Meet our teachers and staff members!

Ampudia, Mariana

Mariana Ampudia

Youth Program Teacher

Mariana is a certified Mindfulness Instructor for kids and teens. She took a mentoring and certification training program at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. She also completed an intensive teacher training in the Mindfulness in Schools Education Project (MiSP - .b program), a program launched in the UK, having obtained a certification to teach this dynamic, classroom-based program to middle and high school students. She is currently working to become certified to teach the Making Friends with Yourself Program, which is a Self-Compassion curriculum for teens based on the ideas and research of Kristen Neff and Christopher Germer taught at the Center for Self-Compassion. Since 2015, she has been working with the Youth and Family Programs Division at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. At this time, Mariana provides support in Mindful and Compassionate Parenting Workshops and will start offering training on this to parents in Mexico. Mariana strongly believes in the power of Mindfulness. This has inspired her to concentrate her studies on helping children and teens develop self-regulation, resilience and social-emotional skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. Her passion for teaching children and teens has inspired her to pursue further training in the Little Flower Yoga Program. This also motivated her to start a Stress Reduction Program where she applies her knowledge to teach in economically underdeveloped areas in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she has been teaching a multiage group of teens and pre-teens. Mariana is a multicultural woman. She spent eight years living in Europe. This has helped her better understand how different societies work. Her native language is Spanish and also speaks English, French and German. She spends her free time traveling and producing wine at her vineyards in Ensenada, Mexico with her husband.

Atala-Doocy, Lisette

Lisette Atala-Doocy

Certified MBSR Teacher

Lisette Atala-Doocy is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Instructor who also holds a Certification from The Mindfulness in Schools Education Project, a program originally from the UK. Furthermore, she received a Certificate of Attendance from the Omega Institute on Radical Acceptance: Pathway of Emotional Healing & Spiritual Freedom led by Tara Brach. She is Co-Founder of the Bilingual Center for Mindfulness, which promotes mindfulness courses in Spanish and English.

Lisette's strong conviction about the benefits and power of mindfulness practice has inspired her to passionately promote these techniques within our community. She has been teaching MBSR, Mindful Yoga and Mindful Living in Spanish and English for several years in the San Diego – Baja California regions. The mindfulness programs she has led in various institutions include the School of Medicine, Baja California State University and a Scripps Clinic women's group. She has been spearheading a Mindful-Living group for more than six years. In addition to having practiced meditation for over 23 years, Lisette has also studied classical music and linguistics while making significant contributions to the San Diego art world over the course of many years.

Ballentine, Amy

Amy Ballentine

Youth, Family & Education Program Teacher

​Amy Balentine has worked as a licensed clinical psychologist in Memphis, Tennessee since 2004. She is the owner and CEO of Memphis Center for Mindful Living, LLC where she and others offer psychotherapy, mindfulness classes, yoga, and retreats. She specializes in work with children and teens as well as in anxiety, depression and trauma with all ages. She collaborates with others through the center in research studies in the area of mindfulness interventions. She is also involved in creating mindfulness tools for children. Additionally, she is also a behavioral health consultant at Christ Community Health Services in Memphis, providing integrated health care and mindfulness interventions to the underserved. She is a qualified teacher in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction through UCSD Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute Additionally, she is trained in teaching the A Friend in Me: An Emotional Strength Training Program for Children.

Becker, Michelle M.A., LMFT

Michelle Becker, M.A., LMFT

MSC Teacher Trainer
Compassion for Couples Teacher

Michelle is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, the developer of the Compassion for Couples program, and the founder of Wise Compassion- a company specializing in teaching compassion in various relational contexts. She is a teacher trainer, mentor and co-founder of the Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher Training, as well as a senior teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training, certified Daring Way Facilitator and a Senior Trainer at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. She teaches and speaks on the topics of compassion internationally. You can listen to her podcast: Well Connected Relationships wherever you like to listen to podcasts or on her website. Her book Compassion for Couples: Building the Skills of Loving Connection is due out February 2023. For more information please visit her website: WiseCompassion.com.

Bhatti, Tahir MD

Tahir Bhatti, MD

Wellness Physician

Tahir Bhatti, MD has been a faculty member at the UC San Diego School of Medicine since 1997, working both in the Department of Medicine and Department of Psychiatry as an Associate Clinical Professor. He is currently a Wellness Physician providing meditation instruction and Life Coaching through the UC San Diego Concierge Medicine, UC San Diego Executive Health & Wellness, UC San Diego Center for Wellness, and UC San Diego (Dean Ornish) Cardiac Rehabilitation & Wellness programs. He obtained his undergraduate degree at Brown University, completed his medical training at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, began his residency training in psychiatry at Rush Medical Center in Chicago and then completed his residency and a clinical research fellowship at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. He became a meditation practitioner in the early 1990's to cope with some stress related health issues. He worked with t'ai chi, qigong, yoga, mindfulness and other forms of sitting meditations. His dramatic improvement with meditation led him to conduct studies on Complementary & Alternative Medicine during his Clinical Research Fellowship. He was awarded one of the first Fellowships to Explore Alternative Therapies in the UCSD School of Medicine. He studied the effect of t'ai chi in patients with chronic low back pain, stress and anxiety. His current clinical work at UC San Diego is focused on teaching the principles and practice of meditation to inspire and empower his patients to claim their optimal health while embracing their most loving and authentic self.

Cullen, Margaret

Margaret Cullen

Certified MBSR Teacher
MBEB Teacher

Margaret Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and was one of the first ten people to become a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher.  For over 20 years, she has pioneered secular contemplative programs for a wide variety of populations including physicians, nurses, HIV positive men, cancer patients, overweight women, military spouses college students, clinicians and educators.  She has developed and taught contemplative interventions for research studies at Stanford, UCSF, Portland State, Penn State, University of Michigan, and University of Miami.  In 2013, she developed a mindfulness and compassion program (MBAT - Spouse) for military spouses that she piloted at Ft. Drum, Maxwell Air Force Base, and Joint Operations Special Command.  In 2015, she co-authored a book on Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance (MBEB), an evidence-based program that she piloted across the US and Canada.  She has also designed and co-delivered teacher trainings for both MBAT-Spouse and MBEB.

As a clinician, Margaret has been a facilitator of support groups for cancer patients and their loved ones for 25 years.  In 2010, she was invited by Thupten Jinpa to contribute to the development of the Compassion Cultivation Training, first through the Center for Compassion, Altruism, Research and Education at the Stanford School of Medicine and currently as Founding Faculty for the Compassion Institute.  A meditator for over 35 years, she has sat dozens of intensive retreats ranging from ten days to three months and has written extensively on mindfulness. Nothing brings her greater joy than contributing to a more compassionate world.

Davis, Helen Ph.D, LMFT

Helen Davis, Ph.D, LMFT

Certified MBSR Teacher

Helen E. Davis, Ph.D, LMFT. is a licensed psychotherapist in group practice in Rancho Bernardo. Helen began her journey in meditation over 30 years ago. It transitioned to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 2013 when she took the 8-week MBSR class at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She has completed the MBSR Teacher Training Intensive under the direction of Susan Woods, LICSW and Char Wilkins, LCSW and attended the Advance Teacher Training facilitated by Dr. Steven Hickman and Beth Mulligan, PA-C.

Helen teaches mindfulness programs in her group practice and has incorporated mindfulness-based treatment for anxiety, emotion regulation, depression, trauma and self-esteem into her practice where she has worked as a therapist for over 23 years. Helen's intent and passion is to offer MBSR and mindfulness to help individuals with emotional and physical pain find greater peace, contentment and wellness. Helen is married to a wonderful man and they have one beautiful daughter.

Falcon, Corrie

Corrie Falcon

Certified mPEAK Coach

After a decorated career as a world class swimmer, Corrie was first exposed to mindfulness on a yoga retreat in 2002.  A certified yoga instructor and the former Head Swimming Coach at the University of California, San Diego, Corrie incorporated mindfulness concepts into her athletes mental training routines.  Now as a certified mPEAK (Mindfulness Performance, Enhancement, Awareness & Knowledge) Coach, Corrie works with athletes and teams to increase their performance through the power of present moment awareness.  Corrie lives with her husband and 2 young children in Solana Beach, CA.

Glaser-Reich, Joseph MAPP

Joseph Glaser-Reich, MAPP

Certified mPEAK Coach and Research Coordinator

Joe Glaser-Reich serves as a rotary wing search and rescue professional and rescue swimmer in the federal government. He practices, coaches, and teaches mindfulness as a way of being that supports both high performance and sustainable well-being. Joe is a certified mPEAK (Mindful Performance Enhancement Awareness & Knowledge) coach and an Assistant Instructor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program where he earned his master’s degree in 2018. He regularly works with high performers to integrate mindfulness, positive psychology, and performance psychology to enhance performance and resilience. Joe also has extensive experience integrating mindfulness at an organizational level having co-led a mindfulness pilot project designed to advance wellness, resilience, and performance across multiple federal agencies. Prior to his current roles, Joe sailed on an ice breaking buoy tender for a year and taught English in Thailand on a Fulbright Scholarship. In his free time, Joe enjoys meditating, hiking with his wife and dog, reading a print newspaper, writing, hanging out on a surfboard with his wife (his dog doesn’t swim too well), and occasionally catching a good wave.

Harth, Noriko Morita

Noriko Morita Harth

Managing Director, UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness
Certified MBSR Teacher
Certified MSC Teacher

Noriko Morita Harth is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor, Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor and the Managing Director of UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Noriko has been teaching MBSR and MSC since 2014. She also offers mentorships for MBSR and MSC teachers, MBSR Teacher Training programs, and practicum at the Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. 

Born in Japan, she moved to the States in 1985. Noriko feels that her life transforming journey of discovering and exploring mindfulness practices has allowed a more balanced life and identity between these two cultures. Noriko strongly believes practicing mindfulness and compassion, and bringing its principles into her life has and continues to help her grow as a person. She feels passionate about bringing these practices to other people's lives. It is her mission to share what she has learned, what she continues to learn to our community. In addition, Noriko sees an opportunity, based on her own integration experiences, to introduce mindfulness & compassion programs to the Japanese community.

カリフォルニア大学サンディエゴ校マインドフルネス・センターで、マネージング・ディレクターとして働くと同時に、マインドフルネス・ストレス低減法プログラム(MBSR)とマインドフル・セルフ・コンパッション・プログラム（MSC)を担当しています。マインドフルネスとセルフ・コンパッションを紹介することを目的に、様々な分野の方々と協力しながら、日本語でのワークショップも開催しています。

Hobbs, Lorraine Duran MA

Lorraine Duran Hobbs, MA, CHom

Youth, Family & Education Programs Founding Director
Certified MBSR Teacher
Certified MSC Teacher

Lorraine M. Hobbs is the Founding Director of the Youth, Family & Education Programs at the University of California, San Diego Center for Mindfulness. During her tenure at the Center, she has developed and implemented curricula in mindfulness for multiple age groups and a course in Mindful & Compassionate in Parenting.  As a family therapist and former clinical director of adolescent treatment programs, her concern for the adverse effects of stress on the social and emotional development of teens led to pioneering work in the area of self-compassion for teens. She is co-author of Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults, adapted from the adult Mindful Self-Compassion Program and endorsed by Kristen Neff, Ph.D. & Chris Germer, Ph.D. She is certified to teach MBSR (Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction), MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion), and CCARE (Compassion Cultivation, Altruism, Research & Education), a year-long training program created by clinical psychologists and contemplative scholars at Stanford University. Lorraine is co-director of the Mindfulness for Adolescents Certification Program. She also consults with educators on integrating mindfulness and compassion-based programs in schools and offers workshops & public talks in the community.

Jordan, Shannon M.A.

Shannon Jordan

Certified MBSR Teacher

Shannon Jordan, M.A., has spent 25 years helping people thrive in their professional lives. Her work has spanned learning & OD, career counseling, executive coaching, talent management, leadership development, and academic teaching. She specializes in mindfulness in the workplace and has consulted to Fortune 100 companies such as Qualcomm, eBay, PayPal, Cisco, AMEX, Oracle, Microsoft and Genentech. Working closely with the technology and science sectors she’s had an upfront view of stress in our modern workplaces as well as the positive effects empirically based mindfulness interventions can have on performance, resilience and well-being.

Shannon was one of the first to be certified as a Search Inside Yourself teacher (originated at Google), and now serves as a certified mindfulness facilitator and program designer with the Potential Project. She is a qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor on the path to certification. Shannon also teaches at UC Irvine Extension and UCSD Rady School of Management, and formerly served on the evening faculty at USD School of Leadership. Although she’s had a meditation practice for 15 years, she only began teaching MBSR after a life-threatening illness in 2014. Shortly after that she left the corporate world in order to share the transformative practices of mindfulness and compassion on a broader scale.

Shannon holds a B.A. in Business and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology, is a Board Certified Coach and a National Certified Counselor. She is active with the North County Insight San Diego sitting group, has a dedicated yoga practice, and lives in Solana Beach with her husband, teenaged daughter, and rescue dog.

Kim, Helen Hyun-Chung

Helen Hyun-Chung Kim

Qualified MBSR Teacher
Qualified MBCT Teacher

Helen Hyun-Chung Kim is a Qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy teacher. In her previous life she was a board certified psychiatrist in Korea for 15 years, working for underserved communities. During this time she witnessed suffering in the lives of her patients and felt a strong pull towards the field of mindfulness and self-compassion as a way to heal and alleviate suffering. 

With the guidance of the founding director, Dr. Steve Hickman, Helen was able to join the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. At the center, Helen learned various Mindfulness-Based programs from many great teachers. In their teachings she discovered a rich, grounding foundation for her life, filled with awareness, acceptance, ease, and compassion. On her journey of self-discovery and healing, she is witnessing, over and over, her growth and transformation as a human being. Helen is committed to sharing what she has learned with others who may be on their own journey of self-discovery and healing. 

Kirchmer, Peter

Peter Kirchmer

mPEAK Program Director/Trainer
Certified mPEAK Coach
MBSR Teacher

Pete Kirchmer is a Life Coach, Mindful Movement Instructor and Meditation Teacher in Encinitas, CA. As the founder of Mindfulness Based Health, he specializes in helping his clients apply the practice of mindfulness to making healthy lifestyle changes as well as improving performance in both work and life. Pete has completed the foundational training as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher through the University of Massachusetts Oasis Institute, holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through the Coaches Training institute, Center for Applied Positive Psychology and Wellcoaches. Pete is also a Master Trainer for efi Sports Medicine and certified STOTT Pilates Instructor. He is a lifetime learner and an active member of the International Coach Federation and the Harvard Institute of Coaching. Currently Pete has a private coaching practice in Encinitas, is a regular presenter at Rancho La Puerta, a world-class wellness resort in Tecate, Mexico and is on the board of directors for the Encinitas Mindfulness Community.

LeardMann, Lucas

Lucas LeardMann

Certified MBSR Teacher

Lucas attended his first meditation retreat in 2002 and has been cultivating a mindfulness practice ever since. He has a teaching credential and has been a teacher, trainer, and group facilitator for many years. For Lucas, mindfulness has been integral to learning new ways of relating to the inevitable stresses of teaching, work, parenting, and daily life, as well living life with more presence, connection, and ease. With two kids at home, he explores daily how mindfulness and compassion inform his role as father and husband. Lucas has found a calling in the work of sharing mindfulness with others. He feels especially passionate about providing ongoing support to those who've completed courses at the center or are beginning to explore, and wish to deepen the practice in their daily lives. 

Lewis, Renee

Renée Lewis

Youth, Family & Education Programs Acting Director
Certified MBSR Teacher

Renée is the Acting Director of the Youth, Family & School-Based Programs at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. With education as her background, Renee is very interested in mindfulness for teens and adults alike. In 2013, Renée was hired as the Administrative Coordinator for the Center for Mindfulness. At this same time is when Renée attended her first MBSR class. Since then she has been practicing daily and has developed a passion for teaching mindfulness. She attended the MBSR Teacher Training in 2015 and since then has been sharing mindfulness with women's groups, teens, and various health centers including Moore's Cancer center.

Matsumoto, Makiko

Makiko Matsumoto

MSC Trained Teacher

Makiko is a certified Hakomi practitioner and a Trained Teacher in MSC. Born in Japan, she lived in Portland, Oregon for more than a decade, where she encountered the Hakomi method: a form of mindfulness-centered somatic psychotherapy. After teaching in several educational fields in Japan and the U.S., Makiko has been in private practice since 2015. Makiko currently lives in Japan, offering individual therapy sessions and teaching mindfulness and self-compassion classes in person and online. 　

米国ハコミ研究所・認定セラピスト/MSCプログラム講師の松本真紀子です。思えば幼い頃から、真の平和や調和について思いを巡らせていました。マインドフルネスとコンパッションについての学びが、その私の問いに大切な鍵をもたらしてくれたこと、心から感謝しています。現在、教育や医療などの様々な分野でマインドフルネスとコンパッションが広まることを願って、対面とオンラインで入門講座や８週間コースを日本語で教えています。これからもマインドフルネスとコンパッションを通じて、たくさんの方達とつながる機会を心から楽しみにしています。

Miller, Jennifer Psy.D.

Jennifer A. Miller, Psy.D.

Certified MBSR Teacher

Dr. Jennifer Miller is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist—PSY17908. Dr. Miller began her mindfulness training in 2010 under the direction of Dr. Steve Hickman, Allan Goldstein, and Lorraine Hobbs. She teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Dr. Miller is the owner of Mindsmith, A Psychological Professional Corporation in La Mesa, CA, specializing in mindful psychology; offering mindfulness-based treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress disorders. Dr. Miller is also a Co-Founder, Co-Director, and Teacher at "A Mindful Way Through…" Programs. These programs are designed specifically with women's needs in mind. Dr. Miller is married and has two spirited elementary school children. Practicing mindfulness has been and continues to be a daily blessing in this full life.​

Munjee, RoseMina, RP

RoseMina Munjee, RP

Certified MBSR Teacher
Certified MBCT Teacher
Certified MSC Teacher

RoseMina is a Registered Psychotherapist in private practice, experienced mindfulness teacher, mentor, corporate trainer, and therapeutic, trauma-informed yoga teacher. RoseMina is a managing director at Mindful Wellness and she teaches at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, The Centre for Mindfulness Studies, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, University of Toronto, Union Yoga, several organizations. RoseMina facilitates evidence-based mindfulness programs including MBSR, MBCT, and MSC. She is a mentor and a teacher trainer for these programs as well as Trauma-informed Yoga and Mindfulness trainings. She also has a private practice and does clinical work in health-care and public health settings in trauma-informed care, mindfulness, and psychotherapy. Her focus is on trauma-informed care, somatic, affective, neuroscience-based practices including craniosacral techniques, therapeutic and restorative yoga, social justice, and cultivating greater diversity, inclusivity, and belonging for marginalized populations. RoseMina is researching and writing about mindfulness, compassion, equity and social justice. She is completing a Master's in Spiritual Care, Psychotherapy, and Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto and embarking on a PhD in Adult Education and Curriculum Development shortly thereafter.

Patterson, Marta RN

Marta Patterson, RN

Certified MBSR Teacher

Marta is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and a mindfulness instructor at eMindful. She also has a private mindfulness-based coaching and yoga practice. Marta discovered mindfulness several years ago and found it to be a transformational practice in her life. 
“As I began practicing meditation and applying mindfulness to everyday life I became more self-aware. It has been liberating to know that there is always a choice of how we respond to whatever life brings us.”
Marta has a background as a Behavioral Coach with a leading technology-enabled provider of lifestyle and behavioral health solutions. Prior to that, she worked for several years as a Registered Nurse primarily in oncology and research. She feels strongly about the important role mindfulness can play in mental and physical health and has seen the many benefits when practiced regularly. 

Poe, Burrell

Burrell Poe

CCT Teacher

Burrell Poe is a U.S. Army Veteran from the West Side of Chicago. Burrell is very passionate about social and environmental justice and dedicates his time to furthering solutions for these issues. Burrell is on the Board of Compassion It and the Anthropocene Alliance. Burrell works as the Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows at the Goldin Institute. Burrell is working with the Goldin Institute Global Associates in Colombia and Uganda to refine a new curriculum on the themes of peacebuilding and tools for forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation.

Potiker, Julie

Julie Potiker

Certified MSC Teacher

Julie Potiker is a mindfulness expert who helps others bring more peace and wellness into their lives through her Mindful Methods for Life program offerings, where Julie combines various trainings into courses and workshops.

Julie is a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and founder of the Balanced Mind Meditation Center in La Jolla, California. She began her in-depth study of mindfulness after graduating from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of California, San Diego. She was trained by Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer, and UCSD as a Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher in 2014. She studied with Rick Hanson, becoming a graduate of his Positive Neuroplasticity Training Professional Course.

Julie is a graduate of David Treleaven’s Advanced Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness Course, and a teacher of the Mindful Self-Compassion Adaptation for Healthcare Communities and the Mindful Self-Compassion short course. She is a Certified Grief Educator for peer-to-peer and group facilitation through David Kessler’s Grief Educator Certification.

Julie's first book, “Life Falls Apart, but You Don’t Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos" is now available in paperback on Amazon and on audiobook. Her new Book, “SNAP! From Chaos to Calm” teaches a system for people to manage their nervous system – to calm down and then change the channel on their mood - easing their mind, body and spirit, and, by extension, helping those around them. “SNAP!” is available wherever books are sold. Her wish is for all beings to live with less suffering and more peace of mind.

Her work has been featured by The Oprah Magazine, Costco Connection, AARP, AP News, NBC, CBS, Fox, The CW, and many more. She holds a B.G.S. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Prager, Megan, MA

Megan Prager, M.A.

Compassion Programs Director
University Liaison
Certified MBSR Teacher
Certified MSC Teacher

Megan Prager is the Compassion Programs Director at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and Co-Founder of Mindful Labs . Megan is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor (MBSR), a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor (MSC), a Certified Compassion Cultivation Instructor (CCT), an Adjunct Faculty member at San Diego State University, and a Lecturer at UC San Diego Rady Business School. She is also a Teacher Trainer and Mentor for the UC San Diego Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute and for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. In addition to teaching Mindfulness-based programs, Megan specializes in developing and delivering mindfulness and compassion trainings for Fortune 500 companies as well as for educational, healthcare, and academic settings. She is currently collaborating with Universities to establish and instruct Mindfulness and Compassion courses at the collegiate level. In all her ventures, Megan's passion and mission are the same: to empower individuals with an understanding of the important role they play in shaping their lives and well being. Megan believes through compassionate awareness individuals are able to utilize one of the best resources they have: themselves.

Rana, Deborah MD

Deborah Rana, MD

Certified MBSR Teacher
Certified MSC Teacher

Dr. Deborah Rana is a board-certified Pediatrician and an HS Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine & Public Health. Dr. Rana received her MD from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and completed her residency in Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Prior to moving to UCSD, she was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where she completed her fellowship in Medical Education. Dr. Rana is also a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. She joined the Center for Mindfulness in 2010 where she currently teaches MBSR and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC). Dr. Rana has presented many national workshops for faculty physicians on resilience and well-being applying the tools of mindfulness and self-compassion to clinical medicine. She also co-authored a national on-line curriculum developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics on resilience for residents, fellows, and faculty . Dr. Rana continues to see patients at San Ysidro Health, whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities.

Schairer, Sara

Sara Schairer

Compassion Cultivation Training Teacher

Sara Schairer is the founder and executive director of Compassion It®, a nonprofit organization and global social movement whose mission is to inspire daily compassionate actions and attitudes. She created the one-of-a-kind reversible Compassion It® wristband that inspires compassion on six continents, 50+ countries and all 50 US states.

​Sara develops and leads experiential workshops on burnout prevention, implicit bias, mindfulness, and compassion. A senior facilitator of Compassion Cultivation Training® (CCT) course developed at Stanford, Sara has led courses at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness, Kaiser Permanente, the Naval Medical Center, Donovan Prison, and Las Colinas Women's Detention and Reentry Facility. She also facilitated trainings in Africa sponsored by the Botswana Ministries of Health and Education.

​Sara is contributing author to the book The Neuroscience of Learning and Development: Enhancing Creativity, Compassion, Critical Thinking and Peace in Education and guest blogs for the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Her most rewarding and challenging role is being the mother of 12-year-old Hannah.

Shah, Cheryl

Cheryl Shah

Workplace Program Co-Director
Certified MBSR Teacher
Certified MSC Teacher

Cheryl has 20+ years of Finance corporate experience, in leadership roles, working in a high demanding career while raising two daughters. The daily stress she faced, led her to the conclusion that there must be a better way to live and work. She has seen firsthand the negative impacts of long work hours, stress and pressure on individuals and the resulting emotional and mental pain suffered in the workplace. Her extensive work experience informs her teaching, makes her an accessible and compassionate teacher, and helps her translate mindfulness and compassion into a language that is relevant and applicable to corporate life.

Cheryl first discovered meditation in college when her wandering mind caused difficulties with her studies. She learned about mindfulness when she discovered Mindful Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 2005. In 2010, realizing how self-critical and judgmental she was with herself and others, she then began to explore mindfulness more purposefully, taking the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program. Cheryl subsequently attended an intensive 10-day silent Vipassana retreat at the Southern California Vipassana Center in Joshua Tree in 2013, and continues retreat practice every year.

Cheryl embodies mindfulness and self-compassion, with a solid daily mindfulness practice, but more importantly, these practices have given her the ability to take the “Pause” in life to respond with more intention, to help support herself and others with a compassionate and wise response.

Cheryl has decided to end her Finance career in Corporate America and start Simply Pause to support others in this great adventure of life, to change peoples’ relationship to stress and attend to themselves and others with wise compassion.

Previous employers include NRG, Sprint, CareFusion and Jack-in-the-Box, UpWind Solutions (Vestas, Wind Turbines), Pacira Pharmaceuticals and UC San Diego, Housing/Dining/Hospitality.

Cheryl lives with her husband in San Diego, CA and they have two beautiful adult daughters. She enjoys playing tennis, traveling, hiking & spending time with friends & family.

Shibusawa, Tazuko PhD, LCSW

Tazuko Shibusawa, Ph.D., LCSW

Certified MBSR Teacher
Trained MSC Teacher

Tazuko is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Certified MBSR Teacher (Brown University Center for Mindfulness) and a Trained MSC Teacher. Tazuko received her master’s and doctorate degrees in Social Work at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Tazuko was a faculty member at Columbia University, and New York University where she served as the Associate Dean and Director of the Master’s Program in Social Work. Tazuko currently lives in Tokyo where she serves as the Director of Azabu Wellness.

米国在住の間、ニューヨーク大学大学院社会福祉学部、およびコロンビア大学大学院社会福祉学部准教授として歴任しました。2018年に日本に帰国し、マインドフルネスを基礎にしたプログラムを教えています。 近刊予定の「Heal Thy Self」, 「Mindful Teacher, Mindful Schools」, 「Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness」 の共訳を通してマインドフルネスをより深く学ぶ機会に恵まれたことに感謝しています。