I grew up in a beautiful coastal town in Australia called Byron Bay which during the ’80s had plenty of alternative therapies and colorful groups of people. By the time I was a teenager I was completely drawn to Eastern philosophy and its strong connection to nature.
Traveling in India for a year in my early 20’s I had the wonderful experience of dabbling in a few different schools of meditation and by my later 20’s participating in 10day silent retreats. They were positive life-changing experiences but the curious thing was that I didn’t, couldn’t, and had no idea how to, maintain a daily practice away from the meditation centers.
In my mid 30’s after being an acupuncturist for nearly a decade, I realized that I could not rely solely on treating the body for tension, pain, discomfort, suffering, and other problems – including in my own, so I started to explore deeper into ‘modern’ mindfulness. Its different perspectives on meditation completely broadened my understanding of meditation and I was re-engaged! Finally, I learned how to maintain a daily practice nearly 15 years after having my earliest mindfulness experiences. In 2017 I discovered ‘The Science of Enlightenment”. My immediate thoughts were I need to learn more from this teacher Shinzen! I did the Foundations course almost immediately and I haven’t stopped learning since then.
Learning from Shinzen and his Unified Mindfulness system has radically changed how I use my senses and perceive the world. It felt like a big piece of the jigsaw that I had been waiting to piece in my puzzle. It has deepened my own practice of mindfulness, and I believe has made me a more patient, sensitive, caring, happy, relaxed, and balanced person. I am able to listen better, understand better, feel better, respond better, and this makes me a better practitioner to all.
I currently work in two multidisciplinary teams, one directed by a Rehabilitation Specialist dealing with physical injuries and trauma, and another at a residential Drug, Alcohol, and Trauma Clinic. Mindfulness and somatic awareness are very much a prominent part of my treatment programs.
Julianna received her BA in psychology from Duke University. As founder, president, and head trainer of Unified Mindfulness, she is dedicated to disseminating Shinzen Young’s comprehensive mindfulness meditation system through the creation and presentation of educational programs and teacher-training certification programs.
Dr. Hunter serves as associate professor of practice and is the founding director of the Executive Mind Leadership Institute at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University. He also serves as visiting professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where he developed and co-teaches the Leading Mindfully executive education program..
Dr. Eisendrath serves as chief psychologist and president of the Institute for Dialogue Therapy, P.C., where, as a Jungian analyst, she offers psychotherapy with individuals and couples, psychoanalysis, supervision, and training.
Dr. Vago serves as the research director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and the director of the Contemplative Neuroscience and Integrative Medicine (CNIM) Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is an associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Department of Psychiatry.
Stella is a psychologist, professor, and Zen practitioner. She became a formal student in 2008 in the Soto Zen tradition. She teaches courses in mindfulness based psychotherapies and the psychology of compassion at the Union Institute & University. She also co-facilitates a family program and young adult program at Shao Shan Temple, in Woodbury Vermont.
Dr. Creswell serves as a tenured associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the director of the Health & Human Performance Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. McCormick currently serves as director of education at Unified Mindfulness. In 1975, he received a B.A. in psychology from the University of California Santa Cruz, where he was part of Dr. Elliot Aronson’s research team that examined cooperative approaches to reducing interracial conflict and academic performance problems in newly integrated school, and made Honors in Psychology, College Honors, and Thesis Honors.
UnifiedMindfulness.com is the official teacher training platform for Shinzen and the Unified Mindfulness System.
Created over 50 years of research and testing by Shinzen Young, Unified Mindfulness is a system of meditation that’s easily researchable by science, with clear terminology and rigorous precision around concepts and procedures.
The Unified Mindfulness system is a comprehensive, robust and refined support structure that any individual at any stage of meditation practice can rely on to go deeper in their insight and their ability to share it with others. It is also a secular form of meditation, which means it’s not religious in any way so anyone, of any faith, can do it.