8 stories that incorporate social-emotional learning. She incorporates Mindfulness into her classroom and has found enormous benefits for students and parents alike. Safina has been practicing Meditation and Mindfulness for the last 7 years and is also a seasoned veteran in the realm of adult education and she has coached, supported, mentored and trained hundreds of teachers and school administrators.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Imagine seamlessly integrating Mindfulness and Curriculum into the classes you teach. It’s social-emotional learning but with a twist. This presentation will focus on how you can seamlessly embed mindfulness into your literacy or language classrooms.
Free Learning Resources: Mindful Meatball (free giveaway to 3 lucky people)
Session Title: Seamless Integration of Social Emotional Learning Using Literacy
Book: Mindful Meatball
Louisa Jewell • www.louisajewell.com
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Louisa Jewell holds a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania and is the founder and president of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association. She is the host of The Awesome Project, a new Audible Originals Podcast series that will be released in early 2021. Mainly known for her work educating people and practitioners around the world about the neuroscience of resilience, Jewell appears regularly on CBC radio as a well-being expert and has been featured extensively in other media including Forbes, Fast Company, and Oprah Magazine. Jewell is a featured expert in several documentaries including The Science of Happiness and Mental Health in the City and her best-selling book Wire Your Brain For Confidence: The Science of Conquering Self-Doubt was named in the top 100 Best Psychology Books of All Time by Book Authority.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
As we face greater challenges with the pandemic, we need strategies that will allow us to maintain a positive and optimistic mindset and respond effectively to stress. Louisa helps people transform the way they work and play to achieve sustained productivity, health, and happiness. Positive Psychology is grounded in scientific evidence that optimism, resilience, mindfulness, and meaning are crucial to everyday performance and improved well-being. Louisa will discuss her favorite strategies for dealing with the chronic stress brought on by the pandemic.
Free Learning Resources: Free first chapter of Wire Your Brain for Confidence; The Science of Conquering Self Doubt
Session Title: Reducing Stress and Anxiety During Challenging Times
Book: Wire Your Brain for Confidence; The Science of Conquering Self-Doubt
Katharine Roff • www.6seconds.org
Katharine is the Network Director for Europe with Six Seconds, the global non-profit dedicated to growing emotional intelligence. Her work involves supporting individuals, teams, and organizations across Europe to develop and practice emotional intelligence to increase personal and organizational effectiveness.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
This session will help you to understand how to implement emotional intelligence in a practical and useful way.
Free Learning Resources: free emotional intelligence profile
Session Title: MAD Ideas to Be More Emotionally Intelligent
Joshua Freedman • www.6seconds.org
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Joshua Freedman is a specialist on emotional intelligence, an author, and the Chief Executive Officer of Six Seconds, a non-profit dedicated to emotional intelligence (EQ). He has helped co-develop EQ assessments and published a number of books and articles on the topic, creating an international network of consultants and coaches. – Bio from Wikipedia
Free Learning Resources: Popup Festival
Session Title: Being Hopeful in the Time of COVID
Caverly Morgan •
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And check out my new Children’s Book!
“A Kids’ Book About Mindfulness invites child and adult alike to connect in a deep and life-changing conversation about the nature of who we are. Caverly Morgan is a wise, caring, insightful guide in this magnificent journey that explores the nature of our minds, how we become aware of the outer and inner world, and ways we can create a more clear, stable attention. The calm and concentration that emerge with this deceptively simple but profound practice of distinguishing the foundational awareness from that which we are aware of can transform the life of a child, adolescent, and adult toward more well-being in life. What a gift that keeps on giving!”
Caverly Morgan is a meditation teacher, nonprofit leader, and visionary. She is the Founder of
Presence Collective, dedicated to igniting personal transformation and collective awakening.
She is also the Founder and Head of Practice of Peace in Schools — a nonprofit which created
the nation's first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Caverly is the author of the
newly released book, A Kids Book About Mindfulness.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Please join Caverly Morgan, the founder of Peace in Schools – the first accredited mindfulness
the education program in the US – and Dr. Sará King, the Executive Director of Peace in Schools
and the creator of the “Science of Social Justice” evidence-based contemplative framework for
research and facilitation as they discuss how they each came to their mindfulness practice, how
they found each other as collaborators and “loving-disruptors” in their mission to bridge the
world of social justice and mindfulness education, and how they are envisioning the future of
mindfulness education in its capacity to inspire collective liberation from intergenerational
trauma.
Session Title: Mindfulness in USA
Book: A Kid’s Book About Mindfulness
Deborah Salazar Shapiro • www.DeborahSalazarShapiro.com
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Deborah Salazar Shapiro, MSW, is a psychotherapist, accredited mindfulness meditation and compassion teacher, certified Forest Therapy® guide, and award-winning author, with over 15 years’ clinical experience. She has studied with Buddhist teachers in the U.S., Myanmar, India, and Japan. Deborah, who teaches in both English and Spanish, specializes in trauma-sensitive mindfulness, nature, intuition, and somatic practices. Currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology, she is passionate about sharing mindfulness and compassion practices internationally.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Deborah will provide unique insights into the connection between mindfulness, nature, and resilience. She will share how to connect with the natural world on a deeper level for a greater sense of joy and meaning in your daily life.
You can look forward to learning:
• How every moment can be an opportunity to practice mindfulness.
• How committing to a formal meditation practice increases your resilience through life’s challenges.
• How the concept of “time famine” prevents us from living our lives to the fullest and how to overcome this to bring more meaning and fulfillment to each day.
• How to practice mindfulness in nature using a simple Forest Therapy invitation to release stress, connect with the earth, and deepen your presence.
• How sharing mindfulness around the world through Deborah’s children’s book has increased her cultural awareness and sensitivity to diversity.
• How growing up in El Salvador during the time of the civil war helped Deborah to connect to her purpose.
Session Title: Increasing Resilience and Happiness Through Mindfulness and Nature
Samreen Shah •
Samreen Shah is an educator and author. She started her career working in inner city London schools before moving abroad to work in an international school. Samreen believes in the transformative power of education and has over the last few years been teaching young people struggling with mental health difficulties in a London Hospital School. Her philosophy being that there should be no barriers to receiving a good holistic education.
Session Title: Mindfulness in the UK
Elmarie Potgieter • www.rite.education • www.thinkwise.education
Elmarié is the founder of the RITE Education Group and is a 100 Meaningful Business 2019 awardee. She has led various international projects in Education Transformation, Curriculum Development, as well as Leadership, and Pedagogical Coaching for over two decades. She is a regular international keynote speaker on thinking skills development, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence and the ideator of the “Inspired: Are you future-ready?” global conference.
Session Title: Mindfulness in the UK
Book: ThinkWise: Little People Big Ideas
María Noel Anchorena •
Managing Director and MBSR Teacher Trainer
- Founder and CEO.
- Lic. In Psychology.
- MBSR Certified Teacher by the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts.
- MBSR Teacher Trainer – Supervisor
- Director of the MBSR Instructor Training for Latin America in collaboration with the Mindfulness Center of the School of Public Health at Brown University.
- Director of the International Certification Program in Mindfulness and Compassion in Psychotherapy.
She is a visiting professor in different training courses at institutions such as the Aiglé Foundation, the University of Buenos Aires, the University of Salvador, the Foro Foundation, the Ricardo Gutierrez Children’s Hospital, among many others.
It regularly dictates training courses and training in the business and corporate environment for the reduction and management of work stress and in the training of health professionals.
It offers training and presentations in the academic and scientific fields at national and international congresses and conferences.
María Noel was a member of the Psychiatry Service of the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires in the evaluation and psychological assistance teams for 5 years.
The María Noel Society seeks to deepen and expand the expansion of Mindfulness, making it accessible to various areas. The development of this initiative is firmly rooted in the science and in the practice and teaching of Mindfulness, to create bridges between the scientific and contemplative disciplines.
Since the age of 21, María Noel has been committed to the personal practice of Mindfulness, participating regularly in meditation retreats in the Buddhist tradition and integrating the practice into her personal life with her partner and two children.
Session Title:
Dr. Sara King • www.peaceinschools.org • www.mindheartconsulting.com • www.caverlymorgan.org
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Dr. Sará King is the Executive Director of Peace in Schools. She is a UCLA- trained neuroscientist, educator, political and learning scientist, social- entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor. She is also a post-doctoral fellow at Oregon Health Science University (OHSU) in their department of Neurology and has over 20 years of experience as an applied research scientist, specializing in the study of the relationship between mindfulness, community healing, complementary alternative healthcare, and social justice.
What we will learn in this presentation or interview
Please join Caverly Morgan, the founder of Peace in Schools – the first accredited mindfulness education program in the US – and Dr. Sará King, the Executive Director of Peace in Schools and the creator of the “Science of Social Justice” evidence-based contemplative framework for research and facilitation as they discuss how they each came to their mindfulness practice, how they found each other as collaborators and “loving-disruptors” in their mission to bridge the world of social justice and mindfulness education, and how they are envisioning the future of mindfulness education in its capacity to inspire collective liberation from intergenerational trauma.
Session Title: The Science of Social Justice meets Peace in Schools
Free Learning Resources: https://mindheartconsulting.com/media/
Book: A Kids Book About Mindfulness
Kami Dvorakova •
Kami Dvorakova is a Czech education researcher, specializing in cultivating social-emotional competencies in educational settings, and applying evidence-based practices to enhance young people’s well-being. Currently, with a team at the Prague National Institute for Mental Health, she is developing prevention-based mental health interventions for middle school children, teachers, and helping professionals. She has a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University (under the guidance of Prof. Mark Greenberg).
Session Title: Mindfulness in Czech Republic
Lienhard Valentin • https://www.lienhard-valentin.de/
When I founded Arbor Verlag more than 30 years ago, I hadn’t the faintest idea where this decision would lead. Neither did I have a clue about the publishing industry or the customs of the book trade – and I didn’t have any financial resources either. I was in my mid-twenties, had completed my training as a teacher of the Alexander Technique and in person-centered conversation, and had come across two books that I found important, but which no publisher wanted.
Session Title: Mindfulness in Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Prof. Thakur S Powdyel •
Thakur S. Powdyel is an educator by choice, conviction and passion. As the country’s first democratically elected Minister of Education, he moved Bhutan towards fulfilling the MDGs and the country’s constitutional mandate for education. His major interests include institutional integrity, national self-respect, moral literacy and gross national happiness. Powdyel’s vision of holistic education as expressed in My Green School has been translated into several languages. He is a recipient of the Gusi Peace Prize, the Global Education Award, and the Distinguished Service Award for his pioneering work in Education as well as the Coronation Gold Medal 2008 and the Institutional Award: The Honour of Druk Thuksey 2012.
Session Title: Mindfulness in Bhutan