Ratnadevi and Charlotte Proctor
Ratnadevi I am a mindfulness and movement teacher with decades of experience training and supervising mindfulness teachers.
Trained as a yoga teacher, I highly value the inclusion of mindful movement on any retreat and in daily life, drawing on a large palette of methods, including yoga, Feldenkrais Method and chi-kung. My classes and retreats are characterised by a warm and open atmosphere and a spirit of inquiry, free of any dogma.
For 5 years I lived and worked in a residential Buddhist retreat centre for women in Shropshire and in 1992 I became a member of the Western Buddhist Order (when I received my Buddhist name). I am a certified transformational coach and offer 1-2-1 mindful coaching.
My first degree is in music and movement and in 2007 was awarded a practice- based PhD in Creative Arts at Dartington College, Devon. The title of my thesis was Gestures towards Emptiness - an exploration of ritual with reference to Buddhist tradition and innovation and it is available online. It includes many examples of my artwork.
More info at my website: www.livingmindfulness.net, including a 5 min film about my first full length book, ‘Bringing Mindfulness to Life’
Charlotte Proctor I am a clinical psychologist working in the NHS with 30 years post-qualification experience. I have experience of applying mindfulness approaches with patients with complex disorders, including depression, eating disorders and trauma. I have been involved in the training of NHS staff in mindfulness and have experience of teaching meditation in prison settings. I have delivered Mindfulness groups for patients and staff since 2001 and facilitate a follow-on interest group and supervision for mindfulness teachers in the NHS.
I have practised Buddhist meditation and mindfulness for over 25 years, and have received instruction in meditation techniques from a variety of teachers and traditions, including the Triratna Buddhist Community, Thich Nhat Hanh and Rob Nairn. I engaged in the Practicum in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2002 and am passionate about the development of secular mindfulness following the pioneering work of Jon Kabat Zinn. I was involved in facilitating the mindfulness training for mental health staff in the Scottish Executive funded project, “Doing Well by People with Depression”. Following this, I was seconded to NHS Education for Scotland to co-facilitate a programme of training of NHS mindfulness teachers across Scotland to increase the capacity to deliver the evidence based Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy to people presenting with recurrent relapsing depression. I have been involved in the development of training pathways, competency guidelines and quality standards for training in Scotland in conjunction with the UK network of mindfulness teachers.
I have taught with Ratnadevi over the past 12 years, delivering mindfulness teacher training courses and continuing practice events at Mulberry House in Edinburgh and more recently online. One of the first of these training events brought us to Holy Isle. I am nourished by teaching together with Ratnadevi and our experiences and styles complement one another.
I become an adoption parent in 2009
and am passionate about the path of growth through parenting with mindfulness with all its dynamic joys and challenges. My most grounded and nourishing moments are in nature and at my allotment, growing produce in my polytunnel and feeding the foxes!
