Founder, Teacher, Teacher Trainer
I began meditating in 1972 and although it made me feel better, I struggled to establish a consistent meditation practice. Each year my new year’s resolutions included “Meditate!” in the top three (vying with lose weight and exercise for #1).
During the 80’s and 90’s as I juggled career, family, and eventually became a stay-at-home-mom to our four kids, I continued to study different traditions and techniques but I didn’t want to be identified as a Buddhist or a Yogi or an anything. I just wanted to feel less angry, and frustrated. I wanted my vision of who I was and the reality of how I was acting to align.
So, I continued looking for answers. I studied Christianity, Buddhism, Yoga, and Judaism, Native American… the list goes on. This search lead to me helping to found a non-profit dedicated to exploring and learning about the different paths to transformation. (We closed it doors in May of 2012 after seven years of great exploration and learning.)
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The turning point came in 1998 when I found a technique that I actually practiced regularly and it began to transform both me and my relationships. Several years later I found a living teacher of that technique, who became my guru, who simply said,
“Try this. If it works, use it. If it doesn’t, don’t.”
Really? Someone not trying to indoctrinate me but encouraging me to find what worked for me?
Such relief.
And this is the tradition of teaching I try to carry on with our classes here at Hamsa Meditation Center.
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Teaches Mindfulness for High School and Middle School Teens.
After spending thirty years in Phoenix, in 2018 my family decided to trade the Desert for the green of Oregon! Nature, especially the Oregon forests, give me peace and serenity, and keep me grounded in times of stress.
Other than meditating, I enjoy reading, running, paddle boarding, and taking adventures with my three kids.
I am also a coach at Wilsonville High School for cross country and track. With 18 years of coaching kids of all ages, I am fortunate to be able to share meditation and mindfulness techniques with the teens I work with!
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Teaches: Mindful Monkeys
Holly learned to meditate with her father at a young age growing up in Western Washington but didn’t return to a consistent practice until later in life when she began Caren’s, “Meditation for Moms” class. Soon after, it was clear to her that she wanted to offer the same benefits she got from meditation to her own children and her preschool students.
Holly holds a Masters in Elementary Education from USC and recently opened her own outdoor nature based pre-school—Whole Heart Nature School—on 3.5 acres she owns in Oregon City. Check it out!
We are so lucky at Hamsa to have Holly teaching our Mindful Monkeys! She is a graduate of the Hamsa Meditation Teacher Training which combined with her love of kids, formal training in elementary education, and her experience as a teacher, meditator and mom, makes her the perfect Mindfulness Teacher for your little ones.
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Teaches: Beginning Meditation
Sarah discovered meditation in 2005 when she opened a Wellness Center that included her Massage Practice, a yoga studio where she could teach yoga, and also provided a place for others to teach. This is where she and Caren first met. Caren was her yoga student and eventually asked if she could teach beginning meditation classes in the studio. Today they have come full circle and Sarah is now a graduate of the Hamsa Meditation Teaching Training and teaching beginning meditation classes at Caren’s Meditation Center.
During her years as an entrepreneur, Sarah struggled to balance running her business while maintaining a healthy home life. She was torn by the complications that inevitably come with trying to balance family and work—it seemed they were always people and situations asking for more than she could give.
For several years Sarah searched to find an answer to help resolve her feelings of anxiety and helplessness. Mindfulness and Meditation are what finally helped her find herself again—the self that laughs, loves, and helps others. The teachings and techniques she has learned continue to remind her, in her words, “of who I am, how to center, and how to navigate this wonderful yet crazy existence.”
Sarah is a long time meditator and yoga instructor. She’s been teaching yoga for over twenty years and as a graduate of the Hamsa Meditation Teacher Training is now teaching our Beginning Meditation classes. Her years of teaching experience combined with a deep caring for her students and a joyous way of explaining difficult concepts, make her an excellent, and beautifully pragmatic, down to earth teacher.
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Teaches: Beginning Meditation, Group Meditation.
Jo Ellen started meditating during the 70’s when she was in college. After graduation she and lived in a meditation ashram for a couple of years and even began training to become a meditation teacher. Although she eventually left the ashram to live a full and adventurous life, she never lost her love of meditation.
Over the decades, she has learned a variety of meditation techniques and most recently began practicing Kriya Yoga under Caren Prentice. Meditation has been a transformative practice in her life and she is looking forward to sharing meditation with you.
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Teaches Yoga Classes for Meditators
Agnieszka, affectionately known to her students as, Mishka, has been teaching HATHA YOGA since 2001. Not only does she teach her own students, she also teaches teachers. She has been leading the Hatha Teacher Training Program at the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago for the last 6 years.
Agnieszka’s teaching style balances gentle strength with inner softness. She combines an emphasis on alignment, with slow, mindful movement, and awareness of the breath, to help you release unnecessary tension in the body and bring calmness to your mind. Agnieszka’s kindness and attentiveness create a warm and encouraging atmosphere that allows her students to feel genuine compassion and acceptance of themselves.
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