Jon Kabat-Zinn included yoga in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program as both a practice of working with the physical body, as well as a practice of awareness and discernment.

This fall, Laura Smallwood offers two workshops for exploring the physical and meditative benefits of yoga, including how yoga can prepare the body energetically for sitting meditation. Along the way, the ancient practice of yoga will be revisited through the lens of modern mindfulness. 

Flowing into and out of postures, from movement into stillness, participants will practice yoga as the meditative and contemplative practice it was intended to be—connecting practitioners with mental, energetic, discerning, and spiritual aspects of human existence, while also cultivating self-understanding, wisdom, and compassion.

No prior yoga experience is required.

Laura Smallwood is certified to teach in-person and online MBSR through East Coast Mindfulness and is a member of the East Coast Mindfulness faculty. She is also registered as a yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance.

Laura’s interest in movement as practice began at the age of 4, when her mother enrolled her in her first ballet class. Although Laura never danced professionally, she is a lifelong dancer and continues to study and practice dance today. Her current teacher, a modern dance choreographer and traditionally trained yogi, introduced her to the practice of yoga over 20 years ago. Yoga was Laura’s first doorway into the formal practice of mindfulness and continues to be an essential element of her daily mindfulness practice. It is her hope that she can inspire others to embrace yoga as a creative, adaptable, and accessible lifelong practice. 

If we’re living life, at some point, we all experience loss. Loss comes in many forms—loss of loved ones, loss of the life we anticipated/planned, loss of homes/jobs/etc. Join Karen Jones in this 3-session course to share space and hold presence with each other’s journeys of navigating grief, as well as explore and honor each other’s experiences with difficulty and healing around grief and loss, especially as it relates to a mindfulness practice.

Various practices will be offered to support recognition of dysregulation, self-regulation, rebalancing, and refocusing. We will explore how the idea of wise attention can contribute to the potential for profound healing insights, and engage in mindfulness practices and self-discovery opportunities that can help us gain insight into what is supportive, stabilizing and healing.

Karen Jones is a Certified MBSR Teacher who holds a master’s degree in behavioral sciences and a bachelor’s degree in public health education. She uses mindfulness-based interventions to help others set intentions for, and achieve, optimal mental and physical well-being. In her work as a Professional Counselor, Karen has helped people address grief, trauma, anxiety, relationship issues, change, and other stressful conditions and situations. In 2024 she retired after 30 years as an outpatient counselor in various settings and is the founder of Mindfulness and Motion, LLC where she focuses on teaching and mentoring about mindfulness.

Whether you identify as neurodivergent, wonder if you might, or support others who do, this session is an opportunity to learn, reflect, connect, and explore what it means to be “neurodiverse,” how differences in attention, perception, and sensory experience can influence one’s practice, and how mindfulness can be adapted to honor those differences rather than suppress them.

We’ll look at the neuroscience of diverse minds, common neurotypes like ADHD and autism, and how mindfulness can be both a support and a challenge. Most importantly, we’ll investigate how to practice in a way that is affirming, authentic, and inclusive—whatever your wiring.

Catherine Franssen, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist, educator, and mindfulness advocate who brings deep scientific knowledge and lived compassion to her teaching. She is the founder of Franssen Strategies, where she empowers individuals and organizations through neuroscience-informed coaching, with a focus on performance, well-being, and neurodiversity. Catherine draws on her decades of experience in research, teaching, and personal mindfulness practice to offer grounded, accessible insights into how different minds experience the world—and how mindfulness can help all of us thrive.