Mindful TMU Members
Mindful TMU members include faculty and staff across the university
Neil is Instructor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour in the School of Business Management at TRSM.
With over 45 years of Sufi spiritual training, practice, and teaching, Neil incorporates the practice of mindfulness into his teachings, community engagement, and research. In particular, Neil has incorporated mindfulness meditation into his undergraduate and graduate curriculum (MHR405, MHR721, MHR741, MHR711).
Jasna is an Associate Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing.
Jasna incorporates the practice of mindfulness in her pedagogical and research approaches, as well as in her professional development workshops. Her focus is to build student and teacher capacity for the cultivation of mindfulness within a teaching-learning context. The intentions behind Jasna's work are to: (i) support self-care; (ii) build more mindful communities; and (iii) help students take these skills into their personal and professional lives.
Graduate students can join Jasna's weekly GRAD Breather (opens in new window) sessions.
Alexandra is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.
With over 10 years of mindfulness practice, Alex is a qualified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), as defined by the UCSD Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute.
Alex engages in mindfulness-related research; she incorporates mindfulness practice into her curriculum (e.g., PSY805); and she offers MBSR workshops and informal mindfulness sessions for the 50+ community. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex started Our Mindful Community, a weekly informal virtual mindfulness session for the 50+ community.
Ann is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism at FCAD. She has practiced meditation for two decades and mindfulness for over 5 years. She is a SMART certified trainer for educators.
In addition to teaching and community engagement, Ann has pursued mindfulness-related research. Funded by the CELT, Ann's research examined the utility of mindfulness as a skill to alleviate workplace stress for Journalism students. A Ryerson graduate, she returned to teach here after a career as a television and print journalist and has led mindfulness sessions in newsrooms.
Diana is a clinical psychologist who has been working with Ryerson University’s Centre for Student Development and Counselling since 1991. She is an adjunct faculty member at OISE/UofT in the Counselling Psychology Deptartment and in the Psychology Department at Ryerson University.
In 2016, Diana’s long-standing interest and certification in Positive Psychology led to a secondment to the ThriveRU program. She is the co-creator of the Thriving in Action program(ThriveRU (opens in new window) ). She incorporates mindfulness meditation into her classes and programs on a regular basis.
Ellen is an Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management and Organizarional Behaviour in the School of Business Management at TRSM.
Ellen's research examines the influence of Eastern mindfulness practice on organizational behaviour outcomes, including team performance, resilience, wellbeing, stress, errors, authenticity, self-compassion, and creativity. She is also a yoga instructor, executive meditation coach, and delivers mindfulness workshops and keynote addresses to corporate audiences.
Lianne is the Manager of Student Engagement and Development in The Creative School and is responsible for developing co-curricular programming for students within the Faculty.
She is a certified yoga teacher specializing in yoga fundamentals and restorative yoga and frequently provides classes to students within The Creative School. Lianne also plans Wellness Week which includes academic workshops, activities allowing creative expression, and guided meditation.
Deena is the Coordinator of Student Transitions and Retention, Student Wellbeing at Ryerson University, and is the President of the Learning Specialists Association of Canada. Whether by immersion in nature, somatic programming, digital strategies, or arts-based provocations, Deena helps students learn how to learn, and to do so from an equity-guided, research-driven, health-promoting approach. Deena offers a holistic, empathic, and joy-based pedagogical stance. Deena is co-initiator of the Thriving in Action resilience intervention (ThriveRU (opens in new window) ), and oversees the Portage (opens in new window) paddling program and Mood Routes (external link, opens in new window) campus st/rolling initiative. Deena is also a trained yoga teacher (200 hour), restorative yoga teacher (60 hour), mindfulness meditation teacher, and owner of Awakened Learning (external link, opens in new window) .
Marni is the Associate Director, Academic Leadership and an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood Studies. Her artistic practice, research and teaching are rooted in arts-based education and a holistic philosophy. She brings creativity and mindfulness practices to the scholarship of teaching and learning in her mentorship of faculty and students.
Dave is a professor of entrepreneurship and strategy in the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. His research includes the cognitive and behavioural aspects of individuals engaged in the entrepreneurial journey, including the roles of mindfulness, perceptions, self-efficacy, and creativity on entrepreneurial outcomes. He has formal training in Zen (Chogye order) and Vipassana mindfulness, and has more than 20 years of dedicated personal practice and experience with methods and techniques to develop both mindfulness and concentration. He has led multiple series of mindfulness classes for Ryerson faculty and administrative staff, and teaches individual students on request. His dharma name is Kuwon Shil Seng.
Melanie has been an Instructor with Humber College’s Faculty of Social & Community Services for 3 years. Melanie instils themes of inclusivity and respect into her research and the pedagogy when teaching Child and Youth Care students. Melanie’s research interests focuses on anti-oppressive mental health support for post-secondary students and clinical counselling with a lens towards culturally responsive practice.
Melanie has 15 years of experience in the field as a Counsellor with Kids Help Phone, Good 2 Talk, Health Canada and Immigration Refugees Citizenship Canada. Melanie is a skilled in Narrative, Solution-Focused, CBT, DBT, Motivational Interviewing and Trauma-Informed approaches therapeutic interventions. Melanie is also the Educational Lead for Kids Help Phone Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility (IDEA) Committee.