about Becky
You might wonder, "Who is this person that has started the practice group?" A friend of mine looked at the website and said, "But you haven't told them who you are!" Since it is mostly friends coming to the practice session I hadn't really thought about that. But, hopefully our group will grow to include newcomers that don't know me, so it does seem appropriate to give some background. Thanks for the suggestion, Uba!
I started my journey into the world of contemplative practice after completing a clinical training program at Harvard University in the late 1990's. I had started my work as a family nurse practitioner a few years before (in 1993). I was struck immediately by the amount of psychological suffering and struggle my patients experienced and were willing to share with me, especially the women. Feeling so completely helpless; I needed to find a way to make a difference. I found the Harvard program. This program is the same one in existence today, directed by Herbert Benson, MD. Dr. Benson is a cardiologist and pioneer in mind-body medicine. He was one of the first to investigate the physiologic effects of meditation when he studied a group of practitioners and the effect of meditation on blood pressure. Gentle yoga was also a part of this training course.
I had dabbled with yoga before but with the training, I became interested in yoga as a healing modality for patients. Eventually, I completed a 9-month, 200 hour course to become certified to teach Hatha yoga. I taught yoga here in Morrison until I injured my knee hiking. GRR! After a series of operations, and a cartilage transplant, I was spending a lot of time sitting, healing, but not able to do yoga. You may or may not know that yoga is a physical practice meant to prepare the body to sit comfortably in meditation. So, I thought," might as well try meditation since I am just sitting here!"
I fell in love with the practice and with Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist psychology. I attended a conference held in Washington, DC in 2005 entitled: The Neuroscience of Meditation. This was a three day event where leading scientists and contemplatives sat in a semi-circle with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in the center. The speakers talked with the Dalai Lama in a conversational way, informing him about what was happening all over the world in terms of research and practice. I was enthralled. One of the co-chairpersons was Dr. Richard Davidson from University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was shocked to realize that important and innovative research was taking place in my back yard, well, almost! Literally, I went home from that conference in November 2005 and called the School of Nursing at UW-Madison. I applied to the PhD program in Nursing at UW-Madison in January of 2006 and was accepted in May. I never looked back.
While at UW-Madison, I was able to study mindfulness in both a deeply experiential and scientific way. I completed the 8-week Mindfulness-Stress Reduction Course and a 6-week Compassion Training Course offered at the UW Research Park; attended multiple related lectures on and off campus; and participated in an Insight Meditation practice group held in a church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I was able to hear the Dalai Lama speak in person twice, very inspiring! I attended a 5-day Scientist's Retreat at the Insight Meditation Society Retreat Center in Barre, MA and was accepted as a fellow to the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, at the Garrison Institute, in Garrison, NY. This was a week-long combination of scientific working meeting as well as a retreat. The mission of the Mind and Life Institute is to bring contemplatives and scientists together in dialogue meant to inform each others practice and endeavors. I have attended a handful of other retreat activities over the years. I plan to do more.
My dissertation research focused on the delivery of a brief mindfulness skills training course to low socioeconomic working people for stress reduction and health promotion. Dr. Richard Davidson served on my dissertation committee, and I was able to take a course on emotion regulation taught by him during my degree preparation. For my research project, I consulted with Dr. Amit Sood, Director of Integrative Medicine Research at the Mayo Clinic to adapt his brief mindfulness program, Attention and Interpretation Therapy (AIT), to my target audience. As part of my work with Dr. Sood, I was among the first group to complete a 6-month training course in AIT to become a certified facilitator.
I graduated from UW-Madison in May 2011 and moved back to Morrison; my husband, Chick, was here all along! Thankfully, with the patience of Dr. Mark Woods, I continued to maintain a toe-hold in my practice all during my PhD program. I have spent the last three and a half years teaching in the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, College of Nursing, University of Illinois-Chicago. However, I "retired" from teaching December 31, 2014 and am now ready for a this new adventure!
If you have read this far, I hope you will join me!
b.
I started my journey into the world of contemplative practice after completing a clinical training program at Harvard University in the late 1990's. I had started my work as a family nurse practitioner a few years before (in 1993). I was struck immediately by the amount of psychological suffering and struggle my patients experienced and were willing to share with me, especially the women. Feeling so completely helpless; I needed to find a way to make a difference. I found the Harvard program. This program is the same one in existence today, directed by Herbert Benson, MD. Dr. Benson is a cardiologist and pioneer in mind-body medicine. He was one of the first to investigate the physiologic effects of meditation when he studied a group of practitioners and the effect of meditation on blood pressure. Gentle yoga was also a part of this training course.
I had dabbled with yoga before but with the training, I became interested in yoga as a healing modality for patients. Eventually, I completed a 9-month, 200 hour course to become certified to teach Hatha yoga. I taught yoga here in Morrison until I injured my knee hiking. GRR! After a series of operations, and a cartilage transplant, I was spending a lot of time sitting, healing, but not able to do yoga. You may or may not know that yoga is a physical practice meant to prepare the body to sit comfortably in meditation. So, I thought," might as well try meditation since I am just sitting here!"
I fell in love with the practice and with Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist psychology. I attended a conference held in Washington, DC in 2005 entitled: The Neuroscience of Meditation. This was a three day event where leading scientists and contemplatives sat in a semi-circle with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in the center. The speakers talked with the Dalai Lama in a conversational way, informing him about what was happening all over the world in terms of research and practice. I was enthralled. One of the co-chairpersons was Dr. Richard Davidson from University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was shocked to realize that important and innovative research was taking place in my back yard, well, almost! Literally, I went home from that conference in November 2005 and called the School of Nursing at UW-Madison. I applied to the PhD program in Nursing at UW-Madison in January of 2006 and was accepted in May. I never looked back.
While at UW-Madison, I was able to study mindfulness in both a deeply experiential and scientific way. I completed the 8-week Mindfulness-Stress Reduction Course and a 6-week Compassion Training Course offered at the UW Research Park; attended multiple related lectures on and off campus; and participated in an Insight Meditation practice group held in a church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I was able to hear the Dalai Lama speak in person twice, very inspiring! I attended a 5-day Scientist's Retreat at the Insight Meditation Society Retreat Center in Barre, MA and was accepted as a fellow to the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, at the Garrison Institute, in Garrison, NY. This was a week-long combination of scientific working meeting as well as a retreat. The mission of the Mind and Life Institute is to bring contemplatives and scientists together in dialogue meant to inform each others practice and endeavors. I have attended a handful of other retreat activities over the years. I plan to do more.
My dissertation research focused on the delivery of a brief mindfulness skills training course to low socioeconomic working people for stress reduction and health promotion. Dr. Richard Davidson served on my dissertation committee, and I was able to take a course on emotion regulation taught by him during my degree preparation. For my research project, I consulted with Dr. Amit Sood, Director of Integrative Medicine Research at the Mayo Clinic to adapt his brief mindfulness program, Attention and Interpretation Therapy (AIT), to my target audience. As part of my work with Dr. Sood, I was among the first group to complete a 6-month training course in AIT to become a certified facilitator.
I graduated from UW-Madison in May 2011 and moved back to Morrison; my husband, Chick, was here all along! Thankfully, with the patience of Dr. Mark Woods, I continued to maintain a toe-hold in my practice all during my PhD program. I have spent the last three and a half years teaching in the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, College of Nursing, University of Illinois-Chicago. However, I "retired" from teaching December 31, 2014 and am now ready for a this new adventure!
If you have read this far, I hope you will join me!
b.
A Grandbaby has blessed my life. Charles Mecum West. He is up for just about anything!
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I have a fabulous grandchild in Boston named Rosa, I am gone visiting, every chance I get.
Please check the calendar for the ongoing schedule! Go to...Top right hand corner, click on the "more" menu to find the calendar.
Please check the calendar for the ongoing schedule! Go to...Top right hand corner, click on the "more" menu to find the calendar.
Sweet Rosa Isabel
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On the streets of NYC.
More recently.....
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Women's March Boston 2017
What a Glorious Day! Sunny and unseasonably warm, matching the energy of the crowd.
In a word - Phenomenal - families, pets, friends of all persuasions. So happy I could take part.
This event and the marchers in solidarity all across the world gave me hope for a troubled time.
Now the work begins for real.
Completed in Janaury 2017: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 9-day Fundamentals Retreat/Training Course for Teachers.
An amazing experience. The 9 days began with a 4-day retreat attended by over 100 people, representing 15 countries.
This smaller group, pictured here, stayed on for the 5-day teacher's training, still an international crew, e.g., Japan, Korea, Sinapore, Chile, China, France, Italy & Canada.
So anxious to share this new knowledge with our group when I return from Boston!
Tiny Sangha :)