Atlanta Certified Teachers

Marcia Ash is a doctoral student in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health. Her research interests focus on the effectiveness of contemplative interventions to promote wellbeing and resilience at the organizational and community level. Before pursuing her doctorate, Ash worked for over five years as Program Coordinator for Research and Special Initiatives at the Emory Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics. Ash has taught CBCT extensively to students at Emory University.

Contact: mjash@emory.edu

Jacob started a wellness and mindfulness practice six years ago as a way to find stillness and transformation during difficulties with his mental health. He worked through many of these challenges through various lifestyle changes like meditation, a spiritual practice, exercise, therapy, and Western medicine. While it does take practice and effort to cultivate a spiritual practice, he believes that the peace and contentment that we seek is here in every moment. Jacob has made it his mission to share the cultivated sense of compassion, kindness, and love that he’s felt with as many people as possible. 

At Emory University, Jacob studied how to ethically share meditation and mindfulness through technology. He also co-founded a thriving organization called Good Vibe Tribe (later renamed Holistic Hub (HH)) during his time at school. HH utilized holistic wellness techniques like meditation and mindfulness to help students reduce stress, improve well-being, and connect in healthy ways. After graduating, Jacob received a certification in Life and Success Coaching from Obtaining Mastery. He then founded J. Aqua Wellness, a mental wellness coaching company. 

He launched Source Wellness with Marshall Kupka-Moore after recognizing the need for effective programming for businesses at the intersection of mindfulness and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). He also believes that a more inclusive, heart-centered approach to business can transform the way we relate to each other at work and at home. He is also a second-year Masters student at Lesley University's Mindfulness Studies program. His thesis looks at the intersection of DEI and mindfulness/compassion practices. Through his studies, in his personal life, and in his efforts with Source Wellness, he looks to become a more active and compassionate ally. 

Contact: jaqua04@sourcewellness.co

Martha Baker is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Georgia.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts in 1988 and her Master of Arts in Agency Counseling from the University of Colorado in 1997.  She holds a certification for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).  Martha has worked providing case management in Therapeutic Foster Care in Massachusetts through the Mentor Program and in Georgia in a medical setting through Visiting Nurses Health Services.  She’s also provided psychotherapy to individuals of all ages, couples and families in community health care, and an outpatient medically assisted opiate addictions clinic. Martha is currently providing psychotherapy in private practice in Georgia.

Contact: marthalbaker@proton.me

Margo Barnard is a certified CBCT^® teacher, a licensed professional counselor, and a registered professional nurse. As a maternal-child health nurse, Barnard assisted certified nurse midwives in birthing and welcoming hundreds of newborns into their families. As a psychiatric nurse, she offered kind and caring regard to minors and adults in inpatient and outpatient settings. Since 1992, she has enjoyed the honor of attending to yet more children, adults, and families as a psychotherapist in an independent setting.

Contact: mbarnard1774@gmail.com

Carol Beck is the Associate Director for Operations and Communications for the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics. In this role, she supports research initiatives, facilitates partner programs, and spearheads outreach, marketing, and communications for CBCT^® and other center programs. With an MFA in filmmaking, Beck has had a diverse career as both an assistant professor and a self-employed media professional working on five continents. She has studied and practiced various types of meditation, especially within the Tibetan tradition, and has faciliated meditation practice for almost twenty years. Beck has taught CBCT^® to parents of autistic children through the Marcus Institute as well as to students at Emory University, nurses, and the public. She has also offered CBCT^® to doctors and nurse practitioners at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Children's Hospital of Atlanta.

Contact: carol.beck@emory.edu

Lisa Beerman achieved a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Biology from the University of Pittsburgh and then began her extensive career in healthcare.  She has worked as an educator, coach, facilitator and trainer with thousands of hours experience in a business environment teaching and developing both front-line employees and senior executives.  In addition to her experience in the corporate environment, she is dedicated to non-profits and has served on Boards in both healthcare and education with the American Cancer Society and the Health Occupation Students Association (serving High School Students).  Since achieving her certification in CBCT®, Lisa has been pursuing her passion of sharing this important program with others on a full time basis.

Contact: CarpeDiemLisa@gmail.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-beerman/

Contact: liamjames.william@gmail.com

Emma Brooks is a doctoral candidate in Walden University's health psychology PhD program. She has dedicated her graduate career to studying complementary and alternative medicine, mind-body modalities, and traditional healing practices in relationship to well-being, health, and healing. She also has completed a three-year marriage and family therapy residency program at the Link Counseling Center, working with a multicultural population from all lifestyles. Her prior career in technology prompted her 15-year journey studying and practicing various types of meditation to gain insight into the interconnectedness of all things. She has taught CBCT^® to parents of autistic children through the Marcus Institute, to individuals in recovery, and to schoolteachers and HIV-positive individuals participating in research studies.

Contact: emmabrooks227@gmail.com

Annette Carpenter-Wawerna is a certified CBCT teacher.  She has a BA from Sewanee and a Masters in Education from GSU.  She teaches music at Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School.  She has been involved in the creation of SEE Learning and took part in the program launch in Delhi India.  Annette is passionate about the development of equitable and innovative education programs.  She helped create Grant Park Cooperative Preschool; a Reggio Amelia inspired school.  She directed a documentary called,​“From Acorn to Oak,”​ about the creation of ANCS.  She has also been a Critical Friends Coach through the School Reform Initiative.

Contact: awawerna@atlncs.org

Contact: norahecharles@gmail.com

Penny Clements is a CBCT^® practitioner and certified instructor. Her background includes twenty years of work with non-profit institutions and service on the board of several community organizations.  Over the past several years, Clements has led yoga, mindfulness, and meditation classes in the Atlanta area.  Her work with CBCT^® includes facilitating classes for educators, healthcare workers, college students, parents of young children, and assisting with the CBCT^® teacher certification program.

Contact: pennyfclements@gmail.com

Ellen Coggeshall, MD, BCPA has more than thirty years of experience in healthcare as an Obstetrician-Gynecologist, attending physician, and board-certified patient advocate. She is trained in conflict resolution and clinical ethics mediation in healthcare through the ASBH.  Ellen comes to CBCT^® having experienced the benefits of a longstanding contemplative practice.  She is inspired to share with healthcare professionals the CBCT^® skills that may help them cope with the stresses of working in medicine and sustain joy in providing patient care.  Ellen currently teaches CBCT^® to students at Emory School of Medicine.  She also offers CBCT^® to healthcare providers in the community.

Contact: ellencoggeshall@gmail.com

A semi-retired physician, Comstock has practiced medicine in the Atlanta area since 1975. He has studied meditation for more than 20 years, mostly within the Tibetan tradition. In addition to his primary teacher, Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, he has studied with several other Tibetan meditation masters as well as B. Alan Wallace and Sharon Salzberg. Comstock has been involved with CBCT^® since its inception and attended Geshe Lobsang’s very first CBCT^® class. He participated in the initial five-year NIH study on the effects of CBCT^®. Most recently, he has taught incarcerated persons in Central America and at Emory University’s School of Medicine.

Contact: tomcombv@gmail.com

Stephen Cumbest is a clinical therapist intern at DeKalb Community Service Board (CSB).  DeKalb CSB is a community-based behavioral health services organization located in Atlanta.  He is a master's student in Mercer's Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program, with a specialization of helping individuals having physical and severe mental disabilities.  Stephen also spent time at Hillside Treatment Facility in Atlanta, teaching mindfulness and coping skills to children and adolescents, supporting new ideas in learning and development.  He believes that CBCT^® is part of an integrative approach of helping the mind, body, and spirit work together to inspire hope and alleviate suffering.

Contact: stephencumbest@gmail.com

Barbara Davis holds certifications through the National Board of Health & Wellness Coaches and Real Balance Global Wellness.  She is a certified Yoga instructor, Somatic coach, former dancer, founder/owner of My Whole Well Life, a member of the International Coaching Federation, the Harvard Institute of Coaching and is certified through Emory University to teach CBCT®.  Barbara has been a student of human behavior change and body-oriented disciplines for more than 3 decades.  She combines the modalities of dance, Yoga, Qi Gong, intuitive movement, Somatic Coaching, and meditation with the science of anatomy, neurobiology, and the neuroscience of change to help her clients embody and integrate what is most important to them.

Contact: bdavis@mywholewelllife.com

Ginger Dearwent is a certified CBCT® teacher and dedicated practitioner. She earned degrees from Auburn University and Emory University, and served as an ordained United Methodist minister. Her first compassion training came from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his 1998 Emory commencement address: “Education and the Warm Heart.” She volunteered for His Holiness’ visits in 2007 and 2010 and attended his teachings in 2013. In 2011, she became a student of Dr. Lobsang Tenzin Negi and was certified to teach CBCT® in 2018. Ginger has enjoyed teaching CBCT® at Emory’s School of Nursing and at the Drepung Loseling Monastery.

Contact: ginger@alumni.emory.edu

Belinda Douglas is an Adjunct Professor at Zion International Bible College in Jupiter, Florida, where she earned her Doctorate in Biblical Studies. She is also a co-founder of The Compassion Center of Georgia, Inc., and is entirely dedicated to improving practices among her colleagues and ensuring the organization's success. Belinda has devoted many years to contemplative practice, which has helped her cultivate a more profound spirituality. During her enrollment in Emory's Clinical Pastoral Education Program, Belinda fully embraced the CBCT meditation practice and theory of learning based on Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health's integrative model. This experience allowed her to refine how she provides spiritual care in clinical settings and the non-profit organization's daily operations.

Contact: belindadouglas2@gmail.com

In addition to becoming a CBCT®  teacher, Rosalynne Duff is a founding teacher of Kindezi Old Fourth Ward, an Atlanta Public Charter School.  She obtained her CBCT® certification through a partnership between the CREATE (Collaboration and Reflection to Enhance Atlanta Teacher Effectiveness) organization and The Center. She specializes in cultivating Social and Emotional Learning competencies through CBCT® for educator. Moreover, she is co-piloting the SEE (Social, Emotional and Ethical) Learning curriculum through a culturally relevant pedagogy in an after school setting. Her contemplative practices span eighteen years while encompassing ten years of teaching experience in public, charter, and international schools.  

Contact: rduffcbct@gmail.com

Andrea Cecilia G. Dunn is a reputed entrepreneur and speaker, committed to bringing transformation into the world.  Andrea is passionate about empowering women to achieve peace, instill wellness, and break generational and cultural chains.  Owner of AKKNA Project, a company bringing solutions to find the path into action to the life/ outcome we want to create for ourselves and to ignite and discover our contribution to this world, Andrea promotes well-being in our lives and in those around us by building community, thriving by anchoring our highest potential and alchemizing them through collaboration, reciprocity, and support.  Since 2018, Andrea has been a transformation coach, a certified CBCT^® teacher.  She is a prolific facilitator and advocate for compassion, resilience, and personal/team empowerment.

Contact: training@akknaproject.com

Bill Eley is an MD trained medical oncologist and education leader at the Emory University School of Medicine.  His research interest has been in disparities among persons diagnosed with cancer.  He is so grateful for his opportunity to work with patients and learners and is excited to share his insights gained through a life in medicine and his CBCT^® experience with others, especially those in the healthcare space.  Bill sees CBCT^® as a culmination of cross-cultural wisdom that is tremendously supportive of the human experience.

Contact: jeley@emory.edu

Jennifer Finch holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with emphases in addictionology and trauma. In addition to her private practice, she is the Founder of Be Here Now Mindfulness, LLC, where she offers online and in-person trainings to individuals, health care practitioners and corporate settings. Her great passion is bringing healing to people who have been through trauma with a Capital “T” or a lower case “t,” so they can know themselves as peaceful, complete, whole and safe individuals. She is a Certified CBCT Instructor, and a Level I SE® Practitioner dedicated to resolving trauma through somatic treatment modalities, meditation, contemplative and integrative sciences. If Jennifer is not reading about the new neuroscience and psychobiology of meditation, writing about compassion meditation, or teaching meditation classes, she is looking at the world uniquely through a camera lens.

Contact: jencfinch@gmail.com

John Fleming is a career reporter and editor with more than 25 years covering politics, the environment, civil rights and foreign affairs.  More recently, he has helped lead efforts to establish a new non-profit model for the struggling print media covering neglected beats, such as the nation’s criminal justice and child welfare systems.  He comes to CBCT^® after a decade’s long contemplative practice and is motivated to share the benefits of CBCT^® with media professionals, especially those covering conflict, as well as others. 

Contact: johnefleming21@gmail.com

Anne Larson Hall has taught in a range of public and private educational settings, from special education, to K-12 to university.  She has been teaching in the Geosciences Program and the Department of Environmental Sciences at Emory University since 1995, with a focus on field studies, geoscience and water resources.  Anne has practiced meditation since her early twenties and has been fortunate to go on many retreats in the U.S. and India to ground her spiritual practice.  She has introduced mindfulness and attention practices into her science teaching and has taught CBCT^® for Emory Students.  Anne looks forward to sharing the benefits of contemplative practices through CBCT^® programs, strengthening our compassion and inner resilience.

Contact: ahall04@emory.edu

Ayodele Harrison is a leadership development coach and racial equity practitioner. He has over 20-years of experience, teaching and leading in public, private and international schools. Ayodele is currently the Senior Partner of Education at CommunityBuild Ventures (CBV) - a pro-Black solutions focused firm committed to eliminating racial disparities by developing powerful, impactful racial equity driven leaders and organizations. Prior to entering the consulting world fulltime, Ayodele served as an Assistant Director with Georgia State University’s CREATE Teacher Residency. Ayodele is a trained engineer turned international educator, trainer, facilitator, and speaker. Ayodele utilizes the practices of CBCT® in his work to create freedom from structural and institutional racism in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and government agencies. Ayodele completed his CBCT teacher certification in 2017 and currently teaches CBCT to educators, nonprofit leadership teams, and community advocates seeking to experience what it looks, sounds, and feels like to center compassion while being fiercely committed to racial equity. He is married with two children and holds a B.S. and M.S in Civil Engineering from Howard University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively.

Contact: ayodele@communitybuildventures.com

Timothy Harrison joined the staff of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics (formerly Emory-Tibet Partnership) in 2013 and is the associate director for CBCT^®. In this capacity, he coordinates the expanding CBCT^® Teacher Certification program as well as the provision of CBCT^® for research studies. Harrison teaches CBCT^® courses to students at the Emory School of Medicine and to residents in the Emory Healthcare Spiritual Health education program. Additionally, he teaches CBCT^® to undergraduate students through Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services, and he works with several community outreach and research programs, offering CBCT^® to public school teachers, vulnerable children and adolescents, and participants in numerous research studies. Harrison was a long-term practitioner of both lo jong and Zen meditation before expanding his outreach to those of various backgrounds through CBCT^®.

Contact: timothy.harrison@emory.edu

Since 2012, Elizabeth Hearn has served as the Executive Director of the CREATE Teacher Residency Program which trains new teachers, develops teacher-leaders, and addresses systemic teacher induction challenges in Atlanta and Georgia. She and her team have developed new strategies for integrating concepts and practices of CBCT^® into their training for new and experienced educators who serve primarily in schools of historically-marginalized communities. 

Contact: ehearn@atlncs.org

Megan Lloyd Joiner is the Chaplain and Chair of Religious Studies at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, GA. Megan is a board-certified chaplain, a registered compassion-centered spiritual health clinician, and an ordained Unitarian Universalist Minister.  She serves as the affiliated Community Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta.  Megan has experience as an educator, a health care chaplain, and a parish minister.  She trained with Emory University Spiritual Health and New York Presbyterian Hospital and holds a masters of divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and a BA in religious studies from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

Contact: mljoiner@gmail.com

Jennifer Knox is an educator with more than 18 years' experience in a variety of educational settings both nationally and abroad.  Jennifer is currently the Director of Character Education and the Ron M. Brill Chair of Ethical Leadership at Woodward Academy, where she has been a faculty member for over a decade.  As a CBCT^® instructor, she has worked to incorporate CBCT^® into educational settings, including formal research studies with elementary teachers in an Atlanta-area International Baccalaureate charter school and with parents of small children at the School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin– Madison.  She also has taught CBCT^® to students at Emory University and to elementary and middle school faculty as a part of a federal innovation grant in the Atlanta Public Schools.

Contact: jennifer.knox@woodward.edu

Charles Lane started at Emory Medical School in July of 2018, after completing a little over six years in the Navy as a nuclear submarine officer.  He completed his undergraduate at the University of Tampa in 2011, and commissioned in to the Navy the same day.  Meditation and yoga became a big part of his life during these years, using the practices as way of finding grounding and personal growth in an unstable and morally taxing line of work.  CBCT^® has proven to be the next step on his journey to personal development and understanding.  As Charlie learns about disease, health, and healing, he is grateful to discover the true meaning and power of compassion. 

Contact: charles.bertin.lane@emory.edu

Michelle Liberman serves as a Program Coordinator at the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University.  In this role, Michelle supports the CBCT^® program as a coordinator and instructor.  Michelle received her CBCT^® teacher certification in 2017, and currently teaches courses to Emory students and the general public in Atlanta, as well as to online global communities as part of the Center’s Compassion Shift initiative.  Michelle also serves as a coordinator and assistant for the Emory Tibetan Mind-Body Sciences Summer Study Abroad Program, an undergraduate program that focuses on the study of Tibetan Buddhism, contemplative science, and meditation.

Contact: michelle.heker@emory.edu

Contact: ajliber541@gmail.com

José Montenegro received a B.A. in Theology from Antillean Adventist University in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and an MDiv from the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.  He is a Staff Chaplain with Spiritual Health at Emory Healthcare, and he became a CBCT^® Certified Teacher in 2019.  José has a deep appreciation of the potential impact that the insights and skills of CBCT^® have in patients’ lives, the lives of healthcare staff, and those he teaches.  He is interested in teaching CBCT^® in different settings, particularly in the Latin American community.

Contact: jamonte@emory.edu

Andi Neiman, PhD, MPH has worked in public health, with a focus on health promotion and education for over 17 years.  She has experience in global chronic disease prevention and actively participates in the development, implementation and evaluation of health research activities both domestically and globally.  Andi is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (200 RYT) and compassion crusader whose passion is to empower all bodies to feel centered and strong.  As a wife, a mother, and a lifelong learner, she believes that yoga and meditation help to maintain the inner calm when the outer world sometimes feels quite the opposite.

Contact: nemojr1@gmail.com

Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D. (Founding Instructor) is the Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University, formerly the Emory-Tibet Partnership. In addition, Prof. Negi is a Professor of Pedagogy in Emory University’s Department of Religion and the founder and spiritual director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., in Atlanta, GA.

In 2007, Prof. Negi developed CBCT® (Cognitively-Based Compassion Training), a secularized contemplative program based on Tibetan Buddhist mind training practices that deliberately and systematically works to cultivate compassion. He has been at the forefront of compassion science, collaborating with numerous researchers from multiple disciplines examining the mechanisms behind compassion and its effects on the mind and body.

Prof. Negi also oversees several other programs including SEE Learning™ (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning), a program that develops and implements curricula for kindergarten through university level education for the education of heart and mind, and the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, a program created at the invitation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that has developed and is now implementing a comprehensive modern science curriculum specifically for Tibetan monastics. 

Brendan Ozawa-de Silva is the associate director for SEE Learning™ (Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning, a K–12 initiative) at the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University.  Formerly, he was associate professor of psychology in the Department of Positive Human Development and Social Change and associate director for the Center for Compassion, Integrity, and Secular Ethics at Life University. His research focuses on the psychological, social, and ethical dimensions of prosocial emotions and their cultivation, with a focus on compassion and forgiveness. He has worked to bring compassion training into elementary schools in the Atlanta area, to children in Georgia’s foster care programs, to women in domestic violence situations, and to incarcerated persons in state correctional facilities in Georgia.

Contact: brendan.ozawa@gmail.com

The focus of Bobbi Patterson’s (Professor of Pedagogy, Emerita, Religion Department and Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University) scholarship, pedagogy, and community engagement work has changed over her career, though the core strands of feminist and womanist theory and action, embodied engagement as a path of learning, and contemplative traditions remain.  Issues of health and climate change drew her interests to Environmental Studies and strongly contributed to her recent book, Building Resilience Through Contemplative Practice: A Field Manual for Helping Professionals and Volunteers (Routledge, 2019).  The book is for a public audience.

Contact: bpatter@emory.edu

Caroline Peacock (LCSW, MDiv, ACPE Certified Educator) is Director of Spiritual Health for Winship Cancer Institute with Emory Healthcare and Vice Chair of Wellness for the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology.  She has a deep love for teaching the art and science of spiritual care in a healthcare setting, and has enjoyed integrating the skills and insights from the fields of social work, ministry, and spiritual health in her work.  Caroline is also an Episcopal priest and loves being a mother to her three children.  She became a CBCT^® instructor in 2019.

Contact: caroline.peacock@emory.edu

Gema Perez is a CBCT® practitioner and certified instructor. She first learned about CBCT in 2014, and almost immediately experienced the positive effects on her life and mental well-being.  CBCT changed and shaped the way she builds relationships and connects with others, not only in her personal life but also in her professional life. She now looks forward to sharing the benefits of CBCT® with others as a certified teacher.  With a background in relationship management and marketing, she is also interested in learning more about other mindfulness practices and assisting with research.

Contact: gema@mindtra.com

Amy Richards, MPH is a public health professional living and working in the Atlanta, GA area. She is interested in continuing to discover the trauma-informed and resilience-building benefits of CBCT® alongside communities recovering from various addictions, obsessions, and compulsions.  Amy also works with the SEE Learning® program and global health professionals to enhance the compassionate motivations amongst kids and adults alike.  

Contact: amy.richards@emory.edu

Kelly Richards was an elementary classroom teacher for 40+ years, the last 30 at the Paideia School in Atlanta, where she taught meditation daily for four years to a class of seven- and eight-year-olds, much of it based on CBCT^®. Currently, she leads Finding Center and Mindful Kindness workshops in Atlanta and mid-coast Maine. She thinks of Finding Center as introductory—a briefer, more active version of CBCT^®—while Mindful Kindness is an intensive, active, and very practical course for teachers ready to bring compassion training into the classroom.

Contact: richards.kelly@paideiaschool.org

Contact: tsamphe@emory.edu

Maureen Shelton is the Director of the Division of Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University.  She is also the System Director of Education for Spiritual Health at Emory Healthcare, as well as an ACPE Certified Educator and chaplain.  Maureen serves as co-developer, along with Timothy Harrison, Dr. George Grant and Dr. Lobsang Tenzin Negi, of the Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health (CCSH™) Intervention Model and CCSH™ Manual, as well as the supporting curriculum for the training in CCSH™ for Spiritual Health clinicians.  Beyond teaching CBCT^® within Spiritual Health at Emory Healthcare, Maureen has taught CBCT^® at The Cleveland Clinic, Northside Hospital and Brigham Women's Hospital.

Contact: mshel03@emory.edu

Nichole Sloan is a certified CBCT^® teacher and a licensed clinical social worker with more than 15 years of experience. She has taught CBCT^® to both Emory students and Military Veterans. The focus of her professional practice is on trauma and PTSD, substance use and addiction, the veteran population and military families, homelessness, severe mental illness, and incorporating the use of complementary alternative medicine into the medical setting.

Contact: nickiesloan76@gmail.com

Hannah Smith graduated from Emory University in 2017, with a BA in Religious Studies concentrated in Asian Religious Traditions.  It was through her undergraduate studies that she was first introduced to CBCT® and participated in Emory’s Tibetan Mind-Body Sciences Summer Study Abroad Program in Dharamsala and Mundgod, India.  After spending over a year teaching first grade in Bangkok, Thailand, she joined the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics.  She currently serves as a Senior Program Coordinator working specifically with the Center’s new initiative, the Compassion Shift.  She completed her CBCT® teacher certification in 2020, and currently teaches the general public.

Contact: hannah.e.smith@emory.edu

Cheri Tiernan is an Emory Healthcare Chaplain at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta.  She completed her chaplaincy training at Emory Midtown (intern), Northside Hospital (residency) and Emory Winship Cancer Center (fellowship).  Cheri has taught CBCT® at Emory School of Medicine and Northside Hospital.  A longtime Buddhist meditator, she holds a master’s degree in political science from Georgia State University and recently completed Harvard Divinity School’s inaugural executive-education leadership training for spiritual & religious professionals.  Her research interests include ecumenical communities and ethical ministry.

Contact: cheritiernan@gmail.com

Lisa Whittle is a CBCT^® teacher and public health scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  She leads weekly meditation classes for CDC employees who enjoy a little science with their practice.  She teaches CBCT to church members who enjoy dialogue between the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and Gautama Buddha as a way to strengthen their own compassion and wisdom traditions.   As a certified Yoga instructor, Lisa encourages her students to develop interoception, that sense of understanding and feeling what is going on inside their body,  and to bring mind/heart/body wholeness to explorations of meditation and CBCT. 

Contact: lisa.whittle108@gmail.com

Joni Winston first learned of CBCT^® when she attended a panel discussion in 2007 during the visit of His Holines the XIV  Dalai Lama to Emory University.  Prior to this, she had spent five years dabbling in meditation, but it wasn’t until hearing a presentation outlining the benefits of CBCT^® practice on stress reduction that she was inspired to learn CBCT^®—and to practice daily. She now looks forward to sharing CBCT^®with others as a certified teacher. In addition to CBCT^®, Winston enjoys studying many other mindfulness/wellness practices and is also certified to teach Breathwalk (a type of walking meditation taught in the Kundalini School). She is also an avid student of A Course in Miracles.

Contact: joniwinston7@gmail.com