Mindfulness Plus – Mindfulness & Meditation Booster Sessions

Join the best mindfulness and meditation teachers in New Zealand for weekly, live, interactive bite-sized online Zoom mindfulness and meditation sessions.

Mindfulness and meditation are like meals, best enjoyed with the company of others. Practising with others and with a teacher gives us the inspiration, support and pleasure that makes it easier to embed these practices in our lives.

Mindfulness Plus booster sessions make regular and ongoing mindfulness and meditation practice easy, fun and impactful.

Learn from the best mindfulness and meditation teachers in New Zealand — live and interactive.

Andy Raba

Andy is a long-term student, teacher and author within the heart of yoga who has spent the last five years studying with world-renowned yoga master Mark Whitwell—a student of T.K.V. Desikachar and Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, also known as the ‘father of modern yoga.’

After completing his 500-hour qualification in 2020, he undertook a one year ashram residency in Fiji to deepen his practice and teaching. A published author, Andy has written extensively on the subject of yoga and meditation for many platforms, including Embodied Philosophy and Tarka Journal.

Andy specialises in working with students to develop their personal daily practice. He now lives in Auckland where he facilitates classes in a range of settings including community centres, studios, libraries, schools, spiritual retreats and online. Andy is currently involved in a one-on-one mentorship program for aspiring teachers. He also holds an MA in English Literature with a special focus on the representation of mental illness.

Annie Harvey

Teacher, tutor, speaker and wellbeing coach since 1999, Annie works one-on-one and in workshops to help with stress management and encourage people to live their life with purpose. Trained formally in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), Annie believes that living a life on purpose whilst using mindfulness skills in everyday life, is the only way to experience real joy and success.

Annie was introduced to mindfulness when going through a difficult time in her life. She began studying and practising mindfulness and meditation as well as devouring hundreds of personal development books. These practices had a profound impact on her life and she wanted to share the skills with others. She hopes that teaching mindfulness within her community will provide an opportunity for people to experience moments of calm, joy and connection in this busy digital world that we all live.

Annie attends silent retreats in Thailand and Australia. Both lifelong learners and travellers, Annie lives with her husband Mark and their labradoodle, Meg, near the beach in Glenelg. They are also both trained Laughter Yoga Leaders which always provides a good conversation starter.

Chani Grieve

Chani has had a dedicated meditation practice for over 16 years, and has been teaching mindfulness classes, workshops and retreats in both New Zealand and Australia since 2012. She has participated in annual solo and group retreats ranging from a few days up to 3 months in length since 2009.

Chani works as a Feldenkrais Practitioner and is passionate about helping people connect with their bodies, to discover how they support a full and satisfying mindfulness practice. She has particular experience and skill in offering trauma-informed embodiment practice, and completed the Principles of Collective Trauma Healing training with Thomas Hubl in February 2021.

Chani’s warmth, authenticity, and clear communication make her a natural teacher who supports everyone to trust their experience and find their own genuine expression. She is delighted to share the powerful benefits of mindfulness in the community with Mindfulness Works to contribute to a healthier, happier, saner world.

Gavin Eichholz

Gavin is a qualified mindfulness educator/facilitator and psychotherapist. He has extensive knowledge, understanding and training in mindfulness both formally and through working with mindfulness teachers and supervisors for over 20 years in Australia, Thailand, South Africa, and America.

Gavin’s work is influenced by neuroscience, focusing, mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). He has also been a telephone counsellor with LifeLine Australia.

Gavin specialises in using mindfulness based techniques to support people who are experiencing stress and anxiety. He also does financial coaching for individuals and runs Connect Mindfully with Nature sessions.

He has facilitated mindfulness training in a variety of different sectors including financial services, advertising, management consulting and state government.

Glenda Irwin

Glenda is a senior facilitator for Mindfulness Works.

She began teaching mindfulness to children and parents by consultancy and alongside the Gifted Children’s Association in 2010. Training with teachers in USA, NZ, Australia and the UK, Glenda has since applied her extensive practice to mindfulness and relationships, eating, sleep and coaching models. She has a private consultancy: Red Letter Mindfulness & Positive Psychology offering coaching and therapeutic support for flourishing and optimal living. More on her extensive mentoring within corporate settings and individual sessions via Zoom and at her studio in Auckland can be found at https://www.facebook.com/RedLetterMindfulness.

Glenda is an ACT and CFT therapist and recently completed a Graduate Diploma Health Science (Psychology). Her combined trainings in acceptance, compassion and positive psychology support her strength-based approach to mindfulness consultancy.

Glenda observes the philosophical practice of mindfulness within Buddhist and Taoist traditions but considers herself a secular practitioner (not engaging in rituals or oaths). She has a love of learning and continues to apply her attention to further (Bachelor Hons Health Science) academic studies in 2022.

Ask Glenda what she feels is her greatest strength and she will tell you her resilience and luck in having a ‘glass half full nature.’ Glenda is a single parent to one son; she loves to dance and laugh out loud and loves her new hobby, kayaking.

John Fletcher

John has 15 years experience working with mindfulness in a variety of settings.

John first experienced the effectiveness of mindfulness when he attended a Breathworks mindfulness-based pain management programme in Manchester (UK) for his chronic back pain. He went on to become accredited as a trainer in the Breathworks mindfulness programme in 2006.

John lives in Tauranga and is an Educator for the Pause, Breathe, Smile Programme — teaching mindfulness in primary and intermediate schools. He also provides bespoke mindfulness training for groups and individuals with particular focus on health and wellbeing, chronic pain, children and families.

John is an experienced Clinical Supervisor and works with a variety of organisations around the Bay of Plenty region. His previous work experience includes senior roles in NGOs in the Disability Sector, Community Development and Children’s Services Development in the UK and NZ.

He enjoys being in the wilderness, reading science fiction and practising Taoist Tai Chi — a moving meditation. John is an Instructor for the Taoist Tai Chi Society of NZ.

Karen Bradford

Karen is a Registered Nurse, Meditation / Yoga teacher and Hypnotherapist, she has a keen interest and knowledge about how the body and mind impact each other and has been working successfully with many people to assist them to reduce stress, anxiety and overwhelm, then build resilience and flexibility in the face of challenges and adversity to find a place of ease and peace within themselves regardless of what is happening in the external environment.

Lea Godfrey

Lea is a mindfulness teacher and therapist, specialising in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, Hakomi.

With extensive work in teaching mindfulness interventions for psychological wellbeing for the general public, in mental health and in the workplace.

With a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology from Waikato University and as a graduate therapist in Integrative Psychotherapy and certified Buddhist chaplain, she works with bereavement and end of life counselling, as well as therapy for depression, anxiety, workplace stress and trauma.

Aware that meditation and mindfulness is a key to a healthy body and mind, she is passionate for others to experience the benefits of mindfulness practice and cognitive-behavioural skills training.

Lin Ong

Lin describes herself as a Kiwiporean who goes through the flux of life like most do. MSc in Psychology from Otago, she has worked as a psychologist and as a wildlife guide on a farm. Full-time, she is a long-term mindfulness practitioner and experiences mindfulness as an ongoing journey of discovery, adventure and service.

Her practice and training roots from the contemplative wisdom traditions, as well as the practical science-based traditions. She is a facilitator for Mindfulness Works, and trains new facilitators when they come on board. Lin specialises in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and its related programs. She is a Teaching Partner of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, University of Oxford, UK and teaches, trains and supervises facilitators internationally. She is familiar with teaching mindfulness from the introductory level to the more in-depth and across a range of contexts; community, schools, healthcare, workplaces. She appreciates nature, her mentors, family, friends and each one she is meeting on this journey.

Lucy Schwabe

Lucy’s philosophy of mind-body work has evolved over 20 years of education and practice.

Beginning with a Bachelor of Health Science, she qualified as a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher.

She is passionate about bringing a holistic approach to health and wellbeing and enjoys working with individuals and groups in person and online. Lucy specialises in facilitating embodied mindfulness and tai chi courses. Her all-time favourite slogan is ‘Choose to stay curious.’

Martin Wilson

Martin is the principal of and a personal/leadership coach with Selfmade Coaching. He’s also an Associate for the Mental Health Foundation of NZ’s Working Well Programme.

Previously, Martin was a partner in a large commercial law firm and then established his own legal practice.

Juggling the challenges of being a busy lawyer, a parent and an over-thinking, over-achieving self, contributed to Martin’s first ‘foray’ into meditation 20 years ago. From there, he developed a broader interest and participation in mindfulness work and related self-awareness growth practice, much of which he engages in as a coach.

His principal mindfulness/meditation experience comes from the Vipassana tradition and yet he is a keen explorer of other approaches.

Maurice Harvey-Hall

Maurice is a Mindfulness Practitioner and a practising Mental Health Nurse with a Masters in Mental Health Nursing and certificates in various psychotherapies. He has studied Eastern philosophy, in particular Buddhism and Taoism, and has integrated these principles into Western psychological therapies. He has a passion for mindfulness-based therapies and is an experienced teacher in this field.

Maurice has been practising mindfulness for the past 20 years in different forms and mediums. He is also an avid triathlete who uses mindfulness in his training and racing. He is an authority in the field of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and utilises the ACT framework and meditation in his daily practice.

Nat Mallia

Nat has immersed herself in a life of mindfulness since 2015 after facing the prospect of going blind from a corneal degeneration disease.
She never gave up on the prospect that if she calmed her mind and accepted her situation, she would be ok. After spending three months in a Buddhist meditation centre in 2018, a shift occurred in Nat’s eye and with the help of surgery, a miracle occurred — she regained her sight!

Nat decided to leave her Executive role in the Australian Government and followed her long-time dream of moving to the beach, where she established her own meditation and wellness practice to share the gifts of mindfulness with others.

Nat is a certified Wellness Coach, a Buddhist meditation teacher and an ACT Mindfully Practitioner and is also accredited with Meditation Australia.

Rachel Tobin

Rachel facilitates Mindfulness Works courses in the lower North Island and is the director of the art of mindfulness, which offers 1-day and residentialmindfulness retreats; workshops; mindfulness training in organisations; and individual mindfulness-based life coaching and mentoring. Her work often includes meditation-in-movement practices, qi gong and breathwork. Rachel’s intention is always to point people towards the path of living with more ease, self-understanding, wellbeing and joy.

In her own words: “I know at firsthand our human capacity for pain, and I have understood that it is the mind which creates and perpetuates the most intense suffering. I have found mindfulness practice to be wonderful for learning how to slow down to a more natural pace of Life, to uncover limiting thinking patterns, and to cultivate more ease, spontaneity and gratitude in the daily duties of everyday life.

In 2007 I had the great privilege of meeting Aotearoa-born Spiritual Master, Sri Yanchiji, and am engaged in a practice of studentship with him. The spiritual journey, of re-discovering the natural and inherent joy that comes from simply Being — and finding out all that eclipses that happiness — is increasingly informing my work with others.”

Rachel is also a poet, a qi gong teacher and a Feldenkrais practitioner.