Dr. Rochelle Calvert · Mark Coleman · Rebecca Luna · Matthew Goodman · Laurie Keig-Morrell · Jason Calvert · Alisha Chapin · Leslie Butterfield · McKenzie O’Brien
(Click any name above to jump to that teacher’s bio below)
Dr. Rochelle (Voth) Calvert
Owner and Clinical Director & Mindfulness Teacher
Classes/Courses Lead: Breath Meditation, S.I.T. Course, Open Awareness Meditation, Dharma Talk, Half-Day Retreat
Dr. Rochelle Calvert (Voth), started New Mindful Life to support bringing mindfulness into the lives of individuals via a center that would support the integration of mindfulness into everyday life in a community setting. The center offers the opportunity to learn about mindfulness, experience mindfulness and be in community mindfully. The center supports bringing mindfulness to groups, individuals, families, clinicians and workplace environments promoting health and well-being. Rochelle and the team at New Mindful Life teach mindfulness through classes, courses, seminars, mindfulness-based therapy, and biofeedback. She is the owner and clinical director of New Mindful Life.
Rochelle’s mindfulness meditation journey begun over 15 years ago. She was introduced to mindfulness via an MBSR course and clinical training and research through UCSD. Over the years she has cultivated her own personal mindfulness practice by establishing a daily mindfulness practice, attending yearly silent retreats and participating in mindfulness trainings. She practices mindfulness based meditation rooted in the Buddhist Theravada Tradition as well as receives regular Zen teachings from Melissa Myzoen Blacker, Guiding Teacher, Abbot for Boundless Way Zen. She is currently certified by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association and the Mindfulness Training Institute.
Her mindfulness teaching is offered to support individuals in learning to heal their own suffering. The use of the room space as well as exploration in nature provides a healing setting for clients. She teaches with warmth, compassion, kindness and openness to encourage others to explore the teachings of mindfulness to cultivate a more easeful way of living.
Mark Coleman
Guiding Teacher & Mindfulness Teacher
Mark Coleman, M.A., founder of Awake in the Wild and The Mindfulness Institute, is an internationally recognized mindfulness facilitator who has guided students on five continents to find greater peace and fulfillment through nature-based mindfulness practice and mindfulness retreats. The author of Awake in the Wild- Mindfulness in Nature as a path of Self Discovery, and Make Peace with Your Mind, How Mindfulness and Compassion can free you from your inner critic. Mark is also a corporate consultant, individual counselor, poet, wilderness guide, and outdoor adventurer.
Mark Coleman has been studying meditation practices since 1981, primarily within the Insight meditation (Buddhist) tradition. He has been teaching meditation retreats since 1997. His teaching is influenced by studies with many great teachers in the Buddhist tradition as well as from Advaita and Tibetan teachers in Asia and the West, and through his teacher training with Jack Kornfield. Mark primarily teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California, and teaches nationally, in Europe and India.
He leads backpacking retreats, nature-based retreats, and has taught retreats for environmental activists at Vallecitos Mountain Ranch in New Mexico, and at Knoll Farm in Vermont. In the Bay Area, Mark has a counseling practice, where he integrates his Masters in Clinical Psychology and meditative work and works with people how to integrate their mindfulness practice into daily life.
Mark is a guiding teacher with New Mindful Life, supervising and supporting New Mindful Life meditation studio. He offers authentic, genuine and compassionate teaching that inspires and supports the New Mindful Life community.
Rebecca Luna, MA
Mindfulness and Biofeedback Consultant and Registered Psychologist’s Assistant & Mindfulness Teacher
Classes/Courses Lead: Sound Meditation, Dance Meditation, Breath & Body Meditation, Half-Day Retreat
Rebecca has been exploring mindfulness and yoga for over a decade, which has become the backbone of her daily life. She has practiced with a variety of meditation communities that embodied both Theravada and Zen Buddhist traditions. Her journey towards awakening created a curiosity for the exploration of the human mind, which led to her academic pursuit of obtaining a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. Currently, she integrates western psychology and eastern traditions to understand the human experience, which translates to her mindfulness teachings at New Mindful Life.
Jason Calvert
Classes/Courses Lead: Silent Meditation, SIT Course (Six Week Introductory Training in Mindfulness)
Meditation has been a part of Jason’s life from a very young age. At around the age of 11, Jason was introduced to meditation practice through a Unitarian Universal Church that his family attended. He immediately had experiences that made a strong impression on him for and the merits of meditation. Over the course of his life he has been studying and practicing various forms of meditation. After graduating from college, Jason moved to San Diego eventually becoming a member of a meditation based community center called Red Lotus Society. This is where Jason was introduced to Buddhist scholars who helped to further deepen his practice. From there, he was able to learn more about Buddhist philosophy and contemplative traditions; and thus, contributing to a more consistent and grounded practice. Soon after becoming a member of this community, he met his wife Rochelle, a clinical psychologist and certified mindfulness meditation teacher. Rochelle introduced Jason to more secular practices like mindfulness, MBSR and Mindful Psychology. Ever since, Rochelle & Jason have been sharing and supporting each other in practice of mindfulness meditation. Jason has recently been accepted and started Mindfulness Training Institute’s Mindfulness Teacher Training, an extensive year long training in teaching Mindfulness.
In additions to Jason passion for meditation and Mindful Living he is an active Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Carmel Valley. As a busy professional on a top Real Estate Team he’s knows first hand the challenges with living mindfully in our Modern hectic world. Jason has strong recognition that conscious living is a personal journey in which one must develop a strong personal practice to be able to carry this type of living with us throughout the day. He strongly believes in the importance of having a safe, supportive, peaceful community with opportunities for daily practice. Jason is excited to support helping develop and support that community at New Mindful Life meditation center.
Alisha Chapin, MA BCBA
Behavior Analyst & Mindfulness Teacher
Classes/Courses Lead: Conscious Conversations, Mindfulness in Poetry
Meditation became a consistent part of my life in 2010 during my Masters in Transpersonal Psychology. It was during this course work that I took Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. The SIT course with Rochelle Calvert again opened my eyes to having an individual experience in the company of others. It is with this mindset that it has become important to me to use mindfulness to deeply listen within a community and to create a place for mindful communication to aid our interpersonal relationships.
My personal practice has morphed since 2010. I began regularly using a body scan technique for meditation, and now I use more varied experiences to tap into present moment awareness. My movement meditations have included dance, Aikido, and walking in nature. I have also practiced yoga Neidra and created art (collage and painting). I journal and read poetry, and I am a Reiki practitioner. All of these require you to be in the moment and responding with acceptance and trust to whatever arises.
Leslie Butterfield
Classes/Courses Lead: 1/2 Day Mindfulness Workshops & Retreats
Leslie Butterfield has been meditating since 2005 when she sat her first silent retreat as part of a school project. Since then she has committed her life to practice in one form or another, with her most recent work revolving around the highs and lows of motherhood. She finds great joy in helping young people and adults to discover that the tools to find a lasting peace are already present within each of them. Learn more about Leslie and her mindfulness programs here: www.mindfulnessonline.us
McKenzie O’Brien
Meditation Studio Coordinator & Support
When McKenzie is not managing our studio, she enjoys being in nature as much as possible. Among the plentiful hikes around San Diego, Mount Laguna & Joshua Tree National Park are two of her favorite spots! It is in the forest or on the side of a mountain where McKenzie most connects with her meditative practice. Her love of the natural world and meditative introspection led her on a path to Spain during the summer of 2016. Here, she further cultivated her mindfulness practice while walking 460 miles along the Camino de Santiago. She hopes to bring the insights from her Camino to life in San Diego as well as to help others mindfully gain better understandings of Acceptance and Uncertainty in life.
She is the graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she received a bachelor’s degree in International Business with a minor in Spanish. She utilizes these skills to create harmonious flow for our office needs and studio coordination. Currently, she is enrolled in the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine pursuing a Doctorate in Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture.