Heart of Mindfulness Course Deadline Approaches

Joana Franco, Ph.D, is a mindfulness coach at IDRPP who offers a new mindfulness course for this summer for the community. It is available for anyone looking to develop more presence and kindness towards themselves and others.

Franco's newest in-person training will be available to everyone, not just IDRPP employees. "The Heart of Mindfulness" is a 12-week group session that will meet on Wednesdays from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, beginning May 22nd - August 7th. Its primary focus will be on how gratitude, kindess, compassion, joy, and peace can cause greater happiness and reduce depression. If individuals cannot attend the sessions in person, a recorded link will be provided afterwards. "[It] is a training that helps people go through what are the basics of mindfulness, how to start, and what are basic practices that they can do to learn mindfulness for themselves. ...

'My idea was to create a training that would be approachable [and] accessible to most people that are interested in developing their mindfulness, [or] their ability to be present without reactivity," Franco explained, "with a little bit more of a response and ability to respond to life circumstances in a more helpful way."

Franco began her work as a mindfulness coach when working towards her PhD at Utah State University. She developed an online course for veterinary medicine students and later became a coach for IDRPP.

"I really like to work with mindfulness," Franco said, "and help people understand what it is and know all the practices that they can do so that they can learn how to be more compassionate, more kind towards themselves and others and to be more present, better able to self-regulate."

If Franco could share only one message about her course, she would express how impactful mindfulness can be. "I think more and more we need to learn to find inner peace, to find our balance. [Living] in the world that can be very chaotic... and with all the technology that is rising, I think we need to rise our inner technology. Inner technology, for me, comes through that kind of practice of being self-aware, aware of our emotions, thoughts, sensations, our bodies, and our relationships with each other. ... When we learn how to be self-aware with mindfulness, we learn that [inner techology] together, with a cultivation of curiosity and kindness."

Learn more about her course in her brochure or register on the course website.