On the Cushion: The Mindfulness Educators Podcast

Michael Chaskalson has been a pioneer in applying mindfulness to leadership and workplace contexts. Based in Cambridge, UK, he has fifty years of personal meditation practice and has spent decades helping to bring contemplative practices into mainstream society and corporate boardrooms. Michael is the founder of Mindfulness Works, a Professor of Practice (adjunct) at Hult Ashridge Executive Education, and an associate at the Møller Institute at Churchill College, in the University of Cambridge. Michael is the author of The Mindful Workplace and the bestseller Mindfulness in Eight Weeks, and has co-authored Mindfulness for Coaches and Mind Time. His latest book, From Mindfulness to Wakefulness, is an attempt to broaden the current conversation around mindfulness to take in aspects of Awakening. As a teachers, speaker, coach, and consultant, Michael has introduced mindfulness-based practices to global corporations, public institutions, and business schools worldwide.In this thought-provoking episode we dive deeply into Michael’s background in teaching mindfulness.

Ted Meissner has been a meditator since the early 90’s, is a UMass Center for Mindfulness Certified MBSR Teacher, and is the host of the podcast Present Moment: Mindfulness Practice and Science and the new video podcast Mindfulness Voyage. He has presented about mindfulness to various groups including Apple, UnitedHealth, Optum, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the National Black Nurses Association, and others. Ted has been published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, Mindful, and The International Journal of Whole Person Care, and is a peer reviewer of articles for the science journal Mindfulness. He supervises mindfulness teachers internationally with the Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches based in Germany, serves as Board Chair for The Mindfulness Network in the U.K., has held master classes for the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation, and teaches various mindfulness and burnout courses live online.In this fascinating episode, we explore Ted's diverse and extensive experience as a mindfulness practitioner and teacher. I hope you enjoy listening!

Margaret Fletcher has a great love and concern for our shared Earth. Margaret is the originator of the MBSR & EcoAwareness Project, bringing MBI teachers together to invite life on Earth into the span of embodied practice and into our teaching, all in love, care and service for our precious planet. Margaret trained and was certified to teach MBSR through the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School, where she also served as an MBSR Teacher and Senior MBSR Teacher Trainer. She trained with and is certified by senior trainers at Bangor and Oxford Universities in assessing MBSR teacher competency using the MBI-TAC tool, which she uses in mentoring mindfulness teachers. In 2019 Margaret co-founded East Coast Mindfulness with Rebecca Eldridge; Margaret continues to teach and train MBSR teachers through East Coast Mindfulness. Margaret holds a Master’s degree in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University, and brings over two decades of experience in teaching meditation and mindfulness in corporate, small business, non-profit, church and community settings. As a member of the 2022-2023 Eco-Advisory Group with the BESS Family Foundation, she has found great collegiality, support and inspiration to offer contemplative practices as healing and wellness for the interconnected web of life on Earth.In this podcast episode I explore Margaret’s background and influences related to her work as a mindfulness teacher and teacher educator, and her inspiring vision for the field.

Three friends, Joe Glancy, Liz McEvoy and Andrew Carton together make up The Little Company of Calm. Based in Sunderland, UK, they offer mindfulness courses, activities, and retreats for the public and organisations. As a community interest, not for profit company, they endeavour to provide affordable and high quality mindfulness provision for their local area. In this episode, we dive into their individual journeys, the shared philosophy that binds their teaching, and their big-picture vision for a more mindful society.

Andy Wistreich has been teaching Buddhist meditation and leading retreats around the world for the past 45 years, within the Tibetan tradition. He has been encouraged to teach by his own teachers, who are mostly Tibetan lamas. In his mid-seventies he lives in Somerset, UK, with his wife Shan Tate, with whom he often co-leads courses and retreats. Trained as a Further Education teacher, and having studied learning and teaching in a masters in education, Andy also trains Buddhist teachers within the Foundation for the Mahayana Tradition. His approach to this is dialogical, based on the understanding that the teacher's role is to facilitate learning, such as through meditation. In this podcast episode we explore Andy’s background and influences, and his enduring commitment to teaching meditation.

Suryacitta Smith has been practising meditation since 1989 and teaching since 1997. He is the author of five books on meditation and happiness. After many years of practising and teaching mindfulness, he recognised that it did not fully address the root of human psychological suffering - the central concern of the Buddha’s teaching.Around a decade ago, Suryacitta was drawn to the understanding of non-duality, which he describes as the missing piece of the puzzle. This perspective now deeply informs his work, which is characterised by directness, simplicity, and a continual pointing beyond conceptual understanding. In this episode I talk with Suryacitta about his extensive background in mindfulness and meditation and his inspiring teaching practice.

As founder and CEO of MindfulnessUK, Karen Atkinson leads its growth and development while pioneering innovative initiatives. Author of Compassionate Mindful Inquiry in Therapeutic Practice (2020), she previously chaired the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA) and remains an active member.MindfulnessUK is a BAMBA and EAMBA-affiliated training organisation, with courses regulated by the CPD Standards Office. Karen, an Honorary Lecturer at Queen’s University, Belfast, began her mindfulness journey in her 20’s as a way of managing the suffering experienced as a result of insidious trauma throughout her childhood. A yoga teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga, she deepened her self-compassion practice during cancer recovery in 2013 and, when diagnosed with her second primary cancer in 2023, responded with deep self-kindness and equilibrium. These experiences empassion Karen to deliver trauma-informed teaching and training globally and she has become an acknowledged specialist in her field.She enjoys gardening, sea swimming, and cycling on her electric bike, Bluebell.In this episode I talk with Karen about how she came to mindfulness and how her background influences her facilitation of mindfulness.

Bill Paterson is a long-standing member of the Mindfulness Association, having begun his journey in 2011 and completed the Mindfulness-Based Living Course teacher training in 2017. Over the years, he has undertaken extensive study in mindfulness, compassion, insight, supervision, and person-centred approaches, and has taught the MBLC to more than 60 diverse groups across Scotland in the public, private, and third sectors.In 2017, Bill developed a Fife-wide mindfulness-in-schools project - later adopted by Fife Education and supported by Fife CAMHS - and in 2019 played a key role in launching Mindful Nation Scotland at the Scottish Parliament. He now integrates his mindfulness and compassion training into his counselling work, offering walk-and-talk therapy in natural settings. Bill has also published research exploring how mindfulness and compassion training influence men’s perceptions of masculinity.In this episode, I talk with Bill about his lived experience of mindfulness, and how it shapes both his teaching and his therapeutic work in the world.

Based in South West Scotland, Clive Holmes has over 25 years’ experience teaching meditation at Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and international Samye Dzong centres. He has completed a year-long intensive retreat, studied with teachers across Asia and Europe, and holds a degree in Western Philosophy. Clive co-edited Taming the Tiger and Restoring the Balance by Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche and holds an honorary Teaching Fellowship at Aberdeen University’s School of Education. In this podcast we explore his inspiring approach to teaching mindfulness and meditation.