I came to mindfulness out desperation. Desperation to get sleep, not get habituated to prescription sleep and pain aids.
I had terrible insomnia due tremendous emotional distress and body pain. I didn’t know what else to do and I had absolutely nothing to lose.
As I started to learn how to ride the bucking bronco of my emotions and failing body parts, I tried UM. I had no previous meditation experience.
Cultivating the 3 core attentional skills of Concentration, Sensory Clarity and Equanimity I began to learn how to ride my bucking bronco and in many cases, stop the bucking and just ride and often times “just be” (no bucking, no riding, just being).
It was the most effective thing I did to learn about myself and apply these skills to bring the very much needed skill of equanimity to bear on my troubled mind, heart and body.
At length, I took the coaching class (Pathways) and now have completed the Compass Teacher training course, because I want to be available to help others with their suffering and be part of their process of transforming their suffering as I did.
I have applied these skills to:
-my triathlon training (athletics)
-my stressful job (corporate America, etc)
-bereavement/dying/grieving (hospice volunteer)
-physical injury/surgery/rehab therapy (post surgical care for full hip replacement)
-Pain management (physical) and emotional
-trauma work (sometimes with the use of psychedlics) to help develop insight and skillful navigation in this challenging world.
-Psychedlic preparation, trip sitting and post trip integration
Now that you know a bit about my journey, I’d love to come along side you on yours.
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.