8/24/2020
In an ongoing practice of leading a balanced and peaceful life I have participated in a variety of workshops and trainings in my adult life. Among the most powerful have been those guided by Paula Coyne.
In 2012, I was one of 10 participants in a 2 year Art of Peace training circle guided by Paula and her husband Patrick. During this time we learned ancient earth wisdom tools for discovering our true nature and living in wholeness and balance. I cannot say enough about how these teachings have and continue to guide me, and about the impeccable integrity with which we were taught.
In addition, I attended Paula’s 8 week MBSR course in 2019. Although I have done some mindfulness training in the past, I found that Paula’s teaching style made the practice uniquely accessible. I use these tools daily in my professional life as an emergency room and clinical pediatrician, but find them equally, if not more, valuable, in my personal relationships.
Paula is an insightful, humble and generous teacher who leads with powerful compassion. She possesses a gift of inspiring us to explore the depths of ourselves and to meet our edges with loving strictness and non judgement. She has a way of shining a light on the limitless possibilities each of us possess, and also seems to know just when some playfulness is needed.
Paula has taught me that living a life of wholeness and balance is not about being at a stillpoint. Rather, it is a constant dance of recognizing when we are out of balance and having tools to find our way back.
~ Marlieke van Tyn, MD
Testimonial, 6/21/2021
I signed up for Paula’s 8-week MBSR course expecting to learn additional tools for dealing with stress and for being less critical of myself. What I learned in the course was well above and beyond my expectations. I gained a different perspective on myself, my daily life, and my interactions with the world. It has been a little over three weeks since the last session of the MBSR course and I continue to be amazed with each passing day at the changes that participating in the course is making in my personal life as well as my professional life.
I attribute the course’s success to Paula’s teaching style. Paula presents information and concepts in a way that makes them understandable and easy to relate to. In addition to her wealth of knowledge and skills, Paula brings an authenticity to her teaching. She doesn’t just explain and demonstrate the skills, she brings to life the values and qualities of mindfulness in her teaching style and in her responses. Paula’s compassion, kindness, non-judgmental attitude and openness to individual differences as she led the class through mindfulness practice, meditation and yoga, created an atmosphere of safety that allowed me to participate fully in this class and open myself to the experience. Paula is an amazing teacher and her MBSR course has been a life changing experience for me.
Robin Brown, PhD, LP
I have had the privilege to be both a participant and an assistant to Paula on her guided meditation retreat weekends. She creates beauty all around in so many ways and that high attention makes her meditation retreats absolutely magical and special. She embodies what she teaches, and creates space for a rejuvenating, nurturing and expansive meditation practice. In weaving her earth wisdom teachings with her yoga and meditation practice, she creates a unique experience that evokes greater mindfulness, heightened awareness, deeper appreciation, stronger interconnectivity and new insights for those who participate. I am forever grateful to have discovered more of my own true nature as a result of her meditation retreats.
Krista Porvaznik, CEO, Ceiba Coaching and Consulting