Hi, I’m Kelly
I started practicing mindfulness and meditation more than 25 years ago because I was once a hard-charging, deadline-oriented journalist looking for a way to become less stressed and overwhelmed by the demands of work and life.
Early in my meditation journey, I had a somewhat obvious, but profound realization: The more I meditated the better my life became.
For me, mindfulness was like a multifaceted jewel that shined a light in every area of my life, allowing me to become less anxious and harried at work, more focused and present in daily life and more connected to myself and others. All of which has made me passionate about sharing mindfulness with others.
Over the years, I’ve taught and coached clients to skillfully work with anxiety and worry as well as chronic pain and illness. I’ve also helped clients work with difficult thoughts, and particularly with strong inner critics. Practices that nurture positivity and compassion and foster greater resilience play a strong role in my personal practice.
I’ve taught mindfulness in a variety of settings – in schools, corporations, universities – and worked with clients from all walks of life.
I’m a Unified Mindfulness teacher, trainer and coach, completing the year-long Compass training. I’ve also taught on retreat with Shinzen Young, co-lead Pathways cohorts and worked as a teaching assistant and mentor for the Compass program.
In addition to my work with Unified Mindfulness, I’ve taught for UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center as well as for eMindful, a leading provider of online-mindfulness programming. As a former associate editor and staff writer for Forbes magazine, I’ve transferred my knowledge of the business world into teaching mindfulness within the workplace. My work for corporations and organizations includes T Mobile, Northern Trust, the City of Hope, the Ellison Institute for Technology, Korn Ferry, the Broad Center, Orrick, Milbank, the University of Virginia and others.
A quote from author Winnifred Gallagher sums up what I hope to offer those who work with me: “Paying rapt attention, whether to a trout stream or a novel, a do-it-yourself-project or a prayer, increases your capacity for concentration, expands your inner boundaries, and lifts your spirits, but more important, it simply makes you feel life is worth living.”
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.