International Conference on Mindfulness 2024

ICM:2024 MINDFULNESS IN A CHANGING WORLD
PEOPLE
ICM:2024 MINDFULNESS IN A CHANGING WORLD
PEOPLE
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Conference team

The early vision for the conference was developed in a working group with participation from colleagues from a range of training and research centres, and through a series of consultation events.

We are particularly grateful for the input from Prof Nirbhay Singh, former editor of the Springer Mindfulness Journal and lead of the International Conference on Mindfulness series, Sharon Hadley, CEO, Oxford Mindfulness Foundation, Dr Robert Marx, co-director of the Sussex Mindfulness Centre, Ruth Ormston, former director of The Mindfulness Initiative, Alison Evans, Supervision Lead with the Mindfulness Network and Nick Hammond, Chair of Trustees for the Mindfulness Network.

Picture of Rebecca Crane

 

Rebecca Crane

Conference Chair

Professor Rebecca Crane PhD is the former director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and is a trustee for The Mindfulness Network. She has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on how mindfulness-based programs can be implemented with integrity into mainstream practice settings, and how they can support inner change that contributes to collective and systemic societal shifts towards a more equitable and sustainable world. She has written Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Distinctive Features, co-authored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with People at Risk of Suicide, co-edited Essential Resources for Mindfulness Teachers, and is a Principal Fellow with the Higher Education Academy.

Rebecca is also part of the post-conference workshop MBSR for our current times.

ABOUT REBECCA

 

Ken Lunn 

Conference Director

Ken Lunn, PhD, has an MA in Mindfulness Based Approaches from Bangor University.

He has a long career in information technology research and development, and more recently as a mindfulness teacher, and for most of that time has held leadership roles. He has held senior academic roles, commercial and industrial roles, and was Director of Data and Information Standards for the NHS in England from 2006 to 2014.

He is director of The Mindfulness Network, where he has worked since 2017, and he continues to teach mindfulness.

He has had a regular meditation practice since 1995, and he has a strong personal commitment to sharing the value of mindfulness as widely as possible.

about ken

 

Bridgette O’Neill

Programme Lead

Bridgette is a clinical psychologist by professional training and has taught mindfulness-based approaches in NHS mental health services for staff and clients since 2002. She is a senior lecturer, trainer and supervisor with the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice and the Mindfulness Network as well as a trainer with the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. Bridgette has a particular interest in mindfulness and compassion-based approaches in relation to social and environmental challenges and is part of the author group of the paper ‘Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Our Time: A Curriculum that is up to the Task’. As well as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Bridgette teaches, supervises, and trains teachers in the Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living programme.

 

Brigitte is part of the pre-conference workshop MBSR for our current times.

about bridgette

 

Sophie Sansom 

Programme Lead

Sophie Sansom, PhD, is co-director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University. As a senior lecturer Sophie teaches on the master's program and is passionate about social and environmental initiatives having recently co-developed the Mindfulness-based Climate Resilience program (MBCR). Founder of SiTT (Support for Integrity in Teaching and Training) Sophie has established frameworks for community development and professional standards in the field. Having collaboratively developed a pioneering approach for the recognition of new MBP curricula Sophie sits on the International Panel of Acknowledgement (IPA) hosted by the European Association of Mindfulness-based Approaches (EAMBA). Leading on the scholarship and development of the Mindfulness-based Interventions -Teaching Assessment Criteria Sophies academic work explores ways of supporting innovation and accessibility while upholding quality and integrity; a key focus in her role as Chair of the British Association of Mindfulness-based Approaches (BAMBA).

Sophie is also part of the pre-conference workshop The MBI:TAC: Past, Present and Future - Holding Integrity in a Changing Landscape.

ABOUT SOPHIE
Gemma Griffith_smaller

 

Gemma Griffith

Academic Lead

Dr Gemma Griffith is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Director of Postgraduate programmes and Co-director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University.

Gemma is also part of the pre-conference workshop The MBI:TAC: Past, Present and Future - Holding Integrity in a Changing Landscape.

ABOUT GEMMA

 

Sonia Gadhia

Planning Advisor

ABOUT SONIA

I have over 17 years of experience in Investment Banking. My current day job involves advising a range of companies on the optimal strategy to raise private debt investment from an international investor base. A lot of my work has been with Universities, Housing Associations, Infrastructure, and Utility issuers.
 
I am also a Certified Health Coach with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I strongly believe that great health is about much more than eating well and exercising and I am very passionate about educating more people on the importance of looking at health from a holistic perspective. Mindfulness has played an essential part and really helped me to navigate my day-to-day work, Board commitments, and family life with two young kids. My passion for holistic health and mindfulness attracted me to the role of Trustee for the Mindfulness Network.
 
I am also on the Committee and Treasurer for the NatWest Market’s Wellbeing Employee Network and an Advisor to the Board of the UK & International Health Coach Association.
 
As a British Indian female; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion ("ED&I") is something I naturally feel strongly about. I am one of the Leads on the NatWest Markets Women's Network influencing strategy to improve senior female recruitment and retention for NatWest. Despite my work on Gender Equality, I believe it is essential to look at Diversity through a wider lens, especially at aspects that aren't as obvious as gender and race to see. My wider interest in ED&I was the driving force for me joining the EDI Committee for the Mindfulness Network.
ABOUT SONIA

 

Uz Afzal

Planning Advisor

ABOUT UZ

Uz is a mindfulness teacher, trainer and supervisor. Her book, ‘Mindfulness for Children’ was published in 2018. 

Uz is a lead trainer on the mental health charity, Mind’s practitioner training pathway for its 8-week course: Radical Self-Care. The team were recently selected as finalists for the Mindfulness Initiatives’ Innovation in Mindfulness Awards.

 She is known for her enthusiastic approach and has enjoyed leading mindfulness sessions at the Women of the World Festival and popular walking meditations at the V&A Museum. She is particularly interested in welcoming all the intersecting aspects of people’s identities into mindfulness courses.

 Uz is a Trustee of the Mindfulness Network and sits on the EDI board looking at ways to broaden the reach of mindfulness and make it more inclusive. 

ABOUT UZ
Hayley Dunne picture

 

Hayley Dunne

Planning Advisor

ABOUT HAYLEY

Being the best version of yourself because everyone else is taken, supporting people, and looking after your team is what I am passionate about. As someone with a hidden disability, which didn’t become apparent until my mid-30s, it took me some time to get to the best version of myself.
 
My career has been in the charity sector, and I have over 25 years experience of in leading projects and organisational culture. For 22 years I worked in Gender Equality delivering and securing funding for projects. I have led change in outcomes-based ways of working, work-life balance, mental health & wellbeing, home-based working, culture, equality & diversity, and modern working practices all with the aim of supporting individuals to be the best version of themselves.
 
I first became aware of mindfulness before it was called mindfulness through a forward-thinking GP who suggested relaxation techniques to treat tension headaches because of stress at work. That is when my mindfulness practice started and has served me well in becoming the best version of myself. I am grateful for that doctor and the learning I have done, including an MBSR course, and encourage and support others in their well-being by publishing a Wellbeing Wednesday blog on social media.
 
As a Mindfulness Network trustee, I am bringing my leadership, fundraising, and lived experience of a challenge to the table to support the organisation to grow. I am also interested in bringing mindfulness to a broader audience, particularly those with hearing loss.
 
I am Welsh born and bred and Welsh is my first language, I moved to London for a while before moving back to Wales where I now live with my family in the house where I grew up.
ABOUT HAYLEY
Photograph of Ted Meissner

 

Ted Meissner

Planning Advisor

ABOUT TED

I began contemplative practice in the early 1990s in Minneapolis, as a way to work with difficulty focusing attention.  That opened a life-long interest in meditation training and practice, a continued exploration of existing mindfulness approaches, as well as ongoing study of research about potential outcomes for a variety of challenges encountered in daily life.

 

My career has been primarily in IT-related areas for Fortune 500 companies, moving from Excel Energy, IBM, and Assurant, and eventually bringing me to UnitedHealth in 2006.  My work during that time was process automation, strategic planning, business analysis, and eventually leading teams responsible for service governance and user experience for new multi-million dollar technologies.  During that time, I became a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher through the program at UMass’ Center for Mindfulness (CFM), and started two podcasts to share the contemplative journey with others, The Secular Buddhist and Present Moment: Mindfulness Practice and Science.

 

In 2015 I changed careers to become the first full-time mindfulness teacher hired at UnitedHealth for a team called Moment Health.  One year later, another opportunity arose to lead the development of live-online programming and community development at UMass CFM, where I received my formal MBSR training, so in 2016 my wife and I moved from Minnesota to Massachusetts, where we live today.  I returned as a remote worker to UnitedHealth in April of 2019, teaching live online mindfulness and burnout prevention within UHG, UHC, Optum, AbleTo, and various internal companies.

 

I’ve continued to be a science communicator for mindfulness, completed MBSR Teacher certification, and have ongoing training and supervision in this lively and complex discipline.  I currently teach several accessible courses including Mindfulness Foundations, Burnout Prevention & Remediation, Mindful Communication, Working With The Inner Critic, Building Self-Compassion, and various other group-specific programs, along with MBSR.  I teach and supervise MBSR teachers with the Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (IMA) and through Mindfulness Voyage, am a peer-reviewer for the science journal Mindfulness, and am honored to have joined The Mindfulness Network’s Board of Trustees.

ABOUT TED

ICM:2024 Hosts

bangor university

The Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP) at Bangor University was founded by Mark Williams in 2001, following his leadership there in developing Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and was most recently under the directorship of Rebecca Crane. Over the last two decades, the centre has been at the forefront in the emergence of the field of mindfulness-based teaching, training, and research.   

The staff at CMRP are active researchers in the field of mindfulness. An example is a seminal paper called “What defines mindfulness-based programmes? The Warp and the Weft.”  

Bangor University offers a Masters in Mindfulness programme – the first in the world to offer a Masters in mindfulness-based approaches.   

To find out more, please visit the Bangor University website. 

the mindfulness network

The Mindfulness Network is made up of highly experienced trainers and supervisors who can guide you in practising, teaching and deepening your experience of mindfulness and compassion. Our focus is on serving both the mindfulness community and the general public through supervision, retreats, and training programs, offered both in-person and online. 

Additionally, we work with volunteers to run a programme of inspiring events and community groups – the Mindfulness Network Community Friends. We raise funds through donations and provide bursaries that support, train and widen access for mindfulness-based teachers, in line with our charitable purpose. 

Visit our website to find out more about our services 

The Mindfulness Network
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