Mindfulness Toronto

connecting mindfulness-based professionals across the GTA

Welcome to the Mindfulness Toronto Professional Community


Mindfulness Toronto
 is a vibrant community of professionals dedicated to the science, principles and practice of mindfulness in all sectors of society.


Public Website
Please visit our public website at www.mindfulnesstoronto.net for more information on how to join us.

Upcoming and Past Community Meetings

UPCOMING MINDFULNESS TORONTO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY MEETING

Thursday March 28th, 2024, 7:00pm - 8:00pm EST

LIVE ONLINE VIA ZOOM

Healing the family: Applying Mindfulness to Support LGBTQ+ Youth with Esther Persaud, RN

Esther Persaud, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) and is a Registered Nurse (RN) and Certified Mindfulness Teacher (CMT), has been dedicatedly serving as a Public Health Nurse at Toronto Public Health since March of 1999. Her specialized knowledge encompasses parenting, Early Years, and advanced facilitation skills, lending her expertise as an educator in these domains. Esther also has experience working as a coach within the STOMP (Sick Kid Team for Obesity Management Program) at Hospital for Sick Children and is currently working with HeLTI Canada as a coach to women and their partners working to optimize their health in their childbearing years.

Esther is also a certified Incredible Years Group leader and a Nobody’s Perfect Mentor and
Group Leader. In her extensive career, Esther has assumed the role of a mentor, imparting her knowledge and skillset to fellow staff, students, and community members in the areas of parenting, facilitation, physical literacy, and inclusivity. Currently, she holds the position of School Liaison Public Health Nurse, where her work primarily concentrates on Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction.

As a certified Mindfulness Teacher and Trainer, Esther not only practices mindfulness but also teaches and mentors others in both her professional capacity and personal life. She is driven by a keen aspiration to become a Nurse Psychotherapist, intending to incorporate mindfulness with Cognitive Behavior Therapy and enhance her role as a mindfulness role model and educator.

Esther is zealous in her pursuit of aiding youth and families to achieve maximum health and mental well-being, with a particular focus on supporting the LGBTQ2S community. Her personal commitment to social justice is evident in her leadership in training programs for Positive Space initiatives and fostering ambassadorship for the same. Her passion for social equality and personal development reflects her dedication to impacting lives both within her professional field and the larger community.

PREVIOUS MINDFULNESS TORONTO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS

Tuesday Feb 27th, 2024 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST

LIVE ONLINE VIA ZOOM

Building the 5 C's of Community Partnerships with Dr. Jackie Sanderlin

In this session, participants will learn how to build community, collaboration, capacity, connection and compassion to increase mindfulness and be empowered leaders. 

Dr. Jacqueline Sanderlin has over 30 years of K-adult education. She holds a B.A. in Communications, M.A. in Special Education and an Ed.D. in Education, Leadership, Administration and Policy. More specifically, she has served as a special education teacher, curriculum specialist, assistant principal, principal, district administrator, SEL/Wellness coordinator, college professor, and executive director of school-community engagement. She is an Executive Board Member for the Goldie Hawn Foundation (Mind Up) and Steering Committee member for SEL4CA (Social Emotional Learning Alliance for California). Her passion has led to cultivating more than 350 community partnerships and dramatic school improvements around the world. These efforts afforded Dr. Sanderlin an opportunity to become the consulting producer of the NBC reality show, School Pride. She is a sought-after international speaker, author of the book, The Why Not Challenge: Say Yes to Success with School-Community Partnerships. Currently, she is the National Education Leadership Executive Manager at Apple, Inc. 

Tuesday November 21st, 2023

7:00pm - 8:00pm Online

Applying Mindfulness in Dental Practice

It is no secret that dental professionals work in a field that can be highly stressful. Dental education does not teach us about mental health, self care, compassion or how to cope with the stressors that are unique for us dentists. In this session, Sally will share how she integrates mindfulness in her own practice, engage us in practice and share how mindfulness techniques can help both the dental professional and their patients.

Dr. Sally Safa is a board-certified Periodontist. An alumna of the University of Toronto, she is an associate at the Faculty of Dentistry where she lectures to graduate students. She also works in private practice in North York where she enjoys all aspects of periodontal and implant-related patient care. She is a passionate advocate of wellness for dentists and dental students. Dr. Safa’s Master's research was in the field of Psychoneuroimmunology, understanding the effects of stress on the body. This background combined with her education in the field of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction has allowed her to share the science behind both stress and mindfulness and how it can help reduce stress in our day to day lives at home and the office. She has provided lectures and workshops to dental professionals nationally and internationally.

Tuesday October 24th, 2023 12:00pm - 1:00pm 

LIVE ONLINE VIA ZOOM

Perspectives on Mindfulness in Leadership with Hazim Hassan

Having spent the last 15 years with one foot grounded in Healthcare Leadership and the other in Mindfulness and Yoga practice, Hazim aims to share how mindfulness may manifest in the leadership role, sharing insights and practices that may support established and developing leaders. This session will be a combination of sharing, engaging, and practice with the ultimate goal of understanding the leadership role and how to better engage with it. This is a session that is open to all, as we all face moments where we have to take on a leadership role. Hazim will share the importance of approaching leadership with kindness, curiosity, presence and wisdom.  


Bio: Hazim Hassan is a lifelong meditation practitioner, a passionate healthcare leader, and a budding Public Health Scientist. His journey started with almost a decade of Yoga practice, culminating with a Teaching certificate through the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. In the last 5 years he has dedicated his practice to meditation, studying with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach as part of the Mindfulness Teacher Certification Program. Seeing the incredible insight and value that practice brings, Hazim has dedicated the last few years to combining his yoga and meditation knowledge into his professional career. Hazim has worked over 10 years as a Senior Healthcare Executive, and is currently the Vice President of Business Planning and Strategy at the Ontario Hospital Association. His contemplative practice has been a source of nourishment, authenticity, and clarity in moments of success and challenges over the course of his career. With an MBA from McMaster University, Hazim is currently completing his Doctoral of Public Health at the University of Toronto, with a focus on mindfulness in the healthcare setting. 

Tuesday September 26th, 2023

7:00pm - 8:00pm LIVE Online

Amee Le 
Founder & Director of Mindful OT
Certified HeartMath Practitioner

Women in Business - A Mindful Approach 

Amee Le's presentation, "Women in Business - A Mindful Approach," shares her inspiring journey as an occupational therapist and entrepreneur. Founding Mindful OT, a clinic for children and families with Autism and Developmental Challenges, she navigated challenges like pivoting to a physical clinic space and scaling her business. Her passion-driven approach inspires women in business, highlighting the power of mindfulness in building success and creating a compassionate, inclusive world.

Amee Le, M.Sc., OT Reg. (Ont.), OTR, is a passionate and highly experienced occupational therapist and founder of Mindful OT, a leading children’s treatment clinic in Newmarket, Ontario. With over 15 years of experience, Amee’s mission is to see each child for who they truly are and to show adults and families the way forward through occupational therapy. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her contributions to the field, including the Platinum Jubilee Pin in 2022 for building strong and inclusive communities. Amee holds a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Queen’s University and an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Child Studies from the University of Guelph. She also holds certification as an Occupational Therapist in Canada and the USA.

Wednesday July 12th, 2023

7:00pm - 8:15pm Online

Kate Kitchen

Why Poetry?
Exploring why we include poetry in mindfulness practice


Paying attention, purposefully, in the only time you have to live, the present moment Kabat-Zinn

From the first moment I began to explore MBSR and MBCT I found the inclusion of poetry fascinating. My first thought was that Jon Kabat-Zinn must simply love poetry. I never had that confirmed but it still seems true to me.

My other thought was that prose is like problem-solving. It has a subject and an action, the verb, where the subject is going. Prose is very useful, practical. What would we do without all that carefulplanning that goes into a sentence, a paragraph, an article in the newspaper?

But, there is a problem, or maybe a dilemma, since problem seems a bit too judgemental. Prose has a kind of closed-in quality, a figuring things out to come up with an answer. What poetry gives us is opening, observation, non-judgemental, mindful observation. It often has an “awe” quality.

Okay, I have made some snap judgements here. It isn’t that one is good and the other bad. It is that we use prose the most. Like mindfulness, poetry gives us another way into our minds, into experience – an exploration without the goal of there being one answer. So, exploring the connections between mindfulness and poetry is a gift. We don’t have to come up with one answer but take it as an opportunity for being present with the exploration. As Rumi reminds us it is a “Guesthouse” full of arrivals.

Please feel free to share your poems and thoughts about poetry and mindfulness. We can share our wisdom.

Research and Publications

Mindfulness Research Guide is a comprehensive electronic resource that provides information to researchers, practitioners, and the general public on the scientific study of mindfulness.

 

Mindfulness Research Monthly bulletin for the purpose of keeping researchers and practitioners informed of current advances in mindfulness research.

 

Mindful.org is a website where you will find the best feature stories, news, instructions, and commentary—in writing, images, audio, and video—that we can find about mindfulness, awareness, kindness, and compassion.

Videos

 
 
 

A vibrant community of professionals dedicated to the principles and practice of mindfulness in all sectors of society.

Members

Membership Renewals

PayPal Subscription
To renew your membership the preferred method of payment is PayPal Subscription. This service creates an automatically renewing subscription payment from your PayPal account. You can pay with credit card, from a bank account linked to PayPal, or from funds in your PayPal account. Please note that if you choose not to renew your membership in the future, you would need to update your PayPal account to cancel the subscription. PayPal will not send you a reminder on the renewal date. To use this method of payment you will need a PayPal account, and will be prompted to set one up if you do not have one.
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Interac Email Transfer
You can make an Interac email transfer from your bank's online banking service to: mindfulnesstoronto@gmail.com

Please note the steering committee has decided to no longer accept personal cheques or cash.

Your payment will extend your membership for 1 year from the date of payment.

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