LONDON MEDITATION PROJECT - Key Persons
Andrew Burton has attended over 30 residential meditation retreats and studied under a number of different teachers in the past 22 years. He teaches meditation in London in a variety of contexts, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. He is also a practising Reflexologist and Acupuncturist.
Sassirika has been meditating for 17 years. She has taught meditation in London and in Poland, at Sanghaloka, the Krakow Buddhist Centre which she co-founded. She trained in contemporary dance, performing and teaching professionally in the UK and Europe. Sassirika brings an understanding of the importance of integration of mind and body to her teaching of meditation. She is currently enjoying developing her wide-ranging creativity as a ceramicist.
Job Titles:
- Trainer With the Centre for Nonviolent Communication
Anna Finlayson is a qualified trainer with the Centre for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), working in London, UK and beyond. She is also a qualified Relationship coach with the Centre for Gender Psychology with a diploma Contextual Couples Counselling. She is also a qualified mediator and trainer in Conflict resolution.
Anna's early fascination with the area of human communication and interaction resulted in a degree in Sociology and Psycho-social studies. After obtaining a post-graduate qualification as a lecturer in further education, she worked as an assertiveness trainer for women, and continued her explorations with Psychosynthesis training and extensive study in the field of personal development which continues to this day.
Anna's view on working with spouses and partners of military veterans: "When I think about the experiences that both the military veterans of our country and their spouses and partners go through, I feel compassion and want to contribute to the well-being of these families. I hope to offer my understanding of the inevitable challenges of relationship between partners in this context, and to provide empathy and the exploration of how to manage these difficulties as well as looking at how spouses and partners can provide care for themselves - self-care."
Catherine Powell is co-founder of the London Meditation Project. She teaches meditation in corporate, NHS, charitable, educational, activist and team-building contexts. Catherine has 25 years meditation experience in a Buddhist context, and training in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. Since 2011 she has held a special interest in offering the benefits of meditation to veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress caused by experiences in war, and in supporting their spouses, partners and families in welcoming our soldiers home. Catherine is training in the Feldenkrais Method, and as a parent herself, she is organising our Year of Yoga and Mindful Play for children with hemiplegia. Please feel free to contact catherine@londonmeditationproject.org
Nandaraja was born Obafemi Adewumi in Nigeria. In 1960, at the age of six, he migrated to London with his family, and has lived in England ever since. He grew up to study Engineering (BA), and has a Masters Degree in Information Technology. Nandaraja worked in IT support at Queen Mary, University of London, for 27 years. While at the university, Nandaraja began training in Aikido in 1996 under Sensei Dr Rick Cousins. He learned at Tomiki Aikido and Iwayama Ryu Aikido schools, explored other martial arts, and gained 2nd Dan Black belt in 2005. In 1997 Nandaraja learned to meditate formally at the London Buddhist Centre, and in 2013 he became an ordained member of the Triratna Buddhist Order.
In 2014 Nandaraja created Sanbodo Aikido, to integrate Buddhist meditation practices with Qi Kung and Aikido, which he had been developing informally for six years already. In 2019 the London Meditation Project is delighted to have Nandaraja join our teaching team!
Catherine Powell is co-founder of the London Meditation Project. She teaches meditation in corporate, charitable, educational and team-building contexts, and has 15 years experience of meditation and has training in Buddhist meditation, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and Meditating with the Body. Catherine is a member of the Soldier's Heart community. Both her grandfathers served in World War II, one in the Navy and one as a bomb disposal officer in the Royal Engineers. Her father was sponsored through University by the Ministry of Defence as a nuclear physicist, worked a few years in AWRE (atomic weapons research) in the UK and Samoa, and died suddenly in his later forties, of an illness quite possibly connected with that work. Catherine has always been basically anti-war but in recent years has connected with soldiers on the Warrior's Path: learning with them how to handle the fierce wisdom of painful human experience.
Dhiramati Miller has practised yoga and meditation for over 20 years. He was ordained as a Buddhist in 1992. Since then he's taught buddhism, meditation and yoga at the Manchester Buddhist Centre, on Buddhafield camping retreats and in a number of UK retreat centres. His meditation teaching focusses largely on body awareness, breathing, relaxation and alignment. He teaches and practises Yoga Nidra, as taught by his teacher Donna Farhi, and is exploring this further, aided by Richard Miller, Director of the Integrative Restoration Institute (iRest), whose work has been successful in working with PTSD in the US military. Dhiramati sees yoga as a very helpful tool in life and he also has a gift for making it fun, especially when practised in a group. Dhiramati is a great storyteller and has found many people love stories: 'they provide a way for people to release more fully into a deeper sense of themselves and the stories of their own lives'. He lives with his partner Hannah in the heart of Devon.
Jan Jenkins had a first career as a social worker in Essex and for the past 20 years has worked in London as a counsellor and psychotherapist. She has many years experience in bereavement care both within the voluntary sector and in private practice.
Marianne Brady (Vimalachitta) has taught meditation for 24 years, including several years full-time at the London Buddhist Centre, as well as in the corporate world in the UK & overseas. Marianne is an experienced trainer in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, and has trained with Breathworks in mindfulness-based approaches to stress and pain management. Marianne also runs chanting and voice workshops.
Rex Gower has many years experience of military service as a Royal Marine, and many a story to tell. He has been meditating for some years and speaks from personal experience about how meditation and the support of a great counsellor have helped him to find calm and to manage the symptoms of PTSD, which emerged for him years after he had completed his active service. Rex is a loving father and grandfather and a generous man in the community: including teaching bushcraft and survival skills for children on family friendly meditation retreats, encouraging them to grow in confidence and enjoy being in their natural environment.
Tam Martin is a transpersonal therapist and dyslexia consultant living in West Cornwall. She has 20+ years experience in therapeutic practice, group facilitation and the helping professions and a special interest in the capacity of the human spirit to overcome adversity and grow stronger as a result. Tam was a member of the peace movement in the 1980s and comes from a family with a strongly military background. Her grandfather and uncles were army and RAF officers and her cousin, a retired brigadier, military logistician and MBE, sadly died last year from suspected Gulf War Syndrome. Tam has recently become connected to the Soldier's Heart Community and been working individually and in a group context with combat veterans suffering from PTSD and their families. She has been researching the nature of PTSD and making some interesting discoveries. In December 2012, Tam will have just returned from a trip to Hiroshima to meet survivors of the atomic bombing and learn about the ways in which they have overcome their PTSD and moved forward in their lives.